Two photographs by Bruce Zinger from the “Opera Atelier Takes Canada to the World” campaign show Artists of Atelier Ballet and OA dancer Tyler Gledhill as their “Canadian Icon in Red”.
Between the glimpses of Chicago or Versailles which is the more incongruous?
Female Artists of Atelier Ballet and OA dancer Tyler Gledhill (photo: Bruce Zinger)
Exhibit A (above) is from Opera Atelier’s recent visit to Chicago.
Exhibit B (below) is from Opera Atelier’s current visit to Versailles, where they are about to open.
The Atelier Ballet seem quite at home in either setting. It’s more that fellow in red that I’m wondering about.
The female Artists of Atelier Ballet and OA dancer Tyler Gledhill in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles (photo: Bruce Zinger)
As you’re no doubt surmised, Tyler Gledhill doesn’t dance in this outfit when he’s onstage as part of an Opera Atelier production. More typically he looks like this (exhibit C below). Of course the Mountie outfit is meant as symbolism (proud Canadians etc), to which he is no stranger. Symbolism? look no further than exhibit C.
Tyler Gledhill (dancing) with Edwin Huizinga (violin) in Inception (photo: Bruce Zinger)
I can’t decide. Which is more incongruous: the Mountie in Chicago or Versailles? I wonder too whether one can move easily in those boots. I don’t picture Tyler dancing in that outfit: although never say never.
But by now seeing the winged figure onstage seems like the most perfectly natural thing in the world.
barczablog 
I bet this was an amazing production. 🙂 Thank you for sharing
My pleasure. In fact this is the show we had in Toronto a few weeks ago, that is now touring. It was in Chicago (first photo, outdoors) and is now at the Versailles palace (2nd photo). Those are publicity photos of course (which is why we have the cute Mountie, dressed in red, who happens to be a dancer with the company). What’s astonishing / remarkable about the second instance is that the 2 old pieces originated in the time of Louis XIV, in the 17th century. What’s captured in the third picture is the original prologue composed and performed by Edwin Huizinga, that leads us out of the intermission into the second piece on the program.
It was and surely is quite an amazing show. Wonderful as it is, I can’t imagine what it would be like to see the dancers & singers performing in a historically informed style in a place with such powerful associations, reverberations of another time.
Here’s the link to the review of the show from late October:
https://barczablog.com/2018/10/29/opera-atelier-acteon-and-pygmalion/