Liquid Moonlight: The National Ballet of Canada’s 2024 Winter Season

Christopher Gerty and Hannah Galway in Silent Screen. (Photo: Bruce Zinger)

Last Saturday night, the National Ballet of Canada launched its winter season at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre with a triple bill featuring works new to the company. Running until November 16, the two-hour program included Sol León and Paul Lightfoot’s evocative Silent Screen, Frederick Ashton’s sparkling Rhapsody, and Guillaume Côté’s introspective Body of Work. Côté’s solo piece expressed his personal connection to dance as he prepares for retirement at the end of the 2024/25 season.

The performance of Rhapsody was also noteworthy as it was part of Ashton Worldwide—a five-year international festival celebrating Frederick Ashton’s legacy from 2024 to 2028. The National Ballet was among 24 companies participating in this initiative aimed at highlighting Ashton’s influence through global performances of his works.

Given the range of choreographers featured, the program showcased a variety of styles from neoclassical to contemporary ballet, allowing audiences to explore themes of loss, nostalgia, and artistic inheritance. 

Body of Work reflected on Côté’s evolution as a beloved Quebec-born Canadian ballet star in his final season with the company that had been his artistic home for the past 26 years. Originally created as a tribute to his mentor Anik Bissonnette for the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards in 2014, this powerful solo performance was reinterpreted to encapsulate his own experiences in dance. Set to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7, it blended elegance with raw physicality, with rippling arm movements that evoked imagery associated with classical ballet while incorporating contemporary elements that resonated deeply with the audience. 

Rhapsody offered a different perspective, revisiting highlights from the classical canon with nods to Ashton’s influences. This piece showcased a buoyant artistry steeped in tradition. Silent Screen, the anchor work of the program, diverged from linear storytelling, instead inviting audiences on an inner journey through poetic imagery. Taken together, the premieres offered an experience that was both reflective and forward-looking—but with uneven results.

Guillaume Côté in Body of Work. (Photo: Bruce Zinger)

Originally created for Nederlands Dans Theatre in 2005, Silent Screen drew inspiration from the evocative world of silent films, employing exaggerated gestures and melodramatic poses reminiscent of Murnau’s Nosferatu and Lang’s Metropolis. The dancers’ jerky, stylized movements echoed the era’s distinctive acting style. A monochrome palette dominated the stage, with strategic red accents—most notably in the projected image of León and Lightfoot’s young daughter, Saura. While visually striking, these bold colour choices sometimes overshadowed the nuances of the intricate choreography. Philip Glass’s haunting Glassworks provided the musical backdrop, its minimalist and repetitive structures enhancing the piece’s silent film aesthetic. Together, these elements created a rich audiovisual tapestry that both honoured and reimagined early cinema. 

León and Lightfoot, formerly married and now working independently but both known for creating work in dialogue, extended their creative vision beyond choreography to encompass the entire visual landscape. Their set designs included a rocky oceanfront with crashing waves and a retreating figure who appears to get lost in the sea, as well as a snow-sprinkled forest with a single path. Surreal elements enhanced the emotional journey without a concrete narrative—a hallmark of their style—such as when the camera focused on their daughter’s eye, transforming it into a spiralling vortex. The score’s repetitive, hypnotic layers amplified this dreamlike atmosphere, perfectly complementing the visual elements.

The performance unfolded like a storm of bright flashes—visually arresting and filled with moments of stunning beauty. The choreography captivated with an electric symphony of movement. The dancers, clad in bare-chested black suits and bare-legged black jackets, evoked the sleek allure of high-fashion magazine spreads—sexy and inviting.

Beneath this polished exterior lies an intention to evoke closeness through intricate facial gestures and subtle movements. In the vastness of Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre, these details could feel distant; one almost needed binoculars to truly appreciate their intricacy. León and Lightfoot’s ambition to create a deeply affecting experience struggled against the sheer scale of the venue, which inevitably diluted their artistic vision.

Despite these challenges, the cast made valiant efforts to bring the piece to life. Hannah Galway, Christopher Gerty, and Ben Rudisin brought layered intensity to the leads, skillfully navigating the complexities of a love triangle—or perhaps a challenged marriage. Their portrayals hinted at deeper emotional undercurrents, even as the larger setting diminished their effectiveness. Newcomers Shaakir Muhammad and Erica Lall as the couple in white brought fresh energy to their roles, providing an intriguing counterpoint to the central drama. Yet the overall effect fell short of expectations, leaving viewers with isolated moments of brilliance that failed to coalesce into a meaningful whole. The piece, while technically impressive, ultimately couldn’t bridge the physical and emotional distance between performers and audience, failing to deliver the intimate connection it sought to create.

Tirion Law and Siphesihle November in Rhapsody. (Photo: Karolina Kuras)

In contrast, Ashton’s Rhapsody, set to Rachmaninoff’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, offered an effervescent exploration of classical ballet that showcased Ashton’s signature British style: lyrical, precise, and imbued with energy. Originally created for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Lesley Collier in 1980, this ballet was rich with intricate footwork and floating lifts that evoked the elegance of past eras. Principal dancers Siphesihle November and Tirion Law delivered standout performances that radiated charm and technical brilliance.

November’s interpretation was not merely an homage but a vibrant embodiment of the explosive energy characterizing this work. His command over Ashton’s bold athleticism was remarkable as he took on a Baryshnikov role for the second time in his young career. Law was just as striking; she shimmered like liquid moonlight streaming across the stage. Her fleet and intricate movements reflected Ashton’s choreography’s nuances while balancing strength with delicacy—a true highlight of the evening.

The central couple was beautifully framed by a corps de ballet adorned in ethereal costumes, their movements echoing the elegance of a royal court. Male dancers partnered them in a display of academic dance that not only showcased technical prowess but also infused a sense of playful interaction.

Speaking of interaction, Ashton’s choreography, rich with nods to his mentors—Petipa, Nijinska, and Massine—invited viewers to engage in a discreet game of “spot the ballet.” As you watched Rhapsody, familiar poses and movements popped up unexpectedly, sparking recognition of classics like Swan Lake and La Bayadère, especially among those who might identify as ballet insiders. This clever interplay created a dialogue with the past, adding depth to the performance while establishing its own unique identity. The blend of homage and innovation allowed for moments of lightheartedness and wit, reminding the audience that ballet can be both reverent and joyous when it honours its classical roots.

– Deirdre Kelly is a Toronto-based journalist, author and internationally recognized dance critic and style writer on staff at The Globe and Mail newspaper from 1985 to 2017. She writes for Dance Magazine in New York, the Dance Gazette in London, and NUVO in Vancouver, and is a contributor to the International Dictionary of Ballet and AWOL: Tales for Travel-Inspired Minds. The best-selling author of Paris Times Eight and Ballerina: Sex, Scandal and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection, she is a two-time recipient (2020 and 2014) of Canada’s Nathan Cohen Prize for outstanding critical writing. In 2017, she joined York University as Editor of the award-winning The York University Magazine where she is also the publication’s principal writer. In 2023, she published her latest book, Fashioning The Beatles: The Looks That Shook The World.