The Stuttgart Ballet is full of Canadians – here’s what the dancers have to say

The Stuttgart Ballet is 50 years old this year. Celebrating will be its Canadian artistic director Reid Anderson, together with six Canadian dancers in the company. A constant theme is Anderson's attitude to hard work:

Jason Reilly

“Every great choreographer comes to create work here. We're also here to work hard. If Reid doesn't see that, you're gone.”

Evan McKie

“Reid appreciates personalities. He shapes and moulds the dancers to find their individuality. This place has a great buzz. It's creative soil for choreography which makes it a dancer's dream.”

Myriam Simon

“We work so hard, we are always pushing ourselves to a higher level. Also important is that the dancers are respected as human beings.”

Brent Parolin

“I never saw a company with such a diverse and intriguing repertoire. It's an education in itself, seeing what the company dances.”

Matteo Crockard-Villa

“I saw the Stuttgart dancers at an Erik Bruhn competition and they blew me away. I got a good feeling from the company when I was on a school exchange.”

Jesse Fraser

“No one is lazy.”

read all their comments via The Canadian dancers at Stuttgart – The Globe and Mail

Photo: Evan McKie in John Neumeier's Lady of the Camelias

Gramilano( Editor )

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.

His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.