FASHION Magazine
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Ballerina Greta Hodgkinson’s Favourite Costumes of All Time
The life of a ballerina never ceases to inspire and amaze us—whether we’re talking how a dancer does her makeup or how he/she warms up backstage, we just want to be a part of that beauty. When it comes to the costumes, it’s basically a fashion girl’s dream come true to visit the wardrobe room […]
The post Ballerina Greta Hodgkinson’s Favourite Costumes of All Time appeared first on FASHION Magazine.
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Xiao Nan Yu: The National Ballet’s prima ballerina reprises her debut role in Onegin
Photography by Vanessa Heins By Alexandra Breen
When it comes to encapsulating the pathos and fervour of a melodrama like Onegin, based on Alexander Pushkin’s novel Eugene Onegin, experience can be your best weapon. Just ask Xiao Nan Yu (a.k.a. Nan), a dancer for The National Ballet of Canada who first took on the role of Onegin’s Tatiana at age 22, just before climbing the ranks of the company to become a principal.
“It was a fast promotion,” she says before diving into a rehearsal. “I felt pressure to live up to their standards and questioned whether I did enough to deserve it.” Years of critical acclaim later, the 36-year-old is reprising her cherished Tatiana role this month (March 19-23) opposite McGee Maddox at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.
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Behind the scenes with Evan McKie: Prepping for National Ballet’s Swan Lake
Photography by Jaclyn Locke Go behind the scenes with Evan McKie »
Being a ballet dancer is just about as intense as it gets. Despite making it all look like a hop, skip and a jump on stage (no pun intended), behind the scenes, it’s hours upon hours of gruelling practice. And while we’re sure not everyone goes full on Black Swan crazy, we know it takes plenty to get it into “it was perfect” territory. For a peek into that world, we caught up with the National Ballet of Canada’s principal guest dancer, Evan McKie, while he practiced for two of his upcoming roles.
As a principal dancer with Germany’s Stuttgart Ballet and a guest artist everywhere from Paris to Tokyo, Toronto can count itself lucky that McKie has returned to the National Ballet after his triumphant guest residency back in 2011. Currently a Principal Guest Artist with the National Ballet of Canada, McKie is starring as Prince Siegfried in the classic Swan Lake and later this month as Vladimir Lensky in the Russian narrative ballet Onegin. With two major productions to simultaneously prepare for, McKie has to ensure his body is in prime condition at all times. No cheat days for this danseur.