Le Ballet national du Canada

Hope Muir Announces 2023/24 Season Dancer Roster

Seven New Dancers and Six New RBC Apprentices 
Lise-Marie Jourdain Joins as Rehearsal Director 

3 août, 2023… Hope Muir, Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada, today announced the 2023/24 season dancer roster which features seven new Corps de Ballet members and six new RBC Apprentices. 

“It is my great pleasure to welcome seven new Corps de Ballet members and six RBC Apprentices to the company as we launch our 2023/24 season,” said Muir. “These talented young artists join us from around the globe, many having trained at Canada’s National Ballet School as well as respected institutions in New York City, San Francisco, The Netherlands and Brazil. I looked forward to working with them in the studio and seeing their artistry develop onstage.”  

New Corps de Ballet Members 

Joining the Corps de Ballet are new dancers Liya Fan, Nio Hirano, Matthieu Pagès and Aidan Tully.  

Liya Fan was born in Chengdu (Sichuan), China. She began dancing when she was 10 years old and trained at Beijing Dance Academy for five years. In 2021, she was the Scholarship Winner of Prix de Lausanne, then joined and trained at The Royal Ballet School before joining the National Ballet. 

Born in Tokyo, Japan, Nio Hirano also considers Duncan, British Columbia to be her home as she spent much of her childhood there. She trained around the world including in Victoria, Amsterdam and New York City.  

Matthieu Pagès was born in Annecy, France. Before joining the Tanz Akademie Zürich, he first studied in Paris Opéra Ballet School. After graduating, Pagès joined the Junior Ballett Zürich where he danced works by Christian Spuck, Hans van Manen, Crystal Pite and Cathy Marston. 

Aidan Tully was born in New Zealand and trained at the New Zealand School of Dance before joining the National Ballet. While still a student, he was selected to take part in the 50th-anniversary edition of the Prix de Lausanne 2023. 

Joining the Corps de Ballet from the RBC Apprentice Programme are Connor Hamilton, Isabella Kinch and Oliver Yonick.  

Connor Hamilton was born in Los Angeles, California and moved to Toronto at the age of 13. She trained at Canada’s National Ballet School and joined as a RBC Apprentice in 2020. In 2020, she received the Erik Bruhn Memorial Award and Peter Dwyer Award. 

Born in Smithers, British Columbia, Isabella Kinch trained at Canada’s National Ballet School and joined as a RBC Apprentice in 2022. In 2019, she performed a pas de deux from Robert Binet’s Three Images of Hope at the Ballet Asteras Gala in Tokyo, Japan and at the Biennale Tanzausbildung in Hamburg, Germany in 2020.  

Toronto-born Oliver Yonick trained at Canada’s National Ballet School, joining the RBC Apprentice programme in 2020. While a student, he received the Peter Dwyer Award and Bernard Ostry Award in 2020. 

New RBC Apprentices 

Joining the RBC Apprentice Programme are Maisee Anderson, Luiz Anselmo, Graydon George, Ayami Goto, Ewan Hartman and Anna McKinney.  

As previously announced, four dancers are promoted in the 2023/24 season: Christopher Gerty to Principal Dancer and Josh Hall, Peng-Fei Jiang and Larkin Miller to Second Soloist.  

New Artistic Staff 

Former Dancer Lise-Marie Jourdain will join the company as Rehearsal Director, working primarily with the Corps de Ballet and acting as a liaison for YOU dance. Born in France, Jourdain trained at l'École de Danse de l'Opéra National de Paris and joined Le Ballet de l’Opera National de Paris where she earned her Diplôme d’Etât de Professeur de Danse. She joined The National Ballet of Canada in 2002 and after her retirement from the stage in 2017, joined Canada’s National Ballet School’s Ballet Staff. 

As previously announced, Stephanie Hutchison retired as Principal Character Artist at the end of the 2022/23 season and assumes her new role as Rehearsal Director.

Dancer Roster and Biographies >

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Christopher Gerty is sponsored through Dancers First by Ms. Nancy Viner & Dr. Raymond Stein.  

The RBC Apprentice Programme is sponsored by The RBC Emerging Artists Project.  

Additional support for the RBC Apprentice Programme is provided by Turnout.    

YOU dance is supported by Ballet Club Relevé, Elizabeth A. & Richard J. Currie, O.C Susanne Boyce & Brendan Mullen, an Anonymous Donor, Fatima Laher, Ruth Watts Gransden, The Anna McCowan-Johnson Dance Accessibility Fund and the Robert & Joan Shatilla Education Fund.

The National Ballet of Canada’s Education and Community Engagement programmes are generously supported by the Anna McCowan-Johnson Dance Accessibility Fund at The National Ballet of Canada, Endowment Foundation.  

The National Ballet of Canada gratefully acknowledges the ongoing support of the Canada Council for the Arts; the Ontario Arts Council; the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council; the Government of Canada – Department of Canadian Heritage with the Honourable Pablo Rodriguez, Minister of Canadian Heritage; and the Government of Ontario with the Honourable Neil Lumsden, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport.

Hope Muir avec les artistes du Ballet. Photo par Karolina Kuras.

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