Ken McCarter Award for Distinguished NBS Alumni

Aszure Barton is an award-winning choreographer who, for over 25 years, has created work that explores themes of human connection and physical form in surprising, touching, irreverent, and joyful ways. Her work is formed by the deep bonds she makes with dancers and a laser-like attention to detail that reveals the inherent wisdom of the body. 

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Aszure started tap dancing as a young child and moved to Toronto at 14 to attend Canada’s National Ballet School (NBS). Together with her classmates, she helped kickstart the Stephen Godfrey choreographic workshop, which is still ongoing today. 

After graduating she apprenticed with the National Ballet of Canada and then traveled throughout Europe where she was exposed to various choreographic languages. She then lived in Montreal before moving to New York City, working supplemental jobs like waitressing, producing her own work, and freelancing with other independent choreographers before founding her own company, Aszure Barton & Artists. Her company made its official premiere at the Montreal Fringe Festival followed by an inaugural season at NY’s Joyce Soho. 

Soon after she became the first artist-in-residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center in Manhattan. The next few years would find Aszure touring the globe with her own company and with Hell’s Kitchen Dance. It was around this time she choreographed the Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera starring Cyndi Lauper and Alan Cumming.

She has created works for many notable companies to date including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre, Nederlands Dans Theater, Martha Graham Dance Company, Teatro alla Scala, The National Ballet of Canada, among many others. She was proclaimed official Ambassador of Contemporary Choreography in Alberta, she is a Bessie Award Honoree, and she has received distinctions including the prestigious Arts & Letters Award, joining the likes of Margaret Atwood, Oscar Peterson, and Karen Kain. As an educator, Aszure is regularly invited to collaborate with art institutions around the globe.

 Photo by Daile Carrazana                              Photo by Bettina Stoess

Born in Kristianstad Sweden, Johan Persson began his dance training at the Royal Swedish Ballet School before attending Canada’s National Ballet School in 1983 where he trained until 1990. It was at NBS that he was first introduced to photography in academic courses offered at the School. Following his graduation, Johan went on to a professional dance career, first at The National Ballet of Canada where he was awarded the Erik Bruhn Prize in 1995 and became a principal dancer the following year. He then moved to London, England, in 2001 to join The Royal Ballet as a principal dancer.

Throughout his time as a dancer, Johan maintained his passion for photography by capturing images of his colleagues on and off stage, so when an injury prevented his continued pursuit of a dance career he naturally turned to his love of photography as both a professional and artistic way forward. After pitching a photography book highlighting the daily life of Royal Ballet dancers, the resulting book, The Royal Ballet 161 Images, provided a glimpse behind the doors of The Royal Opera House and marked the first of several photography books Johan would create. Beginning in 2003, he re-trained in photography at the London College of Communication, further developing the skills necessary for the role, many of which were already second nature as a result of his background in dance. As a photographer, Johan specializes in portraiture, advertising and production photography for film and live theatre. 

Since becoming a photographer, Johan has photographed several of the ballet world’s most prominent stars including Carlos Acosta, Marianela Núñez and Zenaida Yanowsky. He has also photographed actors ranging from Dame Judi Dench to Daniel Kaluuya and Keira Knightley to the recent ABBA Voyage show. Apart from his promotional and production photography, Johan has exhibited at Westminster, The Riverside Gallery (Richmond), the Mikimoto (Japan), as well as in solo exhibitions at The National Theatre, The Royal Opera House (Covent Garden), The Donmar Warehouse and Sheffield Theatres. His books include Pas de Deux: The Royal Ballet in Pictures, Garsington Opera: A Celebration, and A Decade at the Donmar: 2002-2012.

Johan is a member of The Association of Photographers and works out of his own studio based in Hackney, London.

Photo by Ben Delfont

Jason Beechey 

Jason Beechey is a global leader in creating opportunities for young dancers-in-training and a powerful advocate for the broad social relevance of dance-training institutions. As Rector of the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz Dresden, Beechey offered singular leadership during COVID-19, developing some of the first protocols that positioned dance-training institutions around the world to successfully reopen after initial lockdowns.

Emily Molnar, CM: Artistic director, leader, dance artist and choreographer

Emily Molnar, CM is an internationally respected and critically acclaimed dance artist, choreographer, mentor, arts advocate and leader. She has served as Artistic Director for Ballet BC since 2009, and will soon transition to her new role as Artistic Director of the Nederlands Dans Theater.

After graduating from Canada’s National Ballet School in 1989, Molnar pursued a performance career as a member of the National Ballet of Canada, a soloist with the Ballett Frankfurt, and a principal dancer with Ballet BC. As a dance artist and choreographer, she has worked and toured extensively throughout Europe, Asia, Mexico, Canada and the U.S., where she created works for Ballet BC, Alberta Ballet, Ballet Mannheim, Ballet Augsburg, Cedar Lake Dance, ProArteDanza and Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company and New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, among others. As a leader and advocate for dance, she has served as Artistic Director of Dance at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and for six years sat on the Board of Directors at the BC Arts Council.

Her contributions have been recognized with awards and distinctions including being named the Globe and Mail’s 2013 Dance Artist of the Year; receiving the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award, BC Community Achievement Award and the YWCA Women of Distinction Award in Art, Culture & Design; being inducted into the BC Hall of Fame for contributions to the province’s entertainment industry and cultural landscape; and being appointed to the Order of Canada for her artistic leadership of Ballet BC and creative contribution to advancing dance in Canada.

Reflecting on her time at NBS:

“So much about what I do today leads back to my time at NBS,” says Molnar. “The School embraced the responsibility of training not only dancers, but thought leaders—thoughtful citizens of the world who are going to lead conversations and pursue a meaningful purpose in life. One of the most significant contemplations the School inspires is how dance articulates living and informs the way we see the world, how it helps us unpack complicated questions and feel things on another level. The inspiring trajectory of so many NBS alumni shows us just how many different ways that can be, whether or not we’re walking on a stage.”

​Dr. Kali Barrett—MD, MSc, FRCPC: Critical care physician, health services researcher & COVID-19 scientist 

Dr. Kali Barrett, MD, MSc, FRCPC, is a critical care physician at Toronto Western Hospital, at the University Health Network, and her research is focused on value-based delivery of critical care programs, and evidence-based policy development.

After attending Canada’s National Ballet School, Dr. Barrett pursued a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Art History with a minor in Health Studies from Queen’s University. She went on to receive her medical degree from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario, and a Master’s of Science in Health Policy, Planning & Financing from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the London School of Economics. For her dissertation and course work, Dr. Barrett received the Brian Abel Smith Award.

Dr. Barrett currently serves on the Ontario Health Technology Advisory Committee, which reviews the economic and clinical evidence for health technologies and makes funding recommendations to the Ontario Ministry of Health. Recently, she has also worked on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic, working in the intensive care unit caring for COVID-19 patients. She is also a member of the COVID-19 Modelling Collaborative--a group of clinicians and scientists using health system modelling to identify potential pandemic-associated capacity restraints in healthcare resources. Their work has informed Ontario health-policy development during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Reflecting on her time at NBS:

“The education I received at NBS is fundamental to who I am today, both in its content and its quality,” shares Dr. Barrett. “I distinctly remember the teachers who sparked my love of science and art history, and who conveyed how important it was that we took our academic education seriously. The path I took after graduation didn’t include a career in dance, and it wasn’t a straight line to medicine, but it was full of opportunities that I attribute to my NBS education, and it has been enriched by many extraordinary life-long friendships that started at NBS. I was able to build on the many transferable skills that I gained at the School, and have ultimately landed in a career that is meaningful to me, and incredibly rewarding.”