All stories by Martha Schabas on BroadwayStars

Monday, January 26, 2026

The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, on the (Bumpy) Road to Reconciliation by Martha Schabas

The Indigenous choreographer Cameron Fraser-Monroe is taking his ballet on tour, "back to the place where the story was kept."

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:01AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, December 23, 2025

In Ontario, the Uplifting Case of a Ballet Company's Stolen 'Nutcracker' Sets by Martha Schabas and Brett Gundlock

Ballet Jörgen's holiday scare reaffirmed its mission: taking the art form to remote towns and outposts where most people have never seen a pas de deux.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 09:20AM[SHARE]
Monday, December 15, 2025

Out From Russia's Shadow: Lithuania's National Ballet at 100 by Martha Schabas

The national company has a new leader, Jurgita Dronina, and a desire to raise its profile to a troupe that can rank among Europe's best.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:02AM[SHARE]
Monday, March 3, 2025

As Ballet Rethinks Its Racial Homogeneity, One 'Swan Lake' Ditches Tights by Martha Schabas

Dancing barelegged is a bit like playing baseball without a cap. But as ballet confronts its history of racial homogeneity some traditions are being rethought.

SOURCE: The New York Times Subscription at 05:01AM[SHARE]
Tuesday, March 6, 2018

How ballerina Elena Lobsanova transforms on stage by Martha Schabas

How the National Ballet of Canada's principal dancer brings unprocessed feeling to the stage

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 05:33PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 2, 2018

Review: He Who Falls is a unique and powerful hybrid dance-circus by Martha Schabas

It is a a strange, quiet, disconcerting and often mesmerizing performance about the end of the world and how we might deal with it.

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:14PM[SHARE]
Thursday, February 22, 2018

Review: Walerski's minimalist Romeo and Juliet somehow has elusive quality of feeling new by Martha Schabas

Excellent performances make the production at Queen Elizabeth theatre in Vancouver both powerful and laconic

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 09:29PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, February 13, 2018

National Ballet's 2018-19 season disappoints with zero female choreographers by Martha Schabas

Centrepiece ballet, Anna Karenina, features literature's most canonical female victim. Maybe audiences are ready for a differetn type of heroine

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 11:00AM[SHARE]
Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Jackie Maxwell is right where she wants to be: in the director's chair by Martha Schabas

The former head of Factory Theatre and the Shaw Festival is carving out a role for herself as a mentor and advocate for women in theatre

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:31PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 26, 2018

Review: Brodsky/Baryshnikov offers reflection on time and loss by Martha Schabas

The idea of ghosts and disappearances is at the heart of Brodsky/Baryshnikov, an understated one-man show starring famed ballet luminary Mikhail Baryshnikov, now 70

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 12:48PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov on the Russian poet who inspired his new show by Martha Schabas

One of the world's all-time great ballet dancers returned to Toronto this week to perform his solo show Brodsky/Baryshnikov

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:08PM[SHARE]
Friday, January 19, 2018

Review: National Ballet's Five Creations lets dancers explore new creative territory by Martha Schabas

The new version of the National Ballet's choreographic workshop gives company dancers the opportunity to make new work on their colleagues

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:45PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, November 28, 2017

How we make excuses for violence against women on stage by Martha Schabas

The conversation about misogyny has moved forward. So why do the performing arts insist on bringing us back to square one?

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 04:31PM[SHARE]
Friday, November 24, 2017

Review: Nijinsky a rich, powerful ballet that demands to be rewatched by Martha Schabas

Layered, intelligent and emotionally powerful, Nijinsky is just as powerful on second viewing

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 01:04PM[SHARE]
Friday, November 17, 2017

Review: The 7 Fingers' triple bill Triptyque hits sour notes by Martha Schabas

There's brilliance to be found in The 7 Fingers' Triptyque, but it's marred by moments both ugly and uninspired

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:10PM[SHARE]
Thursday, November 9, 2017

National Ballet principal dancer Jurgita Dronina rises to the international stage by Martha Schabas

Principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada is just one of many claims to fame for the Winter's Tale star​​

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 05:01PM[SHARE]
Monday, November 6, 2017

Review: Red Sky's Backbone delivers chills that nearly go down the spine by Martha Schabas

The riveting overlap between the performing body and real body intrigues and excites, but these experiential moments are too few

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:52PM[SHARE]
Friday, October 20, 2017

National Ballet's Siphesihle November makes choreographic debut with Majid Jordan show by Martha Schabas

The 19-year-old ballet dancer was recruited to choreograph a performance for the R&B duo at the 3 Days in Toronto festival

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 12:32PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, October 11, 2017

A right to remain silent, as the volume of the Weinstein scandal rises by Martha Schabas

Actress Ellie Moon's Asking For It, a play inspired by the Jian Ghomeshi trial, offers insight into why women often stay silent in the wake of sexual violence

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 12:51PM[SHARE]
Thursday, October 5, 2017

Review: Fall for Dance North showcases jubilant Canadian talent by Martha Schabas

The Toronto festival wasn't at its strongest, but still delivered energy to an excited crowd

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 12:24PM[SHARE]
Monday, September 25, 2017

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch returns to Canada to perform two classic pieces by Martha Schabas

Tanztheater Wuppertal, Pina Bausch's famous and much celebrated dance troupe, will perform The Rite of Spring and Café Muller

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:50PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Dance-opera Bearing makes art out of residential-school ashes by Martha Schabas

The production, premiering at Luminato this week, is a representation of how the past disrupts the present

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 05:24PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 9, 2017

Dana Michel brings Yellow Towel to Toronto's Dancemakers MiniFest by Martha Schabas

Michel's work is heavily autobiographical " the title refers to a towel she would put on her head as a child to become 'blond'

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 01:12PM[SHARE]
Friday, June 2, 2017

National Ballet of Canada's most senior ballerinas on their dance evolution by Martha Schabas

A popular misconception finds that dancers, like athletes, peak in their 20s. But as the National Ballet of Canada's most senior ballerinas prove, Martha Schabas writes, there are benefits t…

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:22PM[SHARE]
Friday, April 21, 2017

Trio of Canadian ballet companies debut emotional program at National Arts Centre by Martha Schabas

ENCOUNT3RS features newly commissioned ballets by the National Ballet of Canada, Ballet BC and Alberta Ballet

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:06PM[SHARE]
Thursday, April 20, 2017

Marie Chouinard's take on Bosch is beautifully unsettling by Martha Schabas

Canadian choreographer Marie Chouinard crafts a dance/theatre piece based on Hieronymous Bosch's The Garden of Earthly Delights

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 06:26PM[SHARE]
Tuesday, April 18, 2017

ENCOUNT3RS: A 'legacy project' in Canadian contemporary dance by Martha Schabas

ENCOUNT3RS unites three prominent ballet companies in honour of the country's sesquicentennial

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 06:33PM[SHARE]
Wednesday, April 12, 2017

The Radio Show: Political ideas fail to cohere but dancers offer powerful performance by Martha Schabas

Recurring motif is one of stunted communication, and some of the best dancing comes from the tension between the will and inability to express

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:21PM[SHARE]
Thursday, March 30, 2017

Audience is key in Amanda Acorn and Heidi Strauss's dance double-bill by Martha Schabas

The two Toronto-based choreographers' works baseline/multiform are the latest iteration of Compagnie Coleman Lemieux's Bright Nights series

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 03:34PM[SHARE]
Friday, March 17, 2017

Canadian Crystal Pite gives pointed look at refugee crisis in London debut of Flight Plan by Martha Schabas

B.C.-born choreographer's first work for Royal Ballet is a clear and purposeful look at an ongoing humanitarian crisis

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:56PM[SHARE]

Canadian Crystal Pite gives pointed look at refugee crisis in London debut of Flight Pattern by Martha Schabas

B.C.-born choreographer's first work for Royal Ballet is a clear and purposeful look at an ongoing humanitarian crisis

SOURCE: The Globe and Mail at 02:56PM[SHARE]

All that Chat

2025-2026 BROADWAY SEASON
Jun 12, 2025: Call Me Izzy - Studio 54
Sep 16, 2025: Art - Music Box Theatre
Oct 08, 2025: Beetlejuice - Palace Theatre
Nov 13, 2025: Oedipus - Studio 54
Nov 16, 2025: Chess - Imperial Theatre
Mar 23, 2026: Giant - Music Box Theatre
Apr 06, 2026: Becky Shaw - Hayes Theater
Apr 16, 2026: Proof - Booth Theatre
Apr 26, 2026: Drama Desk Cut-Off