National Ballet of Canada
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The National Ballet of Canada is Canada's largest ballet troupe. It was founded by Celia Franca in 1959 and is based in Toronto, Ontario.
The NBC's first performance was in the Eaton Auditorium (Now the Carlu theatre). In 1964 the NBC adopted the 3200-seat O'Keefe Centre (now Hummingbird Centre) in Toronto as its home venue. It plans to move again, in 2006, to the new Four Seasons Centre.
Rudolf Nureyev danced with the company in 1965 and in 1972. He raised the troupe’s level of professionalism and staged a spectacular version of The Sleeping Beauty which gained the company international prestige.
Current director James Kudelka is a choreographer of international stature.
Despite suffering under a history of government funding cuts and economic recessions, the NBC has garnered respect and admiration by commissioning many original works from prominent choreographers, mounting lavish productions of 20th-century and classical repertoire, and by successful international tours.
Prominent National Ballet dancers
Karen Kain, Frank Augustyn, Veronica Tennant, Martine Lamy, Kimberley Glasco, Margaret Illmann, Serge Lavoie, Jeremy Ransom, Rex Harrington, Robert Tewsley, Yseult Lendvai, Chan Hon Goh, Aleksandar Antonijevic.