Hope Muir, Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, shared the casting for the world premiere of Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber’s Procession which launches the 2025/26 season at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts November 1 – 8.

“I can’t think of a more exhilarating way to open our 2025/26 season than with the world premiere of Procession by Bobbi Jene Smith and Or Schraiber,” said Muir. “Bobbi and Or create worlds. Their work dissolves the border between classical ballet and raw human expression, drawing us into a space that is cinematic, sensual and emotionally charged. This marks the debut of this extraordinary duo at the National Ballet and their arrival marks a new chapter for our company.”

Procession fuses bold contemporary movement with a Baroque-inspired score and explores the universal human ritual of procession. This landmark premiere features solo cellist Coleman Itzkoff, who also coordinated and arranged the Baroque-inspired score, and sopranos Rachael Wilson and Alex Hetherington. Costume design by Dana Osborne and lighting design by Bonnie Beecher.

Casting:

Alexander Bozinoff*, Jason Ferro, Hannah Galway, Christopher Gerty, Albjon Gjorllaku, Selene Guerrero-Trujillo, Spencer Hack, Monika Haczkiewicz, Josh Hall, Connor Hamilton, Isabella Kinch, Tirion Law, Keaton Leier, Arielle Miralles, Shaakir Muhammad, Siphesihle November, Chase O’Connell, Emma Ouellet, Matthieu Pagès, Noah Parets, Genevieve Penn Nabity, David Preciado, Ben Rudisin, Koto Sato, Jenna Savella, Calley Skalnik, Alexander Skinner, Donald Thom, Aidan Tully, Tene Ward, Oliver Yonick, Ana Zamora

Sopranos:

Rachael Wilson (November 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 at 7:30 pm/November 2 at 2:00 pm)

Alex Hetherington (November 8 at 2:00 pm)

Cellist:

Coleman Itzkoff

*Principal Guest Artist

Photo: Hannah Galway and Christopher Gerty in Procession. © 2025 Bruce Zinger.