{"id":111171,"date":"2025-01-22T15:17:26","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T20:17:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=111171"},"modified":"2025-01-23T07:00:01","modified_gmt":"2025-01-23T12:00:01","slug":"interview-canadas-national-ballet-schools-artistic-director-margaret-tracey-talks-2025-auditions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/01\/22\/interview-canadas-national-ballet-schools-artistic-director-margaret-tracey-talks-2025-auditions\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Canada’s National Ballet School’s Artistic Director Margaret Tracey Talks About The 2025 Auditions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"L
L & R: NBS Professional Ballet program Students (Photo: Karolina Kuras): Centre: National Ballet School Artistic Director Margaret Tracey (Photo: Igor Burlak)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From a process that began last fall, the National Ballet School Auditions are winding up in Toronto and the GTA. It\u2019s a chance for dancers from grades 6 to post-secondary levels can try to make that first major leap into a professional career.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s NBS is the only such facility to offer cutting edge professional level dance training, academic instruction, and residences all on the same campus. Scouts are searching the world for the next gen of top tier ballet talent.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the first round of auditions for the National Ballet School’s new Artistic Director, Margaret Tracey.<\/p>\n

Margaret Tracey, Artistic Director<\/h2>\n

Margaret Tracey was appointed as the NBS\u2019 Artistic Director after an international search. She succeeded Mavis Staines in the role as of July 2024. She comes to the role with decades of experience, including a long tenure as Director of Boston Ballet School, and leads the organization alongside Executive Director John Dalrymple.<\/p>\n

Tracey is a native of Pueblo, Colorado, where she began ballet studies with her mother Nancy at the age of six. Margaret went on to study at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet (NYCB). There, she was awarded an Atlantic Richfield Foundation scholarship, and earned a Princess Grace Foundation award.<\/p>\n

She joined the NYCB corps de ballet, and remained there until her retirement in 2002. She was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1991, and was noted for excelling in the Balanchine repertoire. Tracey performed frequently in the company\u2019s core works, including Allegro Brilliante, Serenade, Square Dance, Symphony in C, Who Cares?, and many others. She toured the world with the company, and made appearances on the PBS Live from Lincoln Center series and in the 1993 film of Balanchine\u2019s The Nutcracker.<\/p>\n

Tracey became a Balanchine Repetiteur, and staged his works on both professional companies and schools. She won a Jerome Robbins Foundation award in 2011 for her work as a Robbins\u2019 dancer.<\/p>\n

After her retirement from performance, Tracey turned to the work of a teacher and arts advocate. She was Director of the Boston Ballet School from 2007 until 2021. There, she instituted a wellness program among other initiatives.<\/p>\n

\"National
National Ballet School Artistic Director Margaret Tracey in studio (Photo: Igor Burlak)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Margaret Tracey: The Interview<\/h2>\n

\u201cAs part of the national audition tour, in many ways, we are looking at different mechanisms […] pipelines of dancers, almost on an annual basis,\u201d Tracey begins, explaining the audition process.<\/p>\n

The Canadian audition tour began in October, holding tryouts literally from Vancouver to Halifax.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis past weekend we were in Toronto,\u201d she says. The search will continue beyond the city proper to the Greater Toronto Area, as well as auditions in London, Ontario, and Buffalo, NY. In the latter location, the auditions will be held in a studio owned by parents of former NBS students. \u201cIt\u2019s our only spot outside the tour outside of Canada.\u201d But, it\u2019s still close to home, and meant to capture talent from the region.<\/p>\n

Naturally, although it\u2019s her first season with NBS, it\u2019s hardly her first rodeo when it comes to auditioning prospective student.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in dance education for almost 20 years,\u201d Tracey says. She appreciates the level of talent she\u2019s found in Canada. \u201cIt\u2019s been very inspiring and very refreshing,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The numbers are healthy, and speak to a growing interest in ballet among younger students in the area of grade six. \u201cOver the last 20 years or so, there\u2019s been a lot of dance on media,\u201d Margaret notes. It\u2019s a development she\u2019s happy to take note of. \u201cBeing able to dance is part of the human condition,\u201d she adds. \u201cWe respond to music through movement.\u201d<\/p>\n

The appreciation of culture is something she recognizes in Canada. \u201cTo see media really elevating the art form, specifically ballet […] to see the value of the arts in this country is inspiring.\u201d She points to the level of support at various levels of government, coming in contrast to what she experienced in the US. \u201cWe compete for sports, just like in the States, but there is a lot more recognition in this country for the arts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracey also recognizes that the NBS occupies a special place in the Canadian cultural landscape. \u201cI also think the international attention that NBS has is a source of pride to Canadians.\u201d She points out that potential students come from all over the world. \u201cWhen you see the world coming to you, you all of a sudden recognize what we have right here in Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Auditions<\/h3>\n

The National Audition Tour is only one of the streams in the search for new students at the NBS. Scouts<\/p>\n

Some, more remote students also continue to apply via video submissions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing these young dancers for the first time in person,\u201d she explains. But, it\u2019s not a one-shot process. Promising candidates are invited to come and stay at the school for a second and more in depth evaluation. \u201cWe are not trying to make a decision on full-time participation based on one audition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Representatives from the school also travel across the globe to attend ballet competitions. \u201cOne is in Mumbai, India now,\u201d Tracey says. Margaret will be making trips of her own to the Prix de Lausanne.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all of those different streams and touch points, we end up with about 2,000 applications every year,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s a very, very competitive field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, there is hope even for those who don\u2019t make the cut first time out. \u201cWe also see students that come back and audition again.\u201d Young dancers may not be quite ready, as she points out, while still showing promise. \u201cWe always encourage our young dancers, even if they\u2019re not selected the first time around, try again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Young dancers can always develop in unexpected ways, as experience has taught her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s nothing more exciting when a young dancer demonstrates their tenacity and determination, and they develop in ways that are unexpected.\u201d<\/p>\n

The scouts look for dancers as young as age 10, when they are still malleable physically, artistically, and cognitively. \u201cThey\u2019re just going through adolescence and begin showing strength.\u201d<\/p>\n

The National Ballet School<\/h3>\n

The heart and soul of the NBS is its highly touted professional training program. But, that\u2019s not all the school has to offer.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere on the campus, we take a holistic approach to sharing dance,\u201d she says. That may come in a variety of dance classes. \u201cWhat is special about coming to our campus is to see younger students […] on weekends and after hours, or our older adult programming.\u201d She points out the NBS has dance programs for people with physical disabilities, and also for demential patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s this commitment to acknowledging that dance enriches our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more than performance, in other words. Dance can be an integral part of our lives. She talks of current dance students who want to take their experience and knowledge into kinesiology, or go into politics with an artist\u2019s mindset.<\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/h3>\n

\u201cOne of the things that drew me to NBS was the commitment to DEI and making it an inclusive space,\u201d Tracey says. \u201cWe do live in a racist society, it\u2019s a well known fact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ballet, in its history, has been an art that marginalized dancers with non-European backgrounds in the past. Tracey talks about the NBS\u2019 dedication to representation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are actively pursuing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

It includes auditioning with different dance forms other than ballet. \u201cWe start the class with a different dance form other than ballet in order to send the message,\u201d she adds. \u201cIt enhances you as a ballet dancer to expand the dance you do. It\u2019s important that students see the efforts for inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s the first round of national auditions for the National Ballet School’s new Artistic Director, Margaret Tracey, who talks about the process and the school in our interview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":111173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[41695,40096],"yst_prominent_words":[11623,13340,37637,13922],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-FEATURE-7.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-sV5","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111171"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111171"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111171\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":111182,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111171\/revisions\/111182"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111171"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111171"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111171"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=111171"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}