Canada’s National Ballet School seeks the nation’s most promising dancers during its annual National Audition Tour.
The tour visits 21 cities across Canada, including Nanaimo on Nov. 8.
Auditions for the Professional Ballet Program, which offers full-time dance training, academic education and residential care for students in Grades 6 to12 and full-time dance training to post-secondary students, take the form of a specially designed ballet class where dancers are assessed for quality of movement, coordination and overall suitability for the demands of classical ballet. The minimum age to audition is 10, and no prior ballet training is required for students aged 12 and under.
Open classes are offered by the school’s artistic staff as an outreach component of the National Audition Tour. These classes are for junior and senior dance students regardless of their intent to audition for the full-time program. Designed for young dancers who are eager to explore movement, these classes give participants a dynamic sense of dance and performance.
The school also offers a full and part-time teacher training program to high school dance majors, professional dancers seeking a career change and practicing ballet teachers who would like to enhance their knowledge and teacher skills. Entrance into the teacher training program is by DVD audition submission. Information detailing the application process is available on NBS’ website at www.nbs-enb.ca/professional.
From the more than 1,000 young dancers who audition each year, approximately 150 are chosen to participate in the second-stage assessment, a four-week Summer School held at its state-of-the-art training facilities in Toronto in July.
Registration for open classes and audition dates is open. Please visit www.nbs-enb.ca for details.