National Ballet of Canada to mark World Ballet Day with a new film of David Dawson’s On the Nature of Daylight
Derrick Belcham films principals Genevieve Penn Nabity and Ben Rudisin in the studio, and there is a first look inside Dawson’s full-length The Beginning of Forever, which premieres in June.
The National Ballet of Canada will celebrate World Ballet Day on Thursday 29 October with the world premiere of a new film of On the Nature of Daylight, the internationally celebrated pas de deux by its resident choreographer, David Dawson.
Derrick Belcham directs the film, which features principal dancers Genevieve Penn Nabity and Ben Rudisin. Shot in an intimate studio setting, the company says it aims to capture the emotional intensity of Dawson’s duet and the profound connection between its two dancers.
Hope Muir, the company’s Joan and Jerry Lozinski Artistic Director, announced that the Toronto company will join ballet companies worldwide for the day. This year’s theme is storytelling, both onstage and behind the scenes, and the creative process that brings ballet to life.
Inside The Beginning of Forever
Viewers will also be taken behind the scenes of The Beginning of Forever, Dawson’s new full-length ballet, which premieres in June as part of the National Ballet’s 75th anniversary season.
Exclusive rehearsal footage is accompanied by interviews with Dawson, the composer Peter Gregson, the company’s music director and principal conductor David Briskin, and Muir herself. The company promises “a rare window into the creative process and the collaboration involved in bringing a new ballet to the stage”.
Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.
Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.
He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
