ECHOES

Lenght : 14:00 minutes
Choreography: Jorge García
Music : Jules Massenet, ‘Le Cid: Andalouse: V. Catalane’

The finesse and the power of Cuban ballet are on the menu with Majísimo, by choreographer Jorge García, a product of the renowned Ballet Nacional de Cuba. While celebrating all the power of classical ballet, Majísimo also finds inspiration in the traditions of Spanish dance.

Casting : Anya Nesvitaylo, Graeme Fuhrman, Yui Sugawara, Esnel Ramos, Sofía González, Stefano Russiello, Emily He, Enno Kleinehanding

Lenght : 2:31 minutes
Choregraphy : Asaf Messerer
Music : Sergei Rachmaninoff, ‘Spring Waters’

Created in 1959 by Asaf Messerer, choreographer and former chief soloist with the celebrated Bolshoi Ballet, Springs Waters is an energetic and ethereal pas de deux that conjures up the first days of spring. Recognized for its highly athletic factor, this short piece features the agility of Les Grands Ballets’ dancers in a choreography that is literally astounding.

Casting : Myriam Simon, Melih Mertel

Lenght : 5:40 minutes
Choreography: Peter Quanz
Music : Bryson Andres, ‘Young and Beautiful’

Canadian Peter Quanz returns to the stage of Les Grands Ballets with Blushing, a breathtaking piece that considers two young lovers at the start of their relationship. A pas de deux that will bring butterflies to your stomach, like the giddiness of first love.

Casting : Anna Ishii, Célestin Boutin

Lenght : 9:10 minutes
Choreography : Marius Petipa

While hunting in the forest, Prince Siegfried encounters a flock of white swans. As he aims his crossbow at the birds, one of them transforms into a beautiful young maiden. She explains that she has been cursed and is a swan by day, a young woman by night. Fearless in the face of dark magic, Prince Siegfried listens only to his heart and falls deeply in love with the mysterious young woman.

The most famous of all classical ballet is renowned for both Tchaikovsky’s sumptuous score and the technical mastery it requires. Discover an excerpt from Petipa and Ivanov’s legendary ballet, the quintessence of romantic ballet.

Casting : Rachele Buriassi, Esnel Ramos

Lenght: 10:35 minutes
Choreography: Hélène Blackburn
Music : Dear Criminals, ‘Solo Daph’, ‘Disco 1’

Warding off ill fortune and the pandemic, Hélène Blackburn accepted an invitation from Les Grands Ballets to create a piece for 8 dancers. In these times of rare and fortuitous encounters, the choreographer plunges with pleasure into the world of these exceptional performers.

Lively and precise, her dance, never without a virtuosic element, unfolds in time and space by way of a succession of solos and duos that comprise instants of both delight and impromptu encounters.

Like the pagan festivities that marked the imaginations of pandemics past, this little example of one reminds us of just how much the call of the other can prove to be irresistible. To the music by the band Dear Criminals, Fête Sauvage invites us to minutes of happiness and stolen pleasures, so that we may forget and immerse ourselves for a few brief moments in the paradise lost of life as it was.

Casting : James Lyttle, Julia Bergua, Nicholas Jones, Éline Malègue, Raphaël Bouchard, Maude Sabourin, Melih Mertel, Kiara DeNae Felder

Lenght : 4 min
Choreography : Étienne Delorme
Music : Essaie pas « Complet brouillé » (DFA)

Discover Complet brouillé, Les Grands Ballets' dancer Étienne Delorme's first piece for the company, a electrifying solo exploring the desire to live fully.

‘’ I believe that most people have already experienced this: you’re desperately want to have fun but you can’t be mindful. While listening to this piece of music, a specific image came to mind - a person unable to fully enjoy themselves in a nightclub. As if, despite the total control of the music on one’s body, a search for inner peace is essential to be able to fully seize the present moment.’’ - Étienne Delorme

Lenght : 7 minutes
Choreography: Vanesa Garcia-Ribala Montoya
Music: Johann Sebastian Bach, ‘St. Matthew Passion, BWV 244: Erbarme dich’

A journey at the heart of human emotions, Miséricorde is Principal dancer and choreographer Vanesa G.R. Montoya’s latest work for Les Grands Ballets.

Initially presented as a part of her piece Lacrimosa, a requiem created following the loss of a loved one, Miséricorde is an excerpt from this piece, which explores compassion, the quest for redemption and forgiveness.

Casting : Vanesa Garcia-Ribala Montoya & Enno Kleinhanding

Lenght : 4:00 minutes
Choreography: Alberto Alonso
Music: Rodion Chtchedrine after Georges Bizet, ‘Carmen Suite: I. Introduction’, ‘Carmen Suite: II. Dance’

Created at the request of Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin’s wife, prima ballerina assoluta Maya Plisteskaya, Carmen Suite is a reinterpretation of the famous opera by Georges Bizet.

A controversial creation at the time as no other composer dared to touch this monumental work. Choreographed by Alberto Alonso and presented for this first time at the famous Bolshoi Ballet in 1967, Carmen Suite is now part of the classical repertoire of the biggest ballet company around the world.

Casting : Rachele Buriassi

Lenght : 4:30 minutes
Choreography : Gaby Baars
Music : Jean-Michel Blais

Montreal-based Dutch choreographer Gaby Baars presents with Dans ma main his very first creation for Les Grands Ballets. He offers with this piece a pas de deux that conjures up the paradoxes of new love, both simple and complex. Like hands on the keys of a piano, Baars has bodies moving with harmony and grace.

Casting : Maude Sabourin et Raphaël Bouchard

Lenght : 2:55 minutes
Choreography: Ben Van Cauwenbergh Music : Jacques Brel, ‘Les Bourgeois’

Belgian choreographer Ben van Cauwenbergh presents an energetic and theatrical solo on the upbeat music of his compatriot Jacques Brel.

Casting

• May 26-27 : Roddy Doble
• May 28,29 & 30 : Esnel Ramos