Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced that the company will host Positioning Ballet, a global conference welcoming 36 Artistic Directors from 17 different countries, for the first time in North America. The conference will take place at The Walter Carsen Centre and Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto, February 28 to March 2.

Positioning Ballet was founded in 2017 by Ted Brandsen, Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet, to provide a visionary and sustainable peer network supporting Artistic Directors of ballet and dance around the world. The conference brings together Artistic Directors of companies internationally to share issues, challenges, successes and concerns with their peers as well as external experts from the worlds of business, sport and the wider arts and cultural sectors.

“It is a great honour for The National Ballet of Canada to host such an important conference to connect with Artistic Directors and their dance organizations to support and strengthen leadership, partnerships, inclusion, diversity, health, well-being and safeguarding of dancers to ensure that our artform remains relevant, creative and forward looking,” said Muir.

The Positioning Ballet Conferences are a follow on of Rural Retreats, first launched in the UK in 2003 by Assis Carreiro who was then the Artistic Director and CEO of DanceEast. Carreiro will facilitate the Toronto discussions. For the first time, the conference is being held outside of Europe in North America. Artistic Directors in attendance will engage in discussion and hear from an impressive panel of Canadian guest speakers including Caroline Ohrt from the National Arts Centre, Weyni Mengesha from Soulpepper Theatre Company, Laura Stein from Bruce Mau Design and Sharon Rudy from Korn Ferry Organizational Consulting.

Positioning Ballet Attendees:

Cervilio Amador, Cincinnati Ballet

Melissa Barak, Los Angeles Ballet

Filip Barankiewicz, Czech National Ballet

Tara Birtwhistle, Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Robert Bondara, Poznan Ballet

Federico Bonnelli, Northern Ballet

Ted Brandsen, Dutch National Ballet

Kathleen Breen Combes, Ballet Rhode Island

Daniela Cardim, Ballet Arizona

Raphael Coumes-Marquet, Ballet am Rhein

Christine Cox, BalletX

Fernando Duarte, National Ballet of Portugal

Jurgita Dronina, Lithuanian National Ballet

David Hallberg The Australian Ballet

Christopher Hampson, Scottish Ballet

Susan Jaffe, American Ballet Theatre

Ty King-Wall, The Royal New Zealand Ballet

Pontus Lidberg, Ballet de l'Opéra de Nice

Linnar Looris, Estonian National Ballet

Ingrid Lorentzen, The Norwegian National Ballet

David McAllister, West Australian Ballet

Hope Muir, The National Ballet of Canada

Gennadi Nedvigin, Atlanta Ballet

Kevin O'Hare, The Royal Ballet

Simone Orlando, Ballet Kelowna

Krzysztof Pastor, Polish National Ballet

Nina Poláková, Slovak National Ballet

Eric Quilleré, Ballet Opéra Bordeaux

Mario Radačovský, Brno Ballet

Adam Sklute, Ballet West

Christian Spuck, Staatsballett Berlin

Jonathan Stafford, New York City Ballet

Christopher Stowell, Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Francesco Ventriglia, Alberta Ballet

Wendy Whelan, New York City Ballet

Feng Ying, National Ballet of China

About Positioning Ballet:

Positioning Ballet was founded in 2017 by Ted Brandsen, Artistic Director of Dutch National Ballet, as a private platform for Artistic Directors of ballet and dance companies worldwide to share challenges, successes, and ideas with their peers.

Inspired by DanceEast’s pioneering Rural Retreats, launched in 2003 by Assis Carreiro, Positioning Ballet continues to foster reflection, learning, and exchange among current and future leaders.

In light of global events and evolving industry challenges, the need for a more formal international organisation to support Artistic Directors has become increasingly clear.