Canada’s National Ballet School shifts to online auditions
Posted December 13, 2020 1:34 pm.
Last Updated December 13, 2020 1:48 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Everyone is being forced to adapt during this pandemic, and one of Canada’s largest ballet schools is no exception.
Mavis Staines is the artistic director and CEO of Canada’s National Ballet School. She says they’ve moved the audition process online, and that means students vying for a spot will be trying out over Zoom.
“I think these unprecedented times have led to completely new strategies,” said Staines.
“Amazingly it’s actually proven easier than we anticipated to get a sense of the students and to help them be clear about the qualities that we want to see. And then if a young person has a challenging time in the audition because of internet instability or other things that might crop up — we just arrange a follow-up assessment.”
Typically, the school holds in-person auditions in more than 20 cities across the country.
NBS is continuing to connect dancers in Toronto and beyond! Over the past several months, staff and students in NBS' Recreational Dance programs have remained flexible as government health protocols have shifted programming. Thank you dancers for your resilience! pic.twitter.com/CmvE6KvNle
— Canada's National Ballet School (@NBS_ENB) November 25, 2020
Staines adds, at this time, there is a need now more than ever for artists as the world copes with the pandemic.
“In the periods of time after global wars or previous pandemics, there has been a renaissance in the arts and especially dance. And I think that dance is something that brings people really deep, kind of emotional reharmonizing, rebalancing.
“So I think the role of dancers going forward is going to be more important than ever. And that’s the young people auditioning now. We’re going to create the leaders of the next renaissance.”
