By Garrett Smith and Uwe Scholz
It is on the timeless notes of two famous symphonies that Les Grands Ballets will inaugurate their new season at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, with Dancing Beethoven.
American Garrett Smith will open the evening with the remarkable Symphony No 5, one of the world’s most important and celebrated symphonies. Its iconic theme opens with four striking notes, the omnipresent motif of an immediately recognizable symphony. According to a popular anecdote, Beethoven with those four notes was seeking to echo fate knocking at the door of Man. Choreographer Garrett Smith pays tribute, with his creation Complete, to that imposing piece. Drawing inspiration from the difference and the uniqueness of each of us, Smith creates a work celebrating the power that results from accepting our individuality: an ode to the freedom rediscovered when masks fall.
Completing this double-bill is a bequest from the late Uwe Scholz. The dancers, in symbiosis with the majestic music of Beethoven’s Symphony No 7, will present a work that produces, with its athletic achievements and its geometry danced in unison, a leitmotif effect.
“For me, nothing better reflects the resilience of our dancers, of our artists, this past year than the powerful notes of Beethoven. Now that health measures permit, I wanted to treat our audience to a reopening on a grand scale with two spectacular pieces that bring the entire company together on stage!”
Ivan Cavallari, Artistic Director of Les Grands Ballets
Subject to change
Rachele Buriassi with Robby Doble (Friday September 10 at 8 p.m. and Saturday September 11 at 8 p.m.)
Anna Ishii with Célestin Boutin (Saturday September 11 at 2 p.m. and Sunday September 12 at 2 p.m.)
and the Company
Maude Sabourin with Robby Doble
and the Company
Célestin Boutin with André Santos
and the Company
Vanesa Garcia-Ribala Montoya with Roddy Doble (Friday September 10 at 8 p.m. and Saturday September 11 at 8 p.m.)
Rachele Buriassi with Esnel Ramos (Saturday September 11 at 2 p.m. and Sunday September 12 at 2 p.m.)
and the Company
Trust : Maude Sabourin (Friday September 10 at 8 p.m. and Saturday September 11 at 8 p.m.) and Rachele Buriassi (Saturday September 11 at 2 p.m. and Sunday September 12 at 2 p.m.)
Freedom : Raphaël Bouchard (Friday September 10 at 8 p.m. and Saturday September 11 at 8 p.m.) and Célestin Boutin (Saturday September 11 at 2 p.m. and Sunday September 12 at 2 p.m.)
and the Company
Duration: 35 minutes
Duration: 45 minutes
Recorded music.
Total duration: 1h45, including a 20-minute intermission.
Full Credits
Head of Wardrobe: Mélanie Ferrero
Head Stage Carpenter: Kenneth Gregg
Artistic Director: Ivan Cavallari
Executive Director: Marc Lalonde
President Emeritus: Constance V. Pathy, C.M., C.Q., DMus.
Founder: Ludmilla Chiriaeff
Artistic Director Emeritus: Gradimir Pankov
