Ballet posts ninth straight operating surplus

After a season marked by a new work about a Canadian animation icon, the company’s triumphant return to Paris and the Toronto debut of a hot, young choreographer, the National Ballet of Canada has posted its ninth consecutive operating surplus.

It was reported at the ballet’s annual general meeting on Thursday that the company had a surplus of $257,000 on revenues of $35.53 million and expenses of $35.27 million.

“Artistic achievement and global attention were at the centre of a remarkable year at the National Ballet of Canada,” board chair Cornell C.V. Wright said in announcing the surplus.

The year included the world premiere of Frame by Frame, about Canadian filmmaker Norman McLaren, by Robert Lepage and Guillaume Côté; reprises of The Winter’s Tale, Nijinsky, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker; and two triple bills, one of all-Canadian works and one that featured Paz de la Jolla by Tony Award-winning New York choreographer Justin Peck.

All together, the company reached 26,664 people with 17 touring performances in Paris, San Francisco, Ottawa and London, England.

Here at home, attendance didn’t quite reach the record high of the previous season but was still quite healthy, with 143,831people attending 79 performances at the Four Seasons Centre.

The company also reported that it had reached $94 million of the $100-million goal for its Soaring campaign to ensure its future financial stability, and that its endowment fund grew $5.8 million to a new all-time record of $74.6 million as of June 30.

“The success of last season couldn’t have been possible without the hard work and commitment of all the talented people who work at the National Ballet,” artistic director Karen Kain said.