This is the story of the National Ballet of Canada – the people, the determination, and how at sixty it is still creating new work while still representing the classics.

Passion to Dance is the story of the National Ballet of Canada – the people who dreamt the company into existence, the determination needed to keep it afloat, the bumps on the road to its success, and above all, its passion for dance as a living, evolving art form.
From catch-as-catch-can beginnings – borrowed quarters, tiny stages, enormous dreams the National Ballet has emerged as one of North America’s foremost dance troupes. The company at sixty is a company of its time, engaged in creating challenging new work, yet committed to maintaining the classics of the past, favourites like Swan Lake, The Nutcracker,and The Sleeping Beauty.
One hundred and fifty photographs from the company’s archives illustrate this definitive history, filled with eyewitness accounts, backstage glimpses, and fascinating detail. This is a record of one of Canada’s boldest cultural experiments, a book to enjoy now and keep forever.

James Neufeld has been going to the ballet for nearly fifty years and has written extensively about dance and the arts in Canada. Previously, he published Power to Rise and Lois Marshall. He recently retired from a thirty-eight year teaching career at Trent University and lives in Peterborough, Ontario.

James Neufeld's profile page

"...informative and lavishly illustrated."

Now magazine

Neufelds treatment of the companys gestation, birth and evolution, and of the people who have shaped its progress, is exemplary.

Dance International (Canada)

"This is a beautiful book for the coffee table which is rich array of photos both vintage and recent and is a must for all balletomanes' libraries."

Peterborough Examiner