He also left his mark as Director of L’École supérieure from 1974 to 1976.

“I had the opportunity of working with this artist who was so open and generous,” states Anik Bissonnette, who is now Artistic Director of L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec. “Whenever I would take on a role in one of his ballets, he gave me the impression that he was recreating it especially for me.”

The Fernand-Nault Studio will be decorated with archival photos highlighting Mr. Nault’s career as dancer, ballet master, and choreographer. “We wish to preserve the past in order to better build the future. We are convinced that this inspiring figure will encourage our students to pursue their dream of becoming professional dancers,” asserts Alix Laurent, Executive Director of L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec.

“He always treated students like professional dancers and I think that’s why they loved him so much,” explains André Laprise, trustee of the Fonds chorégraphique Fernand Nault, a partner in this commemoration.

About Fernand Nault

Born in Montreal in 1920, Fernand Nault studied dance with Maurice Lacasse Morenoff as well as other dance masters in New York, London, and Paris. From 1944 to 1965, he was first a dancer, then a ballet master with New York’s American Ballet Theatre, and later became the director of that company’s school from 1960 to 1964. Then, in 1965, he joined the Grands Ballets Canadiens as co-artistic director and resident choreographer. His productions of Carmina Burana and Tommy earned him worldwide recognition.

Fernand Nault also choreographed works for the Joffrey Ballet, the Alberta Ballet, the Korea National Ballet, the Washington Ballet, and the Ballet Federation of the Philippines. In 1976, he received the choreography award at the International Ballet Festival in Varna, Bulgaria. He was also guest choreographer, then artistic director of the Colorado Ballet from 1978 to 1980. In addition, he collaborated with the Opéra de Montréal.

The Government of Canada awarded him the Centennial Medal (1967), the Order of Canada (1977) and the Governor General’s Performing Arts award (2000). In 1984, he received the Denise-Pelletier Award from the Government of Quebec. He was made a Knight of the Order of Quebec in 1990 and named Choreographer Emeritus of the Grands Ballets Canadiens.

In all, forty-one students from our programs will be taking part in Les Grands Ballets Canadiens’ presentation of The Nutcracker this month at La Place des Arts de Montréal. For many of them, this experience represents their very first professional onstage performance.

Every year since 1995, Ms. Christine Williams has taken the young cast members under her wings to prepare and coach them for their respective roles.

L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec is proud to participate in Les Grand Ballets’ family-oriented event.

For the complete list of students as well as performance dates and times, please refer to the Coming Soon section of our website.

Auditions at L'École supérieure de ballet du Québec

9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. : Grade 5
11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. : Grade 6
1:00 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. : Open House
2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. : Secondary 1,2, 3
4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. : Secondary 4, 5, and Cegep

Audition tour dates

Detailed schedules for the cities listed below will be available soon.

November 5, 2011 Sherbrooke – L’Arabesque

November 12, 2011 Québec – Grand Théâtre de Québec

November 13, 2011 Trois-Rivières – L’Astragale

November 20, 2011 Ottawa – National Arts Centre

November 20, 2011 Vancouver – Scotiabank Dance Centre

November 27, 2011 Toronto – Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts

January 29, 2012 Gatineau – Maison de la culture de Gatineau

February 18, 2012 Saguenay – Pavillon de la danse

March 25, 2012 Montréal – L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec

Register now by completing the Audition Registration Form.

Much to the delight of the general public and the media, the dancers performed grand jetés, arabesques, and pirouettes while wearing the famous yoga jeans created by Second. Loulou magazine’s blog dubbed the stylish presentation the highlight of this year’s event which was held at the Marché Bonsecours September 6 to 9.

Julia Lipari-Couture, Priscilla Dellazizzo, Stéphanie Dumont, Amelia Lamanque, and Erin Scott-Kafadar, all enrolled in the professional programme at L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec, demonstrated with grace and ease the denim’s full range of stretch and motion during the brief choreography. They capped the show with an impressive « grand écart » under a flurry of photographers’ flashes.

This Fashion Week appearance was a wonderful opportunity to draw attention to the talent, discipline and passion required of students attending the very demanding professional programme at L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec.

Please check the School Videos section soon in order to view the show.

Photo : Jimmy Hamelin

McIntyre, who was Les Grands Ballets Canadiens’ general manager for over thirteen years, is not only very passionate about the Ballets Russes de Diaghilev but also very keen on collecting rare works on this legendary company. McIntyre’s priceless gift of eleven volumes has undoubtedly added an inestimable value to the library’s collection. Part of this treasure includes eight numbers of the series Impressions of the Russian Ballet, which were published between 1918 and 1921 by Cyril W. Beaumont.

Also included are two souvenir programs of Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (1915 and 1929) and one issue of Comoedia illustré (1914). In addition, McIntyre has bequeathed an extraordinarily rare collectors’ item published by Michel de Brunoff which assembles all the programs of the Ballets Russes’ performances between 1909 and 1921 and is entitled “Collection des plus beaux numéros de Comoedia illustré”, as well as various programs from the same era devoted to the Ballets et Galas Russes in Paris.