Karen Kain's 'Swan Lake' will finally take flight in the National Ballet's 70th anniversary season by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Kain announces the 2021-22 National Ballet of Canada season in one of her last official acts as artistic director. She'll step down at the end of June.

Peggy Baker will cap a storied dance career by making room for other dancers' stories by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

'Toronto is one of the world's most culturally diverse cities, but we haven't had the equity,' Baker tells Michael Crabb. She will wind up Peggy Baker Dance Projects by June 2023 to free up …

Robert Binet's 'The Dreamers Ever Leave You' started as an intimate performance at the AGO. When the pandemic sidelined a Harbourfront run it wa by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

'Dreamers' is the latest addition to the National Ballet of Canada's free online programming. The company has also commissioned new works from Jennifer Archibald, Vanesa Garcia-Ribala Montoy…

A great dance company, a famous Canadian choreographer and a broadcast quality recording made in Paris: that's Crystal Pite's 'Body and Soul' by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

The work that Pite made for Paris Opera Ballet has its Canadian digital premiere on Feb. 17 through new dance initiative Digidance.

Why the National Ballet's 'Nutcracker' " onscreen instead of onstage this year " is still a stunner worth seeing by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

When this version was first seen in theatres in 2008, the Toronto cinema audience applauded virtuoso dances much as they might have in the Four Seasons Centre. The lead performances by Sonia…

Patricia Beatty, co-founder of Toronto Dance Theatre, remembered as "a giant in Canadian dance, a true pioneer" by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Beatty's dance school has evolved to become one of Canada's leading; her teaching has "impacted on thousands." She has died age 84

Miss live shows? Canadian Stage launches outdoor Dance in High Park weekend series with limited audiences by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

With COVID-19 scuppering shows, three Canadian dance companies have come up with innovative ways to do in person and livestream performances

They lost their work, rituals and comradeship to COVID-19. Ballet performers are only now getting some of their old routine back " here's how they by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Accustomed to large spaces, busy schedules and comradeship, National Ballet performers are only now getting some of their old routine back. They explain how they've coped

The National Ballet of Canada takes its fall season online so its dancers can perform again by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

'We must find ways to allow them to dance,' says Karen Kain in announcing 'Expansive Dances' by Robert Binet, Alysa Pires and Guillaume Côté, and the 'Spotlight Series' by Jera Wolfe, Ke…

Karen Kain had well-laid plans for her National Ballet goodbye " but COVID-19 had other ideas by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

With major premieres like a new 'Swan Lake' and 'MaddAddam' postponed, and the search for a successor slowed, the prima ballerina turned artistic director will stay as long as the company ne…

Dancing swans, demented toymakers and men in tutus: how to escape to the ballet online by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

With theatres closed for the foreseeable future due to COVID-19, the web offers a cornucopia of compelling performances, from classics like "Swan Lake" and "Coppélia" to arts streaming site…

Elena Lobsanova, Guillaume Coté and a cast on fire give us a heart-rending 'Romeo and Juliet' by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

This spectacular and compelling dance-drama by Alexei Ratmansky for the National Ballet of Canada has a real-life urgency that emphasizes the story's timeless relevance, writes Michael Crabb.

Human yearning is evoked powerfully onstage in Crystal Pite's 'Angels' Atlas' by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Pite's new work brings out the best in the National Ballet of Canada's dancers while Greta Hodgkinson brings tragic dignity to 'Marguerite and Armand' as a dying courtesan.

A perfectionist in pointe shoes: after 30 years and many, many plum roles, Greta Hodgkinson leaves the National Ballet of Canada by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Farewell seasons hardly get better than the one Greta Hodgkinson has had. She ends her career as a National Ballet principal dancer with the title role in Frederick Ashton's 'Marguerite and …

Just because Marie Chouinard and Christopher House have been creating dance for 40 years doesn't mean they're slowing down by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Chouinard, returning to Toronto with 'Radical Vitality,' says her 'inner fire' has only grown. House, saying farewell to Toronto Dance Theatre with 'House Mix,' isn't slowing down either.

Misty Copeland is right: Blackface and Yellowface have no place on ballet stages by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Misty Copeland called out the Bolshoi Ballet this month for its racist 'danse des négrillons.' The National Ballet of Canada faced its own controversy in 1981 over a dance that offended Chi…

How do you like your 'Nutcracker'? Six ways to get your fix of the ballet classic in the GTA by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

From Ballet Jörgen's Canadiana take to the National Ballet's spectacular version, there are Nutcrackers for everyone this holiday season, writes Michael Crabb.

Dazzling 'Giselle,' a challenging classic, earns rapturous response in Toronto by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

National Ballet's production shares the roles out among its principals, letting many take a place in this triumphant production.

Choreographer Yang Zhen's creation puts dancers from China's minority groups in the spotlight " but not in China by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

'I do not see myself as a rebel. I'm not that political,' insists the creator of 'Minorities,' coming to Toronto on Oct. 17.

Fall for Dance North lures the younger audiences that other arts organizations covet by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Although there's no hard data, Fall for Dance North staff have gleaned enough through audience surveys and social media buzz to know they're attracting a significantly younger crowd, many of…

At the Genée International Ballet Competition young dancers vie for medals but also win friends by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

The prestigious competition, which began in Britain in 1931, returns to Toronto where 62 dancers will perform, including 19 Canadians.

Xiao Nan Yu's swan song with the National Ballet of Canada by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Principal dancer is set to take the lead in The Merry Widow, her last ballet with the esteemed company after joining more than 20 years ago.

Luminato festival drums up the divine with KIRA by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Cultural tradition of African drumming underlies KIRA, The Path | La Voie, which is described as a celebration of humanity "as one village and its sacred bond to nature."

Christopher House ends 25 years at head of Toronto Dance Theatre by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

After 25 years as artistic director, and another 15 as a dancer with the company, House tells Michael Crabb he's ready to try something new.

National Ballet faces joy and strain of triple bill devoted to famed choreographer by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Demanding, 'ferocious' creativity of choreographer William Forsythe gets fitting tribute with big show starting Saturday at the Sony Centre.

Boris Eifman delves into another Russian artist's torment in Tchaikovsky. PRO et CONTRA by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

'I can feel his soul,' the famous Russian choreographer and namesake of Eifman Ballet St. Petersburg says of renowned composer Tchaikovsky.

James Kudelka and Evelyn Hart team up again on Four Old Legs by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Now in their 60s, they first met as National Ballet School students. The former Royal Winnipeg prima ballerina and National Ballet artistic director explain why they've paired up once more i…

Chelsy Meiss taps into her inner Mad Hatter as first woman to dance the role by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

National Ballet soloist Chelsy Meiss becomes the first woman to dance the role in the Christopher Wheeldon ballet Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Creators of Betroffenheit return with a classic comedy of errors, much revised by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

It's called Revisor and if the rapturous reviews from its sold-out premiere run in Vancouver late last month are any guide, it's destined to become as big an international hit as its multi-a…

Apollo dominates National Ballet of Canada's mixed program by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star

Balanchine's Apollo opens the National Ballet of Canada's current mixed program and leaves its companion works with the unenviable task of even approaching the same ballpark.

Kindred collaboration has artists dancing in the dark by Michael Crabb - Special To The Star