National Ballet to romance fans in new home

The National Ballet dances its first public performance in its new Toronto home, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, on Thursday evening.

The internationally renowned ballet corps will welcome guests to its new performance space with a selection of pas de deux, the most romantic of dances and often a favoured choice of ballet fans.

The performance in the 2,043-seat Four Seasons Centreis sold out, as is the Illuminati Ball that will follow it.

But those left out of the action can still join in a free live broadcast of the performance from Nathan Phillips Square, in front of Toronto's city hall.

Rex Harrington, the former principal dancer who is recovering from surgery after being injured in a Toronto production of Song and Dance, will host the outdoor broadcast.

A giant screen under a large tent will show the action from the stage, including performances of the Bluebird pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty and a selection from Romeo and Juliet.

Karen Kain, artistic director of the National Ballet, will introduce guests to the new performance space, which the ballet shares with the Canadian Opera Company.

The horseshoe-shaped hall, designed by Jack Diamond, is expected to give patrons a closer view of the ballet than was possible inmany seats in the Hummingbird Centre.

Principal dancers and soloists, including Greta Hodgkinson, Sonia Rodriguez, Xiao Nan Yu, Guillaume Ct and Piotr Stanczyk, are scheduled to perform selections from seven dances:

• Tchaikovsky pas de deux.
• a pas de deux from Herman Schmerman.
• Grand pas de deux from Don Quixote.
• First Waltz from Dsir.
• Bluebird pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty.
• Romeo and Juliet before parting.
• Grand Pas Classique.

About 500 people are expected to rub shoulders with the dancers at the Illuminata Ball, a fund-raiser following the ballet.

The Four Seasons Centre plans a public open house on June 24 and 25.