Book description
Passion to Dance is the story of the National Ballet of
Canada -- the people who dreamt the company into existence, the
determination needed to keep it afloat, the bumps on the road to its
success, and above all, its passion for dance as a living, evolving
art form.
From catch-as-catch-can beginnings -- borrowed quarters, tiny
stages, enormous dreams -- the National Ballet has emerged as one of
North America's foremost dance troupes. The company at 60 is a company
of its time, engaged in creating challenging new work, yet committed
to maintaining the classics of the past, favourites like Swan
Lake, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty.
One hundred and fifty photographs from the company's archives
illustrate this definitive history, filled with eyewitness accounts,
backstage glimpses, and fascinating detail. This is a record of one of
Canada's boldest cultural experiments, a book to enjoy now and keep
forever.
Neufelds treatment of the companys gestation, birth and evolution,
and of the people who have shaped its progress, is exemplary. James
Neufeld has been going to the ballet for nearly fifty years and has
written extensively about dance and the arts in Canada. Previously, he
published
Power to Rise
and
Lois Marshall
. He recently retired from a thirty-eight year teaching career at Trent
University and lives in Peterborough, Ontario.
