In Conversation with Hope Muir

Toronto-born Hope Muir officially takes the role of Artistic Director of The National Ballet of Canada in January 2022, building on a rich international career that has taken her from English National Ballet to Rambert Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Scottish Ballet and Charlotte Ballet, where she has been Artistic Director since 2017.

Starting in August 2021, Hope has been participating in the artistic life of the National Ballet, attending the Harbourfront Centre Outdoor Residency, teaching class and meeting with dancers and donors. Here, she shares her experience and expectations of life in the company.

What was it like to immerse yourself with The National Ballet of Canada for the first time at last summer’s Harbourfront Centre Outdoor Residency?

The first time you enter any new environment or organization, the experience is always tinged with butterflies, excitement and nervous expectation. That is especially true now, coming back after this huge hiatus with the pandemic. The excitement was even more tangible. I felt so emotional seeing those dancers on stage after such a long time without performances.

You have described the studio as your “natural habitat” and the place you most want to be. What makes it so?

With the amount of time that one spends in the studio as an artist and then in the career path that I’ve had, it really is the place where communication happens, whether that’s physically or verbally, and where the dancers put the most trust in me. I feel I am most valuable to the dancers in the studio. It’s something we all share, it’s our common denominator.

You assisted Crystal Pite with the staging of Emergence for the National Ballet in 2009. This fall the company will perform her ballet Angels’ Atlas. How would you characterize her work?

I haven’t had the privilege of seeing Angels’ Atlas yet and being such a superfan of Crystal’s work I’m really looking forward to it. I don’t think you can really separate the work from the person in her case, which is why it’s so authentic and so distinctive. She really has her own language, which comes through the commitment and the preparation and all of the research that she does. Having been in the studio and seen how she communicates and how she works with the dancers, I know how satisfying that experience is for them. That honesty and humanity is what I see in Crystal’s work and what makes it so moving, challenging and inspiring. She’s just an extraordinary individual.

What are you looking forward to about living and working in Toronto?

I’m looking forward to having four seasons again, that’s something I’ve missed out on a lot. As things are reopening, I’m also hoping to learn more about all of the different arts organizations in the city. I’m a bit of a foodie, so I want to try out some of the restaurants as well. I’m always on the lookout for potential collaborations, and that could be through going to a restaurant, seeing an image on a menu, going to see a play, reading an article or popping into a coffee shop and picking up a book I’ve never seen before. I’m a bit of a collector of ideas and they always tend to feed back into dance.

Clockwise from top left: Hope Muir in rehearsal at Charlotte Ballet. Photo by Jeff Cravotta. Hope Muir in an English National Ballet School graduation performance. Photo by Bill Cooper. Hope Muir in rehearsal at Rambert Ballet. Photographer unknown. Hope Muir in August Pace. Photo by Anthony Crickmay. Hope Muir walking the halls at The Walter Carsen Centre. Hope Muir in Company Class. Photos by Karolina Kuras.