The National Ballet of Canada, Frontiers, Sadler's Wells

It's been over a decade since we last saw Canada's premier ballet company, The National Ballet of Canada, at Sadler's Wells; but now the company returns with a triple bill of works by distinguished Canadian choreographers. Entitled Frontiers, it includes pieces by Crystal Pite, Emma Portner and James Kudelka.

Crystal Pite has become a household name for UK audiences, with works by her own company shown at Sadler's Wells, as well as special commissions by the Royal Ballet attracting near universal acclaim. She has a remarkable talent for moving large groups of people on stage, a talent which is again much in evidence in Angel's Atlas (pictured top), which she created for the National Ballet of Canada in 2020 and which went on to win a Dora award.

Set against a striking light installation by her usual collaborators, set designer Jay Gower Taylor and lighting designer Tom Visser, the scope of Angel's Atlas appears to be humanity in all its vulnerability. It's danced to a musical collage of work by Owen Belton, Tchaikovsky and Morten Lauridsen.

Ottawa-born Emma Portner, who trained at The Ailey School in New York City, authored Islands, a striking duet for two women set to an eclectic compilation of music by contemporary artists as well as original music by Forest Swords. Here's a taster.


The third piece in the programme is Passion, created in 2013 for Houston Ballet by the former Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer of The National Ballet of Canada, James Kudelka. Two couples – one classical, the other contemporary – weave within the corps de ballet like musical themes, to the strains of the first movement of Beethoven's Concerto for Piano in D, Op 61a.

This is a varied programme, intended to showcase the talent and versatility of the dancers of The National Ballet of Canada, as well as the range of choreographic talent currently available in the country.