Annointed and Cry have been dropped from the program - and will be replaced by Streams and Takademe.

Streams, created by Alvin Ailey in 1979, is an abstract piece set to music by Miloslav Kabelac; and Takedeme was created in 1999 by Robert Battle, who recently stepped into the position of Artistic Director with the company.

The evening will now begin with Streams and In/Side.  A first intermission will followed by Takademe and The Hunt and a second intermission, and the evening will conclude with the company's signature piece Revelations.

Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

The extra performance will be at 8:00 pm, Sunday, March 11, at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, at Place des Arts.

Tickets are now on sale. Click here for more information and to buy tickets.

Alain Dancyger, Executive Director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, declared, "Les Grands Ballets took another gamble and won, achieving its objective of making the Nutcracker Market a holiday tradition-much like the ballet by Fernand Nault. The success of this second edition of the Market, which is becoming a favourite pre-Christmas activity for Montrealers, is ample confirmation of this. The Market's visitors, exhibitors, partners and sponsors are all delighted to be associated with this cause, which is so dear to our hearts."

The Nutcracker Market received extensive media coverage, thus increasing the visibility of both Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal and the Nutcracker Fund for Children, for which the event was established. After all, 10% of market sales and all profits made by Les Grands Ballets go directly to the Nutcracker Fund for Children. This excellent cause grants greater access to the arts by each year offering disadvantaged children the opportunity to attend educational and artistic workshops and a performance of The Nutcracker. This year, schoolchildren filled all 2,800 seats in Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts for a special performance of The Nutcracker on December 13. 16,300 children have benefited from the Fund to this date, travelling to the realm of The Nutcracker during the Christmas season.

Les Grands Ballets invites you to the third edition of the Nutcracker Market in 2012-which promises even more surprises! Expect new exhibitors, several exclusives and first-time offers, and much more! So don't miss the third edition at Palais des Congrès de Montréal!

On Monday, January 23, she gets down to work on her latest collaboration with Les Grands Ballets - The Little Prince, a new ballet loosely inspired by the Saint-Exupéry novel.

Born in The Netherlands, Didy Veldman has created some thirty works for such companies as Cedar Lake Ballet in New York, the Gulbenkian Ballet, Cullberg Ballet and New Zealand Ballet. In 1999, she created a "hard-core" version of Carmen, which she later restaged for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. She went on to collaborate with Les Grands Ballets on the inventive and theatrical TooT and electric Tender Hooks.

The Little Prince gets its world premiere on May 3, at the Théâtre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts.

Please note that the subscribtion services of Les Grands Ballets will be closed until January 9th, 2012.

Regular ticket purchases : 514 842-2112 / laplacedesarts.com

To support this initiative, Les Grands Ballets is appealing to the generosity of companies and individuals. Donors are invited to attend The Nutcracker Fund's Annual Benefit Brunch this Sunday, December 11, at noon, immediately preceding a performance of The Nutcracker, under the honorary chairmanship of Bernard Letendre, Vice President and Managing Director, High Net Worth Market, Canadian Division, Manulife Financial. The festivities will unfold around a giant illuminated Christmas tree, with face painting, magicians and gifts galore for children!

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Created in 1964 for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, this adaptation of the Hoffman tale by Quebec dancer and choreographer Fernand Nault (1920-2006), recently recipient of the Médaille des Grands Artisans de la Révolution Tranquille, is among the most beautiful in existence. Some one hundred dancers perform this piece with sumptuous sets designed by Peter Horne, scintillating costumes by François Barbeau, and lighting by Nicholas Cernovitch. Every year, more than 600 children audition for parts, and some one hundred are chosen for the roles of Mice, Rats, Cotton-Candy Angels, Reindeer, Sheep, Matriochkas, Orientals, Children at the Party and, of course, Fritz and Clara!

 Thanks to the Nutcracker Fund for Children, 2,800 kids from disadvantaged Montreal neighbourhoods will attend a special free matinée performance of The Nutcracker on December 13 - and 1,900 will participate in educational workshops inspired by the classic holiday ballet.

A philanthropic initiative of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, the Nutcracker Fund for Children has benefited over 16,300 children since it was established 14 years ago. 

Learn more here.

Rodin/Claudel : pari réussi

par Vanessa Guimond

C'est avec une oeuvre puissante, empreinte d'ingéniosité et de délicatesse, que Les Grands Ballets canadiens de Montréal amorcent leur saison 2011-2012. Rodin/Claudel, du chorégraphe Peter Ouanz, explore non seulement un univers émotionnel des plus complexes, mais également un univers artistique des plus fascinants.

Qui dit Camille Claudel et Auguste Rodin dit forcément sculptures, et c'est précisément cet aspect qui, au final, marque cette oeuvre qui nous aura éblouis par sa finesse.

Dès la première scène, le public pourra admirer la douzaine de danseurs qui, avec brio, "incarnent" les oeuvres de Rodin et de Claudel, mais également la source de leur passion amoureuse, née de I'art et de l'admiration. Un seul mot peut qualifier leur personnage en constante mouvance, à la fois multiple et unique : magnifique.

Dans leurs costumes couleur chair, ils se faufillent, glissent, se forment, se déforment et se positionnent afin de nous rappeler de véritaltes créations de Rodin et Claudel, comme Le penseut, Les trois ombres et L'âge mûr, par exemple. Rien n'est laissé au hasard.

(Read the rest of the article: http://www.grandsballets.com/fr/salle-de-presse-articles.php)