SIGHTLINES

Christopher House is one of Canada’s most celebrated choreographers, and as the longtime artistic director of Toronto Dance Theatre, he helped shape the country's contemporary dance landscape with work that fused formal clarity with emotional ambiguity. Now retired from the institution he once led, House, who will turn 70 in just two weeks, returns to the stage...

Every year in late February, the National Ballet of Canada stages a suite of three or four short to mid-length ballets originally choreographed in the last 100 years, which, in ballet time, is considered remarkably fresh. The National’s suite design is dependable, if not formulaic, often including a pretty, neoclassical number, a soulful or edgy pas de deux, and a contemporary ensemble piece that deals with "big themes."