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 Karen Kain is embraced by principal dancer Greta Hodgkinson after being named the Artistic director for the National Ballet Tuesday. (CP photo) |
TORONTO - After seven years as a member of the company's administrative corps, Canada's most beloved ballerina has once again claimed centre stage.
To the surprise of very few, Karen Kain, who retired as principal dancer in 1997, was named yesterday by board chair David Bank to replace James Kudelka as the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada, effective July 1. Kudelka resigned the post earlier this year, but will remain as the company's choreographer in residence under Kain's direction.
In accepting the position, Kain paid tribute not only to Kudelka but also to all of the people who have led the company through more than half a century -- including founder Celia Franca, Alexander Grant, Erik Bruhn and Reid Anderson. "Succeeding them is both an exciting challenge and a thrilling opportunity. It also makes me more aware than ever of the truth of the old adage about 'standing on the shoulders of giants,' " Kain told those gathered for yesterday's announcement.
"I want to build on what everybody else has done, starting with Celia Franca," Kain said in an interview earlier in the day. "She, of course, is the one who had the vision and the tenacity to make it happen in the first place.
"I have actually worked under every artistic director in the company and I admire her tremendously still. I just see very clearly what she was establishing and why," Kain said.
While Kain's career as Canada's foremost ballerina has certainly given her a strong feel for the National Ballet's past, it is the company's future that concerns her most as she assumes control of the company that has been her artistic and professional home for her entire career.
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In 1998, after retiring as a dancer, Kain was named Artist in Residence with the company and Artistic Associate in 2001.
As well as planning for the company's move into the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts next year -- a move she concedes will put much greater demands on the company and its finances -- Kain, 54, faces other challenges. And she welcomes them.
"One of my first priorities will be to re-allocate and re-focus our resources in a way that will be both fiscally prudent and pay specific artistic dividends," Kain told guests assembled for yesterday's announcement, highlighting a determination to focus on the professional and artistic development of individual dancers through the judicious use of guest artists and teachers.
Kain is determined to reconnect with ballet audiences across the country and around the world through smaller national tours and more targeted international touring. "I believe it is vitally important that the National Ballet once again assert its place in the lives and general consciousness of the Canadian public," she said. "Our company is a national treasure and we cannot let it recede from the dominant position it has always occupied in the country's cultural landscape and the hearts of our audience," she said.
As for Kain's involvement with the Canada Council for the Arts, where she serves as chair, Kain has no plans to step down. "As far as I'm concerned -- as far as they're concerned -- there's no reason I can't continue," she said yesterday, adding that it is not uncommon for members of the council to juggle personal commitments within the context of the Council's mandate.
"This is a very crucial time for the Council and I made a commitment. That's the kind of person I am," she said.
As for specifics on the future of the NBOC, Kain is confident but quiet, holding her cards pretty close to the vest as she settles into her new role. "I'm full of ideas but I'm not ready to make them public because I'm not sure of what's possible," she said, highlighting the volatility of finances and the arts. "But I've been filling notebooks with ideas."