National Ballet of Canada | Anna Karenina

Tolstoy’s great prose masterwork towers over the western literary canon as one of the most fully imagined and riveting works of fiction ever written. It is no wonder that John Neumeier, one of the most frequent and fearless adapters of literary works into modern choreographic form, should have eventually taken on the challenge of the great Russian novel.

Using the book more as an inspiration than as a strict narrative template, Neumeier chooses to adapt the work freely. He sets the story, for instance, in the present day, rather than the 19th century, and structures his ballet in two acts with numerous scene changes, condensing the material and focusing on its key themes, which he allows to merge through an intuitive and poetic rather than a literal process.

Music by Tchaikovsky provides a link with the Tolstoyan world of the novel, but Neumeier also incorporates modern work by Alfred Schnittke and Cat Stevens/Yusuf Islam to further underscore the central characters’ conflicts and emotional lives. The work of a great literary artist meeting the imagination of a great interpretive choreographer, Anna Karenina is an unforgettable ballet experience.

Casting

Anna Karenina 
Svetlana Lunkina (November 10, 14, 16 at 7:30 pm/November 18 at 2:00 pm)
Heather Ogden (November 11 at 2:00 pm/November 15, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Sonia Rodriguez (November 13 at 7:30 pm/November 15, 17 at 2:00 pm)

Alexei Vronsky
Harrison James (November 10, 14, 16 at 7:30 pm/November 18 at 2:00 pm)
Guillaume Côté (November 11 at 2:00 pm/November 15, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Naoya Ebe (November 13 at 7:30 pm/November 15, 17 at 2:00 pm)

Alexei Karenin
Piotr Stanczyk (November 10, 14, 16 at 7:30 pm/November 18 at 2:00 pm)
Evan McKie (November 11 at 2:00 pm/November 15, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Brendan Saye (November 13 at 7:30 pm/November 15, 17 at 2:00 pm)

Levin
Skylar Campbell (November 10, 14, 16 at 7:30 pm/November 18 at 2:00 pm)
Félix Paquet (November 11 at 2:00 pm/November 15, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Kota Sato (November 13 at 7:30 pm/November 15, 17 at 2:00 pm)

Kitty
Meghan Pugh (November 10, 14, 16 at 7:30 pm/November 18 at 2:00 pm)
Antonella Martinelli (November 11 at 2:00 pm/November 15, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Calley Skalnik (November 13 at 7:30 pm/November 15, 17 at 2:00 pm)

Dolly
Xiao Nan Yu (November 10, 14, 16 at 7:30 pm/November 18 at 2:00 pm)
Chelsy Meiss (November 11 at 2:00 pm/November 15, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Jenna Savella (November 13 at 7:30 pm/November 15, 17 at 2:00 pm)

Stiva
Naoya Ebe (November 10, 14, 16 at 7:30 pm/November 18 at 2:00 pm)
Ethan Watts (November 11 at 2:00 pm/November 15, 17 at 7:30 pm)
Christopher Gerty (November 13 at 7:30 pm/November 15, 17 at 2:00 pm)

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