Day Three at the Assemblée Internationale
by Katharine Harris, NBS' Media Relations & Communications Officer

Today was another great day at Canada’s National Ballet School’s Assemblée International. The day started with ballet class, but this time the junior school grades (six through nine) were able to observe classes. The experience for all of us is an amazing one, but for NBS’ younger students, they’re viewing not only gifted dancers from across the world, but also the most amazing and remarkable ballet staff. Today alone, our students participated in or watched classes led by Ramona de Saá, Mark Annear, Jean-Yves Esquerre and Jason Beechey. Other teachers over the past few days included Joanne Zimmerman, Gary Norman, Lola de Avila, Amanda Beck, Mirta Hermida, Gailene Stock, Niels Balle and Tadeusz Matacz.

I dropped in on one of the grade seven classes this afternoon, to hear what they had seen, and they had some great comments. They were astounded at the natural flexibility demonstrated by so many of the visiting Cuban dancers. They were also very impressed with the choreography they saw being rehearsed by The Royal Ballet School. Some of them had the opportunity to watch some of the students from the Rotterdam Dance Academy, which is one of the visiting schools with more of a focus on contemporary dance. This seemed especially thrilling for them, as there were lots of comments like "It was so cool, could you believe when they – " and then the NBS junior students would excitedly demonstrate or describe something they’d seen.

The energy here continues to be so exciting, and with the first program’s Dress Rehearsal tonight, it’s only increasing. I can’t wait to see the run through tonight, and then more rehearsals tomorrow!

A Breathtaking Performance by the Royal Conservatory
by Patricia Morrison, NBS' Web Content Manager

Tonight, I had the pleasure of attending the Dress Rehearsal for Program A. Besides the dancing itself, one of the greatest experiences of a live performance is the power of the collective audience reaction.

When the curtains rose for Jiří Kylián’s Falling Angels excerpt, the Royal Conservatory’s dancers were posed dramatically in a freeze frame, unmoving in the dark silence. A hush fell over the audience, as we waited in anticipation. It seemed we mirrored the dancers then, as none of us were blinking nor breathing. One-by-one, the dancers released their statuesque frames to glide slowly toward us, with only the sound of their swishing feet. A single drum beat began, and their bodies pulsed with it. As the percussions gradually layered and the dancers’ movements became more dramatic, the audience was drawn forward to the edge of our seats. The music seemed to end abruptly because the dancers decided to stop, rather than vice versa.

The audience remained silent for a moment longer, breathless, the spell yet unbroken. Then, as if by the snap of fingers, we all simultaneously exploded in cheering and clapping. A deservedly intense reaction to an amazing performance!