Dance Education & Outreach

International Dance Day
Masterclasses and Workshops
Youth Focus Group for Dance

2007-2008 Programmes for Students and Teachers

 For complete programme details and application forms download the 2007-2008 NAC Programmes for Students and Teachers brochure in PDF format.

CELEBRATE INTERNATIONAL DANCE DAY!

Initiated in 1982, International Dance Day is celebrated worldwide every April 29th. Please take a moment to read the following International Dance Day message written by National Ballet of Canada principal dancer Sonia Rodriguez and Canadian figure skating icon Kurt Browning, and to think about dance on April 29th.

Are we all not dancers? Of course, in our case, you might say that one of us is a dancer while the other is a skater, but then don’t skaters dance on the ice? Children can hardly resist the urge to move when given space and music and in doing so are they not dancers? Isn't it possible for everyone in the world to dance even if it is just moving back and forth, tapping a toe or letting their imaginations take them anywhere within the music?

Dance is there for all of us to explore but most of us are taken on the journey by those up on the stage. For some of us the exploration of dance is a lifelong relationship where body, soul and mind exist in perfect harmony. We give and give of ourselves to the art form and in return we are renewed by its endless possibilities and the joy of the performance.

On this day, let us be reminded that dance is a right of nature and that where there is life there is dance. Today let’s come together and celebrate not just dance, but life itself.

A wealth of activities are happening at the National Arts Centre on and around April 29th to promote the art of dance

The National Ballet of Canada performs The Merry Widow April 24-26
Karen Kain, Artistic Director of The National Ballet, gives a free public pre-show chat on Friday, April 25th in Le Salon at 19:00
Tomas Schramek of The National Ballet teaches a public class to advanced ballet students and adult dancers on Saturday, April 26th from 10:00 to 11:30

Akram Khan Company + The National Ballet of China perform bahok April 29-30
Guy Cools, Dramaturg gives a free public pre-show chat on bahok on Tuesday, April 29th in the Theatre Inner Lobby at 18:30
The Akram Khan Company gives a free master class to professional and pre-professional dance artists on Wednesday, April 30th from 10:00 to 12:00

April 25th to May 2nd, come try out the Pas de danse, pas de vie! dance steps created, this year, by choreographer and NAC Associate Dance Artist Marie Chouinard. Painted by the NAC Dance Youth Focus Group in front of our Wall of Artists and outside the building too, the dance steps are dedicated to teachers who introduce primary and high school students to the pleasures of dance. Pas de danse, pas de vie! is an annual event created in 2005 by Le Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD) to highlight the vitality and diversity of professional dance in Quebec.

May 8th to 10th, the NAC presents the last engagement of its 2007-08 Dance season. France’s Ballet de Lorraine performs La Nuit des interprètes, a unique evening that traces the evolutionary arc of the development of modern dance through twelve captivating works.

International Dance Day activities are also being held in our local community.

In the Ottawa Dance Community:

• Local public school students and teachers celebrate the day with performances, workshops, announcements and celebration.
• Grasshoppa Dance Exchange, scores by Renata Soutter and Julie Anne Ryan, Hop on April 29th. Keep your eyes open for hoppas in main city plaza.
• Propeller Dance holds a free open dance class on Monday, April 28th 6:30 to 8:00 pm at Richelieu Vanier Community Centre, 300 ave des-peres-blancs.
• Croatian Folklore Ensemble 30th Anniversary Concert, Saturday, May 3, 2008 at 1 p.m. Kailash Mital Theatre at Carleton University http://www.croatoan.ca
• Tara Luz Danse and Dorsale Danse perform at La Nouvelle Scene, April 24-26 8:00 pm
• Ottawa School of Speech and Drama celebrates the day with a special surprise for staff.
• The School of Dance celebrates the day with activities for the whole family.

Kick your heels together and Step Up to Dance!

Happy International Dance Day from everyone in the Dance Department.

* * *

DANCE ARTISTS, TEACHERS, STUDENTS!

April 29th 2008 marks International Dance Day! Put your creative thinking caps on and start planning your event.
IDEAS:

• Invite new audiences to a dance performance
• Make a morning school announcement
• Do a conga line circling your entire school
• Bring in a guest artist to facilitate a workshop in your school
• Advertise a free dance class
• Recreate a series of choreographic steps Dance Steps, Life Steps!
• Attend a dance performance – Bahok has its Canadian premiere at the NAC
• Have a dance studio open-house
• Invite the public to a rehearsal
• Include mention of International Dance Day in a show program
• Put on a lecture about dance history
• Exhibit a photo display of your dance company’s history
• Organize a dance on film evening
• Write an article on dance for your local community newspaper
• Create your very own event.

We encourage you to keep entrance to events free and remember to invite people who do not normally attend dance events. International Dance Day is dedicated to bringing dance to everyone.

 Download a template and easy “how-to” instructions for Dance Steps, Life Steps or create your own steps.

How-to Instructions for making Dance Steps, Life Steps
Right foot
Left foot
Blackburn choreography template

In order to achieve maximum success, prepare early. Inform Renata Soutter of your event by April 11th at soutter@magma.ca and we’ll add it to the NAC’s website.

Masterclasses and Workshops

National Ballet of Canada Public Class
Class open to advanced ballet students and dancers (aged 14 and up)

Saturday, April 26, 2008
10:00 to 11:30 a.m.

Location: Rehearsal Hall B, National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin Street, Ottawa (Enter by Stage Door)

Cost: $15, payable in cash on site.

You must RESERVE a place. Leave a message for Renata Soutter, Dance Outreach Coordinator, at (613) 947-7000 ext. 588 or soutter@magma.ca.

Tomas Schramek, Ballet Master and Principal Character Artist for The National Ballet will teach the class.

Tomas Schramek
Born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, Tomas Schramek joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1969, after studying expansively in his native country and receiving a BFA from the Academy of Musical and Theatre Arts. He was made a Soloist with the National Ballet in 1971 and Principal Dancer in 1973. Mr. Schramek became a Principal Character Artist with the company in 1990, Company Teacher in 1992 and in 2005 was appointed Ballet Master.

In his long and acclaimed career with the National Ballet, Mr. Schramek has danced most of the male leading roles in the classical repertoire, including the Prince in Swan Lake, Albrecht in Giselle, James in La Sylphide, Romeo and Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, Colas in La Fille mal gardée and Franz in Coppélia. He has also performed in many contemporary ballets, notably James Kudelka’s The Four Seasons, Maurice Bejart’s Songs of a Wayfarer and Sir Kenneth Macmillan’s Elite Syncopations.

As a Principal Character Artist, Mr. Schramek brings a note-perfect sense of theatricality, comic invention and exuberance to such roles as Gremio in The Taming of the Shrew, Simone in La Fille mal gardée, the title role in Don Quixote and Dr. Coppelius in Coppélia. In 2004 Mr. Schramek was honoured by the Slovakia Republic for his accomplishments as a dancer living abroad.

Akram Khan Company Dance Workshop
Workshop open to professional and advanced level pre-professional dance artists

Wednesday, April 30, 2008
10:00 to 11:30 am
National Arts Centre, Rehearsal Hall

Drawing inspiration from Kathak (Indian Classical Dance) and contemporary dance, Akram Khan Company Dancers will introduce participants to a technique developed by Akram Khan through his own rigorous training and experience in both of these disciplines.

You must RESERVE a place in the class. Leave a message for Renata Soutter, Dance Outreach Coordinator, at (613) 947-7000 ext. 588 or soutter@magma.ca

Ballet de Lorraine Masterclass
Workshop open to professional and advanced level pre-professional dance artists

Saturday, May 10th, 2008
10:00 to 12:00

Artists from Centre Chorégraphique National - Ballet de Lorraine will teach a contemporary dance technique class. Jean Didion, on accordion and piano, will accompany the class.

Location: Rehearsal Hall A, National Arts Centre, 53 Elgin Street, Ottawa (Enter by Stage Door)

Cost: $20, payable in cash on site.

Space is limited. You must RESERVE a place in the class. Register your attendance with Renata Soutter, Dance Outreach Coordinator, soutter@magma.ca or (613) 947-7000 ext. 588

Youth Focus Group for Dance

Up for an experience of a lifetime?
Join the National Arts Centre’s Youth Focus Group for Dance.

The NAC Dance Department invites young people, aged 14 to17, to join this dynamic group for 2007-2008.

• Top grades not necessarily required.
• Knowledge of plies and pirouettes not necessarily required.
• Enthusiasm, interest and commitment…mandatory.

The Dance Department formed its first Youth Focus Group in 2003. Every year since then, a new group of youth have had the incredible opportunity to gain an in-depth perspective on dance and the performing arts and contribute to building youth’s appreciation and interest in dance.

The NAC Youth Focus Group for Dance will offer participants:

• A deep appreciation for dance
• A chance to communicate personal aesthetic experiences
• An opportunity to become an “ambassador” for dance
• First hand experience with career choices in the arts
• Free access to attend dance performances at the NAC with the group.

Eight students will be chosen. To apply to be a member of the NAC Dance Youth Focus Group submit a one-page letter explaining why you want to join the group and how you think the group can build youth’s interest in dance in your school or community. Email your submission to soutter@magma.ca by or before September 28, 2007.

Students will be required to attend two or three evening meetings and shows at the NAC per month (usually on Fridays or Tuesdays) from October 2007 to May 2008 and participate in outreach activities in schools and their communities throughout the year.

Questions? Contact, Renata Soutter, NAC Dance Outreach Coordinator at soutter@magma.ca, (613) 947-7000 ext. 588 (voicemail box), (819) 773-7523 (cell).

Past Events

Royal Winnipeg Ballet Classes and Artist Q&A by First Soloist Alexander Gamayunov and Jo-Ann Sundermeier
Saturday, January 26, 2008

Master Dance Class by Crystal Pite
Saturday, November 10, 2007

Masterclass by Associate Artistic Director Ms. LEE Ching-Chun of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
Thursday, October 18, 2007

Dance Workshop for Teachers
Professional Development for K-12 Teachers
Friday, October 12th, 2007

Teachers’ Dance Workshop and Information Night
Wednesday, October 10th, 2007