Watch: This is a selection of all seven dance performances set to Leonard Cohen's Anthem. To see individual performances in their entirety, watch the videos below.
The Globe and Mail
We turn to the arts to move us: to uplift, transport, provoke. But during this time of crisis, so many large and small cultural institutions have gone dark, so many voices diminished.
Turning to Canada Day, though, it’s time to celebrate the resilience of Canadian culture, so The Globe and Mail and nine leading organizations have collaborated on a video project. The Toronto Symphony Orchestra has arranged and performed the Leonard Cohen song, Anthem, whose poignant lyrics about finding hope at a time of tribulation are sung by three artists from the Canadian Opera Company. Seven dance companies from across the country have also participated: the Atlantic Ballet, Les Grandes Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, the National Ballet of Canada, Red Sky Performance, Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Ballet BC.
“There is a crack in everything,” writes Cohen, whose lyrics from this 1992 song have recently become a social-media prayer. “That’s how the light gets in.”
Table of contents
Choose a performance • National Ballet of Canada • Ballet BC • Banff Centre • Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers • Red Sky • Les Grands Ballets • Atlantic Ballet
Behind the music • Profiles of the performances • An oral history of Anthem
Behind the scenes • Music and production credits
National Ballet of Canada
CREDITS • Choreography: Alysa Pires • Dancer: Alexander Skinner • Videographer: Christina Skinner
The Globe and Mail
Ballet BC
CREDITS • Dancer/choreographers: Kirsten Wicklund, Kiana Jung, Kiera Hill, Juan Duarte, Emily Chessa, Emily Klukas • Video editing: Peter Smida
The Globe and Mail
Banff Centre
CREDITS • Choreographer: Troy Emery Twigg • Dancer: Kevin Jesuino • Elder: Celestine Twigg • Videographer: Kyla Jacobs • Additional thanks to: Erin Brandt-Filliter, Christine Majer
The Globe and Mail
Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers
CREDITS • Choreographer/dancer: Jolene Bailie • Dancers: Carol-Ann Bohrn, Warren McClelland, Shawn Maclaine • Videographer: Landon Lake
The Globe and Mail
Red Sky Performance
CREDITS • Dancer/choreographer: Miyeko Ferguson • Videographer: Kiarash Sadigh
The Globe and Mail
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal
CREDITS • Dancer/choreographer: Vanesa Garcia-Ribala Montoya • Dancers: André Santos, Stefano Russiello, Anna Ishii, Tatiana Lerebours, Hamilton Nieh
The Globe and Mail
Atlantic Ballet Atlantique Canada
CREDITS • Choreographer: Igor Dobrovolskiy • Dancers: Irina Lerman, Olga Petiteau, Stéphanie Audet, Biel Torra Matamala, Thomas Finnigan-Badrock, Eldiyar Daniyarov • Technical director: Shawn Donellsen • Videographer: Sergiy Seniv
The Globe and Mail
Music and production credits
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
First violin: Jonathan Crow, Amanda Goodburn • Second violin: Paul Meyer, Sergei Nikonov • Viola: Victor Fournelle-Blain, Ivan Ivanovich • Cello: Joe Johnson • Bass: Jeffrey Beecher, Dave Longenecker • Flute: Julie Ranti • Oboe: Keith Atkinson • Clarinet: Eric Abramovitz • Bassoon: Darren Hicks • Horns: Neil Deland, Christopher Gongos, Nicholas Hartman • Trombone: Vanessa Fralick • Harp: Heidi Bearcroft • Percussion: Charles Settle, John Rudolph
Music by Leonard Cohen
Canadian Opera Company
Tenor: Matthew Cairns • Sopranos: Anna-Sophie Neher, Midori Marsh
Lyrics by Leonard Cohen
Editing and production
Editor: Patrick Dell • Assistant editor, sound mixing: Lucas Waldin • Digital design: Evan Annett • Producer: Craig Offman
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