While the word "nutcracker" might evoke some painful mental images in some, for many it's a familiar part of the holiday season. The original ballet was composed in Russia by one Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1892, and The National Ballet of Canada has been performing The Nutcracker since 1964. James Kudelka did a revamp of the choreography in 1995, and since then The National Ballet's Nutcracker has become what The Globe and Mail has......

The National Ballet of Canada kicked off its summer season last week with an impressive triple-bill performance at the new Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts. First came James Kudelka's acclaimed The Four Seasons, set to Antonio Vivaldi's set of four violin concertos. Kudelka is notorious for his very animated choreography, and he certainly did not disappoint. The Four Seasons follows the character known only as "everyman" through the cycles of life, as represented......

There’s a major announcement being, er, announced at the National Ballet of Canada today at 3 p.m. today, presumably the naming of the artistic director who is replacing James Kudelka. Michael Posner in the Globe and Mail has the inside scoop: "Karen Kain, the country's best-known and arguably best-loved ballerina, will today be named" to the position.She was in many ways both the obvious and logical choice. Eight years after retiring from the stage and......

You know what the Amish say about dancing leading to sex? Turns out it's true! Horndog choreographer James Kudelka's salacious new ballet An Italian Straw Hat, which premiered at the Hummingbird on Sunday, opens with some simulated cunnilingus and then moves through various scandalous positions until there are a couple of dancing horses playing horsey on stage. This ain't your grandma's National Ballet of Canada. And, yet, perhaps that's underestimating your grandma. An Italian Straw......