The National Ballet of Canada has commissioned a brand new production of Romeo and Juliet from noted Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky. The work will open the 2011-2012 season, the company's 60th anniversary. (Aleksandar Antonijevic)

A Western Canadian tour and the world premiere of a brand new Romeo and Juliet are slated for the National Ballet of Canada's 60th anniversary season.

Artistic director Karen Kain announced details of the upcoming 2011-2012 season in Toronto on Monday.

The debut of a newly commissioned full-length Romeo and Juliet by Russian choreographer Alexei Ratmansky is among the anniversary highlights.

"His aesthetic — steeped in the Russian school but open to contemporary sources — is ideal both for this work and the company, with its classical heritage and passion for the modern," Kain said in a statement.

The acclaimed Ratmansky is a former dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, former director of the famed Bolshoi Ballet and currently the artist-in-residence and artistic advisor at American Ballet Theatre. His take on Romeo and Juliet will open Nov. 16 and serve as the featured offering during the company's fall 2011 season.

"It's a very expensive, beautiful production," inspired by Italian frescos and the Verona of that time period, Kain told CBC News after Monday's announcement.

The new production cost more than $1 million, but "these things are expensive," she explained.

"This is a major, full-length ballet. We've raised a lot of money for it and we have very excited donors who can't wait to see it."

Romeo and Juliet has been a signature work for the National Ballet since John Cranko's interpretation first joined the company's repertoire in 1964, Kain said during Monday's live broadcast of the season announcement.

"We've had the first Romeo and Juliet for 46 years now and I really felt it was time for a new vision," she said.

Another highlight of early fall will be the company's tour to Western Canada in mid-September through early October.

The Toronto-based troupe will make stops in Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, B.C. and Winnipeg.

The trip reprises a tour the company had planned in 2009, but was forced to postpone due to a financial shortfall during the recession. This time, there is a stop in Winnipeg, which the company hasn't visited since 1997.

Elena Lobsanova and Jiri Jelinek in Chroma, which was so well-received in 2010, the National Ballet will present it again for its 60th anniversary season. (Bruce Zinger/National Ballet of Canada)"We have a renewed energy and vigour in our supporters and we are no longer so frightened about the future," Kain said.

"People are talking about the National Ballet of Canada, about how creative and foward-thinking we are, how much support we have. That's exciting for me, it's exciting for the artists and it's exciting for the public. We want to be able to show [our work] to people. We're happy to be touring the country again."

The company also plans its annual visit to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa in April.

Favourites return

The winter season will see the return of several favourites, including the holiday feature The Nutcracker, a revival of Frederick Ashton's La Fille mal gardée, Rudolf Nureyev's The Sleeping Beauty and The Seagull by choreographer John Neumeier.

The summer 2012 session then kicks off with the North American premiere of U.S. choreographer Kevin O'Day's daring full-length adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, which will include a sound installation featuring the National Ballet orchestra.

A triple bill of one-act works also is set for summer: The comic Elite Syncopations, the male duet Songs of a Wayfarer and Chroma. The latter proved a hit when it debuted in 2010.

"After an electrifying response from audiences, we just had to bring it back," Kain said.

She also outlined special events scheduled for the company's 60th anniversary season, including:

• The Tutu Project, a season-long display of 60 archival tutus hailing from key moments in the ballet's history, bolstered by new, community-created tutus.
• The release of an updated edition of Power to Rise: The Story of The National Ballet of Canada by James Neufeld.
• A concert performance by the National Ballet of Canada Orchestra at Toronto's Koerner Hall.
• A proclamation of Nov. 14-20 as National Ballet of Canada Week by Toronto Mayor Rob Ford and the opening of an archival display at Toronto City Hall.

Dancers Jiri Jelinek and Bridgett Breiner in Hamlet, created by choreographer Kevin O'Day. The National Ballet of Canada will host the production's North American premiere in 2012. (Stuttgart Ballet)