Check out HO performing the Royal Pain in the Toes Adagio! Pins and needles, needles and pins. It's a happy ballerina that grins.

Thank you for posting the NBoC video of Heather Ogden rehearsing the Rose Adagio and Karen Kain talking about working with Nureyev in this version of Sleeping Beauty. It promises to be a memorable performance.

The NBoC will also perform Sleeping Beauty at the National Arts Centre.

Nureyev, co-starring Greta Hodgkinson as Margot Fonteyn, will air on Bravoon Dec 1. I’m all in on the casting, as there is definitely a resemblance but I don’t believe Greta has earned the designation of prima ballerina, as BRAVO has dubbed her NBoC status-A title that does not even exist with the National.

The National updated their web dancer photos, which I assume will also be in the 2009/2010 yearbook. Check them out!:D

I'm not sure I like the fashion model theme they used here.

I'm with LMCTech on this one... I want dancer photos to be nice en-face shots so that I can match faces on stage to faces in the program. The photos of the guys with most of their heads hidden by a hoody are absolutely useless.

I don't mind some 'fashion shots' to fill out a program, but the head shots should be just that - head shots!

It would be nice if NBoC followed in the steps of companies that produce inexpensive little head shot books. But that's probably not feasible in this economy...

Kate

If you want head shots, check out the pics for the Artistic staff and Principal Character artists. I rather liked the pics for the apprentices who looked very bright and beaming with light. Sonia Rodriguez looked the best fashion and pose wise for me from the Principals. I didn’t like the look for one of my favs, H.O. Not quite sure what Richard Landry was up to with his blue hoody look! Egad...

Here’s a good head shot for Brett van Sickle. The corps showed a lot of personality for me-Especially from Krista Dowson, Juri Hiraoka, James Leja, McGee Maddox, Antonella Martinelli, and Joseph Welbes.

Oh well, it’s all a matter of taste. You can’t please everyone. I’m sure the pics will be attractive enough to sell some yearbooks. Something seems wrong when I like something and everyone else is a critic. I’m usually the big critic around here! What gives?

I agree with ksneds. I do not like the pictures at all, although some are worse than others. I wonder if they reflect the personalities of the dancers. I would prefer head shots.

Did anyone else notice that some of the men look like they have become wrestlers or weight lifters. There are arm muscles on some of them that surely were not there last year. A new weight lifting program for the men perhaps. Strange. Not attractive in my view.

I don't mind the pictures so much as stylized shots, it's just that I don't think they serve well as head shots. As I said, they're fine for additional shots in the yearbook, but I like en-face, well-lit shots that I can use to identify the dancers for proper head shots. My pet peeves are shots where part of the face is hidden and shots where the dancer's head is at an angle (I don't hold my head at an angle to view the images!).

By playing with clothes, lighting, background and jewelry, the dancers can still express their individuality. And there's room for the stylized shots in additional web/yearbook shots (some companies provide additional photos of each dancer in their bios). I've found that companies like NYCB, ABT, San Francisco Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet tend to provide very nice head shots, and often additional 'fun' shots.


As to the muscles - that could easily just be the lighting. Most male dancers tend to have very defined arms, and many do lift weights on a regular basis. So it could simply be the specific poses or angle of lighting that makes them look buffer than before!

It appears Susan Walker has retired, as Michael Crabb penned yet another article for the Toronto Star promoting the upcoming Sleeping Beauty and mixed program. Smart move by Crabb, as there have been many reports of the National Post going belly up.

Sonia Rodriguez and Bridgett Zehr dance for Elle Magazine in a Tale of Two Ballerinas!

Paula Citron of the Globe & Mail has given her golden seal of mint approval to a rising star at the NBoC, Bridgett Zehr!

Here’s some more info about Nureyev, co-starring Greta Hodgkinson.

Casting has been released for the mixed fare.