Tours en l'air organizes ballet-themed escorted holidays to see the best companies perform great ballets in beautiful places. You can join a trip from anywhere. A highly knowledgeable balletomane who has enjoyed 100s of performances in over 20 cities around the world,I speak English, French, and German, and am a Travel Industry Council of Ontario certified Travel Counsellor. I also teach ballet appreciation courses.
For a taste of what our trips are like, follow https://www.facebook.com/toursenlair/ on facebook.
Tours en l'air Ballet Holidays are offered in partnership with CWT Victor Travel, 101 - 8800 Dufferin Street, Concord, ON L4K 0C5, 416-736-6010, TICO # 1892647

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Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Running late for work... at Paris Opera Ballet

Love this video starring Mathieu Ganio!

https://youtu.be/LI1-UcDgLoo



If you love seeing beautiful places and things, and bingeing on ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here.
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Monday, June 20, 2016

Video profile: Calvin Royal III, Skylar Brandt, and Stella Abrera

NYC-ARTS Profile: American Ballet Theatre – A Dancer’s Life

A behind-the-scenes look at the lives of three dancers from American Ballet Theatre: Calvin Royal III, Skylar Brandt, and Stella Abrera. 
 
 
If you love seeing beautiful places and things, and bingeing on ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here.
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You can sign up to have my ballet updates delivered directly to your inbox here
 

Friday, June 17, 2016

Desmond Heeley RIP

My tribute to the great designer Desmond Heeley, who died this past weekend. I am very honoured to have this delightful sketch, which he sent to me as a thank you for sending him a DVD of The National Ballet of Canada's Merry widow. I was equally honoured to have him chat on the phone to me for an hour! I will never forget hearing the voice at the other end of the line saying "My name is Desmond Heeley" and me saying "THE Desmond Heeley???!!!"





For more information about Desmond Heeley, visit the National Ballet of Canada's tribute:
http://national.ballet.ca/Meet/DesmondHeeley

If you love seeing beautiful places and things, and bingeing on ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here.
Use the buttons below to share this post on facebook, twitter, by email, or other social media.
You can sign up to have my ballet updates delivered directly to your inbox here

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Ballet in US cinemas this summer



In case you missed them the first time around, three performances from the Lincoln Center at the Movies series are returning to U.S. cinemas this summer:

  1.  the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater on Tuesday, July 26
  2.  Ballet Hispanico on Tuesday, August 2
  3. San Francisco Ballet's Romeo & Juliet starring Maria Kochetkova on Tuesday, August 9

    https://youtu.be/i0ratR9rcgM


    all starting at 7:00 pm local time. A list of cinemas for each showing can be found by clicking on the grey "more info" button and then on the "Theater Locations" tab.
    If you love seeing beautiful places and things, and bingeing on ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here.

    Use the buttons below to share this post on facebook, twitter, by email, or other social media.
    You can sign up to have my ballet updates delivered directly to your inbox here

Saturday, June 11, 2016

Ballet trip to Saint-Sauveur NOW BOOKING

 For a printer-friendly PDF of this brochure, please click here.

CWT Victor Travel
101 - 8800 Dufferin Street, Concord, ON L4K 0C5
TICO Ontario registration #1892647
presents

Tours en l'air
Ballet Holidays

escorted by
Canada's Word Lady,
Katherine Barber

Saint-Sauveur (Quebec)
+ day trip to Montreal
10 - 13 August 2016
4 days, 3 nights
2 ballet performances + 1 optional

Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur

An evening celebrating the dancing and choreography of Guillaume Côté
A gala night with Misty Copeland and stars of American Ballet Theatre,
the Royal Ballet, and
The National Ballet of Canada

Wednesday 10 August
Depart Toronto via private coach**. Stop for lunch in a lovely restaurant in Gananoque. Arrive Saint-Sauveur; check in to the Hotel Le Versailles, 10 minutes walk from the performance venue. Evening: Guillaume Côté and dancers of the National Ballet of Canada: The Story of us (Marcelo Gomes, World Premiere, with Heather Ogden), Venom (Côté), Sleeping Beauty prince's solo, Dance me to the end of love (Côté).
**Pickup can also be arranged at Dorval Via Rail station for those arriving by train or flying into Montreal airport (5 minutes by taxi from train station).

Thursday 11 August
Our private coach takes you to Montreal (approx. 1 hour) for the day, where you can shop, visit the museums, or enjoy the charm of Old Montreal. Return to St-Sauveur late afternoon. Evening: 3-course dinner followed by optional performance: Louise Lecavalier and Frédéric Tavernini, So Blue. Or catch a free “Dance Film Under the Stars” at sundown in the park.

Friday 12 August
Day at leisure. Shop at the factory outlet mall, take a calèche ride, or stroll along picturesque rue Principale and enjoy the shops and bakeries. Evening: Classical, neo-classical, and contemporary solos and pas de deux. Guillaume Côté & Heather Ogden (National Ballet of Canada), Misty Copeland & Blaine Hoven (American Ballet Theatre), Nehemiah Kish & Yuhui Choe (The Royal Ballet).

Saturday 13 August
Check out of hotel and depart St-Sauveur by private coach. Dropoff at Montreal airport or Dorval train station possible. Stop for lunch in a lovely restaurant in Kingston before returning to Toronto.
Total Package

double occupancy
CA$1599 per person

single occupancy
CA$1869

All prices valid till 24 June 2016

You may use RBC reward points or RBC certificates towards the purchase of any or all components of these travel arrangements

REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT DUE DATE:
24 JUNE 2016

TO BOOK:
Call Lucy Nati at CWT Victor Travel, (416) 736-6010 x. 234,
toll-free 1-866-699-0199



Basic package price includes:
3 nights twin share accommodation in the Hotel Le Versailles, 10 minutes walk from the performance venue
Transportation by private coach between Toronto and Saint-Sauveur
Transportation by private coach between Saint-Sauveur and Montreal
Internet access
Seats for 2 ballets
Ballet Notes provided by tour leader
2 lunches and 1 dinner
Mineral water, 1 glass wine, beer or soft drink, and tea or coffee with each meal.

Not included:
Airfare or trainfare to and from Montreal
Activities listed as optional in this itinerary
Meals and transfers not specifically mentioned in this itinerary
Items of a personal nature,
e.g. phone calls
Cancellation insurance
Hospital/medical insurance





Terms and Conditions:
Non-refundable payment in full of CA$1599 per person (double occupancy) or CA$1869 (single occupancy) is required at time of registration, no later than 24 June 2016**.
Optional cancellation and hospital/medical insurance are also payable at this time.
All cancellations must be received in writing at CWT Victor Travel to the attention of Lucy Nati (lucy@cwtvictortravel.ca)
Manulife out-of-province health insurance (for Ontario residents holding an OHIP card) and trip cancellation insurance are available through Victor Travel and STRONGLY RECOMMENDED. Price will vary according to birthdate. Premium must accompany the deposit and is non-refundable.

Total package price is
fully non-refundable


This program must be sold as a package.
We cannot offer individual components separately, break the package into shorter installments, or offer an
accommodation only” option.

Mobility issues should be discussed with the travel agent before registering.

Travellers wishing to share will be
put in touch with one another.

For more information:
phone: 416.693.4496

for more fabulous escorted vacations
for ballet lovers
and information on Katherine's highly popular ballet appreciation courses

Guillaume Côté


GET MORE BALLET OUT OF LIFE WITH
TOURS EN L'AIR













Friday, June 10, 2016

Cast change: National Ballet of Canada Giselle





Updated 10 June 2016.
Xiao Nan Yu will be replaced by Elena Lobsanova and Naoya Ebe will replace McGee Maddox on Thursday June 16 at 730 pm.
Evan McKie will be replaced by McGee Maddox Saturday 18 June at 730pm.

 subject to change. All performances at the Four Seasons Centre for the Arts, Toronto.

If you love seeing beautiful places and things, and bingeing on ballet, please check out my season of outstanding ballet trips by clicking here.

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Giselle Albrecht Hilarion Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis
Wednesday June 15 @ 730 pm Svetlana Lunkina Harrison James Piotr Stanczyk Heather Ogden
Thursday June 16 @ 2 pm Jillian Vanstone Francesco Gabriele Frola Skylar Campbell Hannah Fischer
Thursday June 16 @ 730 pm Elena Lobsanova Naoya Ebe Jonathan Renna Alexandra MacDonald
Friday June 17 @ 730 pm Sonia Rodriguez Harrison James Piotr Stanczyk Heather Ogden
Saturday June 18 @ 2 pm Elena Lobsanova Naoya Ebe Skylar Campbell Hannah Fischer
Saturday June 18 @ 730 pm Svetlana Lunkina
McGee Maddox
Piotr Stanczyk Heather Ogden
Sunday June 19 @ 2 pm Jurgita Dronina Harrison James Jonathan Renna Alexandra MacDonald

Thursday, June 9, 2016

2016-17 Tours en l'air Ballet Trips - updated


All Tours en l'air Ballet Holidays are presented by CWT Victor Travel
TICO 1892647


Customers rave about Tours en l'air: 
"My most sincere thank you to you Katherine for a 
superb trip filled with 
 outstanding ballet, wonderful side adventures, surprises, 
friendship and good cheer -- 
all due to your excellent planning."
Ann H.(Munich and Stuttgart, April 2012)








Please note I have eliminated the January Budapest-Vienna trip and replaced it with a May Prague-Vienna trip. See below for details. 
 
Another great season of fabulous ballet, beautiful sights to see, delicious meals, and friendly balletomanes to meet and share it all with. Please “vote” now for any trip you might be interested in and available for in 2016-17.

We are approaching the “elimination round” of the annual 
Tours en l'air destination popularity competition.

For those of you who are new to the process, this is how it works:

  1. See below the complete list of all the trips I have determined are doable and exciting.
  2. Send me an email to toursenlair@gmail.com (do not simply hit REPLY to this post) to tell me which ones might suit you, even if later you may have to decline. Please list ALL the trips you might go on. I will not interpret this as meaning you will go on all of them! If you would really like to go on a ballet trip next year and Paris-Amsterdam is your first choice, I highly recommend you give a second choice as well, since the Paris-Amsterdam trip is likely to sell out. Once I see which trips have sufficient interest, I will proceed to the detailed planning and pricing of those trips.

    I cannot give estimates on costs at this point; to be able to do that I actually have to plan every detail of the trip, reserve hotel rooms, charter buses, etc. etc.

     
    You are not committing yourself to anything; it's just a way for me to eliminate any trips for which people aren't available (since I have no idea when you all are free to travel). No point doing all that planning only to find out that no one, for instance, can go to San Francisco in February anyway! 
    But if you ARE interested in a trip, let me know; 
    insufficient expressed interest will cause it to be  
    removed from the schedule.
    Once you're on the list for any given trip, you get priority
    when booking officially opens, and you also get to have some input during the planning process concerning your preferences. Some of my trips sell out, so you want your name to be in there!

    Over 150 people have now enjoyed the exhilarating and unique experience that is a Tours en l'air Ballet Holiday
    .

    It's your turn in 2016-17! 

    Remember, you can join a trip from anywhere in the world. 
  






2016

August 10 - 13, 4 days, 2 performances
 
Saint-Sauveur, Quebec

BOOKING JUNE 2016



Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur

 Guillaume Côté and dancers of the 

National Ballet of Canada:

The Story of us (Marcelo Gomes, World 

Premiere, with Heather Ogden)

Venom (Côté)
 
The Sleeping Beauty prince's solo 
 

Dance me to the end of love (Côté)


Solos and pas de deux from the classical, neoclassical and contemporary repertoires

    • Guillaume Côté – National Ballet of  Canada

    • Heather Ogden – National Ballet of  Canada

    • Misty Copeland – American Ballet Theatre

    • Blaine Hoven - American Ballet Theatre

    • Nehemiah Kish – The Royal Ballet

    • Yuhui Choe – The Royal Ballet

    • Anne Plamondon - Independent artist

    • more dancers TBA
Optional performance
 
Louise Lecavalier and Frédéric Tavernini
  in So Blue



October 14 -16

New York

New York City Ballet

New Lovette, New Peck 1, New Walker,

New  Lopez Ochoa,
 
Everywhere We Go (Peck)



Dances at a Gathering (Robbins),
   
Firebird (Balanchine)


Glass Pieces (Robbins), Thou Swell (Martins),

Stars and Stripes (Balanchine)


THIS WILL BE OUR ONLY NEW YORK TRIP IN

2016-17


2017


 


February 3 - 5

San Francisco

San Francisco Ballet

HAFFNER SYMPHONY (Tomasson),

JIŘÍ BUBENÍČEK WORLD PREMIERE,

IN THE COUNTENANCE OF KINGS (Peck)



SEVEN SONATAS (Ratmansky),

YURI POSSOKHOV WORLD PREMIERE,

PAS/PARTS 2016 (Forsythe)


BOOKING NOVEMBER 2016 


 

February 24  - March 5 (10 days)

Berlin and Dresden (day trip to Leipzig)

Berlin State Ballet


Onegin (Cranko)


Castrati (Duato),  Petite Mort (Kylian),  

Secus (Naharin)


Multiplicity, Forms of Silence and Emptiness

(Duato)


Dresden Semperoper Ballet 

Swan Lake 


Leipzig Ballet
   
Van Gogh (Schroder)



March 8-12 (5 days)

Sarasota and Fort Lauderdale

 
Sarasota Ballet

Scènes de ballet (American premiere),

The Two Pigeons (both Ashton)


Miami City Ballet

The Fairy’s Kiss (Ratmansky),

Walpurgisnacht Ballet (Balanchine), 

Polyphonia (Wheeldon)



April 1 - 12 (12 days)

Zurich and Munich
 
 Zurich Ballet Junior Company

Un Ballo (Kylian), new Favre, new TBA

 
Zurich Ballet

Swan Lake

(reconstruction of the original Petipa version by

Alexei Ratmansky)
 

Stanislavsky Ballet

Mayerling (MacMillan)


Bavarian State Ballet

Spartacus (Grigorovich)

 
Symphony in C (Balanchine)

In the Night (Robbins), Adam Is (Barton)


Romeo and Juliet (Cranko)


La Fille mal Gardée (Ashton)

     
Bavarian State Ballet Junior Company

Mixed Program

BOOKING JANUARY 2017







April 30 - May 10 (11 days)

Amsterdam and Paris
 
Dutch National Ballet Junior Company

Mixed program
 

Dutch National Ballet

 All Balanchine: Theme and Variations,

Tarantella, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Apollo


Paris Opera Ballet

In G (Robbins), La Valse (Balanchine),

Bolero (Cherkaoui)

BOOKING AUGUST 2016



 
May 11 -19  (9 days)

London


  An American in Paris (Wheeldon)


Royal Ballet

Mayerling (MacMillan)

The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude (Forsythe), 
Tarantella  (Balanchine), Strapless (Wheeldon), new Scarlett


Northern Ballet

Casanova (Tindall)

plus possible other performances by other

 companies TBA

BOOKING JANUARY 2017


May 20 - 30 (11 days)
 
Prague and Vienna

(day trips to Dresden, Brno, and Bratislava)


Dresden Semperoper Ballet
Symphony in C (Balanchine), Forgotten Land (Kylian), Quintett (Forsythe)

Vienna State Ballet
Swan Lake (Nureyev) 
Firebird (Kaydanovskiy), Movements to Stravinsky (Lukacs), Petrushka  (Peci)

Ballet of the National Theatre of Brno
Black and White (Radacovsky)

Ballet of the National Theatre of Slovakia
Giselle

BOOKING FALL 2016


June 30 - July 10

 South of France:

Toulouse and Bordeaux


Ballet du Capitole de Toulouse

Les Sylphides, MC14/22 (Ceci est mon corps) (Preljocaj)

Ballet de l'Opéra National de Bordeaux
Romeo and Juliet (Jude)
BOOKING SEPTEMBER 2016
More info here:
http://toursenlair.blogspot.ca/2016/08/food-wine-sightseeingand-ballet-trip.html 





Why should you travel with Tours en l'air? Click

here for 10 good reasons.


What do people who've taken a Tours en l'air 

ballet trip have to say about it? Click here to find

out.


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BALLET MAKES LIFE BETTER

GET MORE BALLET OUT OF LIFE WITH 

TOURS EN L'AIR