National Ballet of Canada Celebrates Successful Fundraiser

David Macdonald, Chair of the Soaring Campaign, today announced that The National Ballet of Canada's transformational campaign not only realized its potential but exceeded financial expectations, raising over $104 million. Thanks to a community of generous donors, these results will allow the company to continue soaring ever higher.

"The Soaring Campaign has been the most ambitious in the company's history and came at a time of increased growth and international interest for the company under Artistic Director Karen Kain," said Mr. Macdonald. "We are incredibly grateful to Sandra and Jim Pitblado, Honorary Co-Chairs of the Soaring Campaign, for their commitment, ongoing leadership and support and to all members of the Campaign Cabinet whose relentless efforts and dedication made this campaign such an impressive success. The company now has a solid foundation to sustain creative artistic momentum for years to come."

During the campaign, the National Ballet reached over 10 million people, part of the campaign's vision to engage and inspire more people than ever before.

The quiet phase of the campaign began during the 2009/10 season and the public launch of the Soaring Campaign took place on November 12, 2016, with a goal of raising $100 million in creative capital by 2020. Since its inception, the campaign has directed funds to five priority areas: Artistic Excellence, New Productions; The National Ballet of Canada Endowment Foundation, Touring and Community Engagement.

To date, these funds have enabled the National Ballet to:

• Grow the Endowment Foundation by $42 million with total assets of $79 million (as of June 30, 2019) which provides secure funding to the artistic priorities of the National Ballet now and into the future
• Produce 48 new ballets including Anna Karenina, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Romeo and Juliet, Frame by Frame and Emergence, as well as new works this season: Orpheus Alive (November 2019), a new work by Crystal Pite (February 2020) and Swan Lake staged and directed by Ms. Kain (June 2020)
• Collaborate with the most celebrated choreographers of our time, including Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, John Neumeier, Crystal Pite and Wayne McGregor
• Create the role of Choreographic Associate to help develop young Canadian choreographers
• Commission seven original music scores for full-length ballets
• Tour to the world's most important dance centres such as Paris, London, Hamburg, Moscow, St. Petersburg, New York City, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles
• Expand YOU dance, an outreach programme designed to improve accessibility to dance, reaching over 190,000 children
• Connect with audiences, children, students and ballet fans through performances, community events and digital streaming
• Acquire The Gretchen Ross Production Centre, the National Ballet's own set and prop workshop to build new productions and store sets and costumes for over 90 legacy productions
• Develop a world-class dancer health and wellness programme for injury prevention and rehabilitation

The National Ballet Endowment Foundation received matching grants from two levels of government: the Endowment Incentives Component of the Canadian Cultural Investment Fund, Department of Canadian Heritage and the Arts Endowment Match of the Ontario Arts Council.

Photo by Aleksandar Antonijevic