National Ballet brings enchantment of Sleeping Beauty to new home

The National Ballet of Canada opens its first season in the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto Thursday with a tried and true favourite, The Sleeping Beauty.

The ballet, choreographed for the National Ballet in 1972 by Rudolph Nureyev, has been given a $700,000 makeover for its debut in the company's new home.

Artistic director Karen Kain has restaged the ballet and much has been invested to restore the original splendour of the costumes, wigs and scenery originally designed by Nicholas Georgiadis.

It's hoped the magic of this fairy-tale ballet will seduce patrons into a new, more extensive season in a new building.

The Four Seasons Centre has earned rave reviews as an opera house, with the Canadian Opera Company's well-regarded Ring Cycle in September.

The sight lines are expected to be good for the ballet, with many seats much closer to the dancers than was the case in the Hummingbird Centre.

Principal dancers Greta Hodgkinson and Guillaume Ct will dance the lead roles of Aurora and Florimund on opening night.

Along with a new home comes some fresh faces, with several dancers making their debuts in The Sleeping Beauty.

Principal dancer Zdenek Konvalina will make his debut with the company dancing Florimund on Nov. 12, and both principal dancer Heather Ogden and first soloist Stacey Shiori Minagawa dance Aurora for the first time later in the run.

Aleksandar Antonijevic and Nehemiah Kish also will dance Florimund, and Sonia Rodriguez and Xiao Nan Yuwill take the role of Aurora.

There will be a new principal conductor in the pit opening night, the highly regarded David Briskin, starting his first season as music director.

Playing for the ballet requires some unique talents, Briskin said in an interview with CBC Radio.

"You learn how to look at a dancer and to know what's working and what's not working," he said.

"And one of the many things you provide here is a level of comfort so they can dance their best . You know, you can't always be completely autocratic in saying I want it this way or the composer wants it this way. There's always a bit of accommodation, so it attracts a certain type of person to ballet but it can be very, very rewarding because of the repertoire."

American-born Briskin has hadan extensive conducting career with modern dance companies and spent seven years with the American Ballet Theater. He has been a guest conductor with the National Ballet and continues to guest conduct with the New York City Ballet.

Briskin had praise for the clarity of sound in the Four Seasons Centre and said he is looking forward to opening night.

"I think the orchestra is ready, the dancers are ready, the stage is ready and now it's time to introduce this new era of the National Ballet of Canada to the public here, and I think it's going to be a very exciting time," he said.

The Sleeping Beauty plays in Toronto Nov. 9 - 19.