Yesterday, a young ballerina by the name of Ludmilla Chiriaeff, the daughter of Russian immigrants, left Berlin and settled in Montreal to fulfill her dream: to teach and share her love for dance. In 1957, she who we called Madame Chiriaeff, created Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the very first professional ballet company in Quebec.
Today, the heart of Montreal beats to the rhythm of dance.
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal has become a world-renowned creation, production and performance company, dedicated to the development of ballet in all its forms, while remaining faithful to the spirit of classical technique. It connects with audiences at home and abroad, spurring discovery, stirring emotion, stimulating the imagination and conveying the passion for dance.
Les Grands Ballets strives for excellence and embodies openness, creativity and audacity in an inspired vision of society.
The company is also strongly commitmed to the local community. Since 1997, The Nutcracker Fund for Children has given thousands of children from disadvantaged communities an unforgettable holiday season, with educational workshops and a free performance of The Nutcracker. In 2010, Les Grands Ballets launched The Nutcracker Market—Montreal’s first non-profit Christmas market—to raise money for the Fund.
Les Grands Ballets is currently preparing a number of large-scale projects, in particular those for the National Centre for Dance Therapy, launched in 2013. In 2017, the company relocated to its new premises, the Édifice Wilder Espace danse, in the heart of Montreal’s Quartier des spectacles, a unique creative crossroads. All of these initiatives have one goal: Moving the world. Differently.
