Skip to main content
on the scene

The National Arts Centre and Canada's National Ballet School host galas that toast their artists

Peter Herrndorf Tribute Dinner, Ottawa

Come June, after nearly 20 years at the helm of Canada's National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa, Peter Herrndorf will step down as president and CEO. The beloved arts administrator was lauded and honoured on March 1 at a big dinner littered with Ottawa's social and political players as well as arts patrons from across the country, all of whom gathered at the NAC, the very space Herrndorf has lead and helped steer into the future. The dinner also served as a chance to raise funds for the NAC's new indigenous theatre department, which, under artistic director Kevin Loring, is set to launch in 2019. An impressive $1-million was raised. After dinner, actor Colm Feore, who served as emcee, introduced the evening's tribute speakers, among them national Chief Perry Bellegarde of the Assembly of First Nations and Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly. There were performances, too: Singers Molly Johnson, Chantal Kreviazuk and pianist Angela Hewitt all took to the stage to serenade Herrndorf.

Colm Feore, Peter Herrndorf, Alexander Shelley and Nelson McDougall.

Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and Chantal Kreviazuk.

Josée Bourgeois performs a traditional dance prior to dinner.

Canada's National Ballet School Gala, Toronto

Also on March 1, in Toronto, Canada's National Ballet School, the only school in North America that provides dance training, academic instruction and residence on one campus, hosted its annual gala, with La Belle Époque serving as its theme. There was an auction, a big dinner and lots of speeches, all the trappings of an annual fundraiser, but it was the remarkable performances on offer by the professional ballet program students, the talented young dancers who benefit from the monies raised at the gala (which account for 40 per cent of the school's annual fundraising goal) who each year help make this evening stand out. As always, the performances were wonderful, but it was a piece choreographed by acclaimed Canadian dance artist, and my superb seat-mate, Peggy Baker that left me breathless. The moving performance was in honour of her 25 years as the school's artist-in-residence, and later to usher Baker on stage and speak was Grade 12 student Charlie Skuy, he said that the sacred time spent with Baker has been "an opportunity to be with someone who allows us to delve into the fabric of our bodies to rethink and reinvent how we move, and more importantly how we value ourselves." He added, with tears in his eyes, "This is mentorship and this is love."

Cindy Thornburn.

Peggy Baker.

Peter Lamb and Veronica Tennant.


Visit tgam.ca/newsletters to sign up for the Globe Style e-newsletter, your weekly digital guide to the players and trends influencing fashion, design and entertaining, plus shopping tips and inspiration for living well. And follow Globe Style on Instagram @globestyle.