Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced the 2022/23 season. This will mark Muir’s first full season with the National Ballet.

“It’s my great pleasure to introduce the 2022/23 season. The season ahead shows the strengths of the entire company, balancing virtuosic classical pieces with new work and acquisitions that introduce unique choreographic voices to our repertoire,” said Muir. “Working with the artists of the company in my new role as Artistic Director has been incredibly rewarding. I’m honoured to be leading The National Ballet of Canada into its next chapter with work that reflects the extraordinary versatility of our artists and builds relationships with influential dance creators.”

The 2022/23 season will open with Sharing the Stage at Harbourfront Centre that will feature free outdoor performances on the Concert Stage and free dance classes and interactive conversations, August 16 – 20, 2022. The National Ballet and invited guest artists will perform two exciting mixed programmes that will feature a pas de deux from Swan Lake, directed and staged by Karen Kain, excerpts from the sensational Chroma by Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon’s gorgeous After the Rain as well as new works from our four guest artists, Holla Jazz, Rock Bottom Movement, Tanveer Alam and Samantha Sutherland.

In November, the National Ballet returns to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts with the Canadian premiere of The Collective Agreement, marking the company’s first acquisition from the visionary American choreographer Alonzo King, giving Canadian audiences a taste of his distinctive aesthetic. The Collective Agreement was created for San Francisco Ballet in 2018 to a commissioned score by jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran and features image technology from Jim Campbell, a renowned creator of cinematic LED installations. The Collective Agreement will be presented with Crepuscular by Vanesa G. R. Montoya and Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto, November 9 – 13, 2022.

MADDADDAM by Wayne McGregor, the multi-award-winning choreographer of Chroma and Genus, makes its highly anticipated world premiere November 23 – 30, 2022. McGregor has joined forces with Margaret Atwood, one of the world’s greatest living writers, to create a new ballet triptych. A co-production with the Royal Ballet, MADDADDAM is based on Atwood’s acclaimed novel trilogy, Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood and MaddAddam. Themes of extinction and invention, hubris and humanity are spliced together with aspects of Atwood's activism and her deep connection to the Canadian landscape, past and present. MADDADDAM features an original score by Max Richter with set design by We Not I, costumes by Gareth Pugh, lighting by Lucy Carter and film design by Ravi Deepres with dramaturgy by Uzma Hameed.

The National Ballet’s holiday favourite, The Nutcracker by James Kudelka, returns December 10 – 31, 2022.

In the Winter Season, the National Ballet presents the Canadian premiere of Anima Animus by David Dawson, marking the acclaimed choreographer’s debut with the National Ballet. Created in 2018 for the Unbound Festival, the ballet was an immediate success and has since toured throughout the UK and US. A high octane work favouring speed and precision, Anima Animus is set to music of Ezio Bosso’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and features set design by John Otto, striking black and white costumes by Yumiko Takshima and lighting by James F. Ingalls. Anima Animus will be presented with a new work from exciting choreographer on the rise, Rena Butler, a dynamic contemporary piece to celebrate the music of Grammy Award-winning composer John Adams for his 75th birthday. In demand for her insightful contemporary language, Butler’s work is aesthetically and ideologically powerful, modelling artistry as a form of activism. The programme is onstage March 3 – 23 and also features George Balanchine’s Symphony in C.

James Kudelka’s Cinderella returns to delight the entire family March 10 – 19, 2023. A unique and modern rendering of the classic tale, Cinderella discards the rags-to-riches scenario and puts the heroine on equal footing with Prince Charming, with Art Deco-inspired designs by David Boechler, a lively score by Sergei Prokofiev and lighting by Christopher Dennis.

The International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize, a thrilling evening of dance showcasing ballet stars of the future, will take place on March 25, 2023. First held in 1988, the competition brings together some of the finest young dancers and choreographers in the world. Erik Bruhn, who held the Artistic Directorship of the National Ballet from 1983 until his death in 1986, established the competition to uphold a high standard of excellence for future generations of dancers.

The Summer Season opens June 2 – 10, 2023 with the ground-breaking Frame by Frame, directed by the legendary Québécois playwright, actor, film and stage director, Robert Lepage, and choreographed by Principal Dancer and Choreographic Associate Guillaume Côté. Frame by Frame pays homage to Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren, whose pioneering advancements in animation led to a prolific career with the National Film Board of Canada and influenced filmmakers the world over.

The 2022/23 season will conclude with Romeo and Juliet by Alexei Ratmansky, June 15 – 25, 2023. Created in 2011 to celebrate the National Ballet’s 60th anniversary season, Romeo and Juliet is pure Ratmansky, a thoughtful and visually striking revival of one of ballet’s great narrative works that overflows with dancing, set to Sergei Prokofiev’s enduring score with designs by Tony Award-winning designer Richard Hudson and lighting by Jennifer Tipton.