A
andreapalladio
Guest
Re: Opera House Pride Week
Trees were planted today along Queen and Richmond.
Trees were planted today along Queen and Richmond.
B
building babel
Guest
Re: opera
I'll see them tonight, on my way to the simulcast of the Ballet Gala in the Square.
I'll see them tonight, on my way to the simulcast of the Ballet Gala in the Square.
A
andreapalladio
Guest
Re: Opera House Pride Week
Do enjoy. I'm off to a party at the Spoke. It should be of some sociological interest, if nothing else.
Do enjoy. I'm off to a party at the Spoke. It should be of some sociological interest, if nothing else.
N
nassauone
Guest
Re: opera
the Spoke *shudder* good luck. It will indeed be a socialogical experiment.
the Spoke *shudder* good luck. It will indeed be a socialogical experiment.
A
AlvinofDiaspar
Guest
Re: Opera House Pride Week
The Star on last night's ballet gala:
Ballet entertains at home
Ballet patrons attend first-night gala
`So thrilled,' says Kain of Four Seasons
Jun. 23, 2006. 06:32 AM
SUSAN WALKER
DANCE WRITER
"This is our new home and I am so thrilled to welcome you to it." Karen Kain, artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada, allowed herself a little actorly moment at the close of her remarks at the company's gala Illuminata Ball and opening show in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
But the ballet's former prima ballerina wasn't faking her excitement. "Good things happen to people who wait," she said, noting that it has taken 55 years for the company to have a home stage suitable for the performance of ballet.
A fundraising evening that included dinner on stage for high-paying patrons, The Illuminata Ball marked the ballet's inaugural performance in the new house at the corner of Queen St. W. and University Ave. The ball was intended to raise $500,000.
(Under a tent at Nathan Phillips Square across the street there was room for 1,000 people to watch a free simulcast of the performance hosted by former National Ballet principal Rex Harrington.)
Kain's joy at occupying the Four Seasons was not misplaced.
The slightly narrower and deeper stage gives a sense of enclosing the dancers. If the Hummingbird was a ballroom, the Four Seasons is a salon, where dancers look like real people. The wide-open orchestra pit brings the National Ballet orchestra out from its bunker under the Hummingbird stage, into full view and full voice for the first time.
Heather Ogden and Nehemiah Kish had the privilege of being the first dancers to break in the new hall. They performed Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux choreographed by George Balanchine, Ogden showing an ease and flow that is hard to achieve in such a tricky piece. With the horseshoe arrangement of seats, even those in the fifth ring would have the sense that the dancers were performing directly to their seats.
Certainly the auditorium, with its ultra-clean lines and grey and beige colour scheme, offers no gaudy details to distract attention from the dancers on stage. The stripped-down décor was echoed in a pas de deux from William Forsythe's Herman Schmerman that showed both Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic in a new light. This pas de deux, exceedingly cheeky and contemporary, features two dancers who walk out of a frame like actors stepping out of a film. A kind of deconstruction of classical ballet, the piece is highly sophisticated play. Both in sassy canary-yellow pleated skirts (and not much more), Hodgkinson and Antonijevic showed off their technical expertise with brightness and humour.
No gala would be complete without a performance of the circus-y Don Quixote Pas de Deux. Sonia Rodriguez and Piotr Stanczyk rose to the occasion in a fiery execution of the challenging jetés and pirouettes.
Stanczyk returned to the stage in an uncostumed performance of Romeo and Juliet before parting, partnering Rebekah Rimsay.
He wore white briefs, she was in a white long-legged leotard, so the emotion of the John Cranko pas de deux was heightened and the performance very raw-boned.
The Fourth Waltz from James Kudelka's Désir also seemed more moving than ever, perhaps the effect of the orchestra's much fuller sound as Ormsby Wilkins conducted them in playing the Prokofiev score. Xiao Nan Yu was the personification of longing in the arms of Ryan Boorne.
The music for the most part drowned out the sound of footfalls, but there will be no such thing as a soft descent for dancers on a stage with such proximity to the audience; it will be unforgiving in the instance of false steps or bad landings. All the more reason to admire Keiichi Hirano and Stacey Shiori Minagawa doing the Bluebird Pas de Deux from The Sleeping Beauty with such an illusion of lightness and quickness that one looked for wings sprouting out of their backs.
Even for those accustomed to good seats at the ballet, the dancers' personalities are suddenly more evident in the Four Seasons. Guillaume Côté and Hodgkinson wrapped up the evening beneath the huge set chandeliers of Grand Pas Classique, looking like the crown prince and princess of some European fiefdom. Côté danced with such obvious gusto, taking a deep breath before each grand gesture that he seemed to signal, "watch me now." And yet this was hardly offensive. He was just having a very good time, as were we all.
AoD
The Star on last night's ballet gala:
Ballet entertains at home
Ballet patrons attend first-night gala
`So thrilled,' says Kain of Four Seasons
Jun. 23, 2006. 06:32 AM
SUSAN WALKER
DANCE WRITER
"This is our new home and I am so thrilled to welcome you to it." Karen Kain, artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada, allowed herself a little actorly moment at the close of her remarks at the company's gala Illuminata Ball and opening show in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.
But the ballet's former prima ballerina wasn't faking her excitement. "Good things happen to people who wait," she said, noting that it has taken 55 years for the company to have a home stage suitable for the performance of ballet.
A fundraising evening that included dinner on stage for high-paying patrons, The Illuminata Ball marked the ballet's inaugural performance in the new house at the corner of Queen St. W. and University Ave. The ball was intended to raise $500,000.
(Under a tent at Nathan Phillips Square across the street there was room for 1,000 people to watch a free simulcast of the performance hosted by former National Ballet principal Rex Harrington.)
Kain's joy at occupying the Four Seasons was not misplaced.
The slightly narrower and deeper stage gives a sense of enclosing the dancers. If the Hummingbird was a ballroom, the Four Seasons is a salon, where dancers look like real people. The wide-open orchestra pit brings the National Ballet orchestra out from its bunker under the Hummingbird stage, into full view and full voice for the first time.
Heather Ogden and Nehemiah Kish had the privilege of being the first dancers to break in the new hall. They performed Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux choreographed by George Balanchine, Ogden showing an ease and flow that is hard to achieve in such a tricky piece. With the horseshoe arrangement of seats, even those in the fifth ring would have the sense that the dancers were performing directly to their seats.
Certainly the auditorium, with its ultra-clean lines and grey and beige colour scheme, offers no gaudy details to distract attention from the dancers on stage. The stripped-down décor was echoed in a pas de deux from William Forsythe's Herman Schmerman that showed both Greta Hodgkinson and Aleksandar Antonijevic in a new light. This pas de deux, exceedingly cheeky and contemporary, features two dancers who walk out of a frame like actors stepping out of a film. A kind of deconstruction of classical ballet, the piece is highly sophisticated play. Both in sassy canary-yellow pleated skirts (and not much more), Hodgkinson and Antonijevic showed off their technical expertise with brightness and humour.
No gala would be complete without a performance of the circus-y Don Quixote Pas de Deux. Sonia Rodriguez and Piotr Stanczyk rose to the occasion in a fiery execution of the challenging jetés and pirouettes.
Stanczyk returned to the stage in an uncostumed performance of Romeo and Juliet before parting, partnering Rebekah Rimsay.
He wore white briefs, she was in a white long-legged leotard, so the emotion of the John Cranko pas de deux was heightened and the performance very raw-boned.
The Fourth Waltz from James Kudelka's Désir also seemed more moving than ever, perhaps the effect of the orchestra's much fuller sound as Ormsby Wilkins conducted them in playing the Prokofiev score. Xiao Nan Yu was the personification of longing in the arms of Ryan Boorne.
The music for the most part drowned out the sound of footfalls, but there will be no such thing as a soft descent for dancers on a stage with such proximity to the audience; it will be unforgiving in the instance of false steps or bad landings. All the more reason to admire Keiichi Hirano and Stacey Shiori Minagawa doing the Bluebird Pas de Deux from The Sleeping Beauty with such an illusion of lightness and quickness that one looked for wings sprouting out of their backs.
Even for those accustomed to good seats at the ballet, the dancers' personalities are suddenly more evident in the Four Seasons. Guillaume Côté and Hodgkinson wrapped up the evening beneath the huge set chandeliers of Grand Pas Classique, looking like the crown prince and princess of some European fiefdom. Côté danced with such obvious gusto, taking a deep breath before each grand gesture that he seemed to signal, "watch me now." And yet this was hardly offensive. He was just having a very good time, as were we all.
AoD
B
building babel
Guest
Re: opera
ap: Your man, Nehemiah, acquitted himself very well in the opening piece - and mine, Guillaume, closed the show with his usual alpha-male flourish. Aleksander, Ryan, Keiichi and ( especially ) Piotr in his undies, formed the filling to their sandwich. And the girls were lovely too.
A small group of boy ballerinas - NBS students presumably - siting near interchange and I, squealed with delight and applauded wildly throughout the show.
ap: Your man, Nehemiah, acquitted himself very well in the opening piece - and mine, Guillaume, closed the show with his usual alpha-male flourish. Aleksander, Ryan, Keiichi and ( especially ) Piotr in his undies, formed the filling to their sandwich. And the girls were lovely too.
A small group of boy ballerinas - NBS students presumably - siting near interchange and I, squealed with delight and applauded wildly throughout the show.
F
FutureMayor
Guest
Re: Opera House Pride Week
damn, I missed that!
Louroz
damn, I missed that!
Louroz
A
andreapalladio
Guest
Re: opera
I look forward to the beginning of the ballet season, and glimpses of Nehemiah and the aptly named Christopher Body warming up in the ballet rehersal room.
I look forward to the beginning of the ballet season, and glimpses of Nehemiah and the aptly named Christopher Body warming up in the ballet rehersal room.
B
building babel
Guest
Re: Opera House Pride Week
Yes, the Druids did a lovely job of arranging for the rehearsal room to be positioned just so - so as to line up perfectly with your tower.
Yes, the Druids did a lovely job of arranging for the rehearsal room to be positioned just so - so as to line up perfectly with your tower.
B
building babel
Guest
Re: opera
... come the fall, the clock at Old City Hall will be striking 13, 14, 15 ....
... come the fall, the clock at Old City Hall will be striking 13, 14, 15 ....
A
andreapalladio
Guest
Re: Opera House Pride Week
Oh not at all, owing to distraction.
Oh not at all, owing to distraction.
W
wyliepoon
Guest
Four Seasons Centre Open House Photos
Went with Alvin today (Saturday) to check out our city's newest opera house. Here are some of my photos of the building's exterior and interior...
Exterior views (if you're a regular forumer you must have seen these views many times before)
Entrance to box office, where tickets for the open house are distributed
Subway connection to Osgoode station, just inside of the box office
After going through the box office is the amazing "City Room"
Grand Staircase from street level (Orchestra level) to Grand Ring level
View from top of Grand Staircase
View from Grand Ring level
Looking up the Glass Staircase
View from under the Glass Staircase, looking at the bottom of people's shoes
Aerial Amphitheatre, a concert venue located entirely within the City Room, below Ring 4 level
Looking down on the City Room from Ring 5 level, the highest public level of the opera house
The wood screen on the right separates the City Room from the entrances into the auditorium
The auditorium (R. Fraser Elliott Hall)
Box seats on the Grand Ring level
Auditorium ceiling
Henry N.R. Jackman Lounge (on Grand Ring level, facing Queen Street)
A bit of the room and the glass facade is cantilevered over the sidewalk of Queen Street. If you sit on the benches facing the street, you can see your feet dangling over the pedestrians below!
New Canada Life building from the lounge
Special lighting fixtures
Backstage tour
Dressing room
Typical high school lockers in the dressing room
Rehersal room
The Stage (note the size of the stage compared to the visitors)
Partly movable orchestra pit
Down to the basement... washrooms and coat check
Trough washing basin in the men's washroom!
*****
Video clips
City Room view
Auditorium view
Went with Alvin today (Saturday) to check out our city's newest opera house. Here are some of my photos of the building's exterior and interior...
Exterior views (if you're a regular forumer you must have seen these views many times before)
Entrance to box office, where tickets for the open house are distributed
Subway connection to Osgoode station, just inside of the box office
After going through the box office is the amazing "City Room"
Grand Staircase from street level (Orchestra level) to Grand Ring level
View from top of Grand Staircase
View from Grand Ring level
Looking up the Glass Staircase
View from under the Glass Staircase, looking at the bottom of people's shoes
Aerial Amphitheatre, a concert venue located entirely within the City Room, below Ring 4 level
Looking down on the City Room from Ring 5 level, the highest public level of the opera house
The wood screen on the right separates the City Room from the entrances into the auditorium
The auditorium (R. Fraser Elliott Hall)
Box seats on the Grand Ring level
Auditorium ceiling
Henry N.R. Jackman Lounge (on Grand Ring level, facing Queen Street)
A bit of the room and the glass facade is cantilevered over the sidewalk of Queen Street. If you sit on the benches facing the street, you can see your feet dangling over the pedestrians below!
New Canada Life building from the lounge
Special lighting fixtures
Backstage tour
Dressing room
Typical high school lockers in the dressing room
Rehersal room
The Stage (note the size of the stage compared to the visitors)
Partly movable orchestra pit
Down to the basement... washrooms and coat check
Trough washing basin in the men's washroom!
*****
Video clips
City Room view
Auditorium view
E
Ed007Toronto
Guest
Fantastic! Love seeing people's shoes through the glass floor.
S
spmarshall
Guest
Those are excellent photos. The exterior does not do justice to what's contained inside.
I passed the Opera House last Thursday, the opening for the Ballet. The City Room and lounge were packed with men in tuxedos and women in dresses - the City Room and lounge did exactly what they were meant to do. I had the impression that it was an aquarium, but instead of fish, it was the well-heeled elite that were on display.
I passed the Opera House last Thursday, the opening for the Ballet. The City Room and lounge were packed with men in tuxedos and women in dresses - the City Room and lounge did exactly what they were meant to do. I had the impression that it was an aquarium, but instead of fish, it was the well-heeled elite that were on display.
P
paulbali
Guest
The glass box is probably the best part of the building, visually; but is a glass box all that remarkable, really? It seems to be getting an awful lot of effusive praise; part of the reason is there is little else to recommend the building visually, perhaps.