On Thursday, November 13, I was invited to light the Tree of Hope at the Hilton Hotel across from the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. A Sugar Plum Fairy has been invited for the past couple of years and this year it was me. The Tree of Hope is in honour of the SickKids Foundation and joining me was Stephanie Clayton, a former SickKids patient. Also in attendance were MP Olivia Chow, singer Kim Stockwood and, of course, Santa.

After lighting the tree on the corner of University and Richmond, we proceeded inside for hot chocolate. I posed for photos with many eager youngsters (and some very timid ones).

The role of the Sugar Plum Fairy is a special one because it’s a role that is every young girl’s dream. At seven years old, the first ballet I ever danced was The Nutcracker in the role of a party girl. Even then, I watched the Sugar Plum Fairy with amazement and dreamt of being her one day. In James Kudelka’s version, my amazement was re-ignited when I first saw the beautiful atmosphere that he created for this production. It is wonderful to know that many children in the audience might be experiencing this magical ballet for the first time and to share it with the next generation is very fulfilling.

My birthday is actually on Christmas Day, so this year I will be celebrating my 24th birthday/Christmas and cheering on my fellow colleagues from the wings. It’s so hard to be off the stage after my recent foot surgery but, luckily, The Nutcracker comes every year like clockwork, so to know that next year at this time I will be rehearsing and performing it makes missing this year much easier to deal with. The winter holidays are a very special time of the year to me and without The Nutcracker, it just wouldn’t feel like Christmas or my birthday.

Medvedenko loves Masha. Masha loves Kostya. Kostya loves Nina, who is infatuated with Trigorin, who is passionately involved with Arkadina. With all the drama of the Chekhov play but a change in professions of the characters, John Neumeier’s re-imagined The Seagull opened last Friday to rave reviews.

Watch some exclusive performance footage.

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“a monumental achievement… Neumeier’s The Seagull is intricate, dense and compelling.” The Globe and Mail, 2008

(5 stars out of 5) “passions dominate the world Neumeier has created, demanding not only fine dancing but fine acting as well. Happily, the NBOC delivers on both fronts.” Toronto Sun, 2008

“This seagull flies” The Toronto Star, 2008

“A moving take on Chekhov… In its rich interlayering, choreographic inventiveness and emotional depth it offers local audiences a fresh perspective on the genre of narrative ballet.” The National Post, 2008

The National Ballet’s newest video takes you behind the scenes to the Wardrobe department where they have been busy creating the costumes for The Seagull, which opens this Friday. Wardrobe Supervisor Marjorie Fielding and her team reveal the array of influences behind the costumes, from Russian Modernism to Degas-style tutus to cigarette girls from the 1920’s. See the vision of choreographer and costume designer John Neumeier as it is brought to life.

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Etienne: This coming week, Greta and I will be paired together for the first time in Principal roles with the company. We are dancing the second movement of Symphony in C. I have been with the National Ballet for 11 years now and I have had many partners, but dancing with your wife is not quite the same.

Greta: I am often asked what it’s like to live and work together with someone so closely but up until now, our schedules have been relatively separate.

Etienne: A dance partnership is like every other relationship with chemistry being a very important part of it. The difference when you have a real life relationship with your dance partner is that you start at a very advanced stage. This is new territory for us though. We had to re-learn a little bit in order to work together.

Greta: I have to say that working together has been a really easy experience and we get along just as well in the studio as out of it. It helps that Etienne is one of the best partners in the company so I knew I didn’t have a thing to worry about.

Etienne: To be honest, it has been really great for us and an easy transition. It does help that Greta is the amazing dancer that she is and that I have kept her, for the most part, on her leg.

Greta: The second movement is my favourite to dance and I’m looking forward to performing it with my husband by my side. Actually, he’ll be behind me.

[Photos: Top, Greta Hodgkinson and Etienne Lavigne in Rooster by Bruce Zinger. Above, at a Ballo e Vino event by Johnny Vong].