Skip to content

Emma Bovary

A ballet based on Flaubert's novel Madame Bovary focused on the character of Emma Bovary whose romantic ideas of the world are at odds with reality - to catastrophic effect.

Date:
2023
Company:
National Ballet of Canada
Choreographer:
Helen Pickett
Dramaturg:
James Bonas
Composer - Music and Sound:
Peter Salem
Designer:
Michael Giafrancesco
Lighting:
Bonnie Beecher
Animations:
Grégoire Pont
Projection:
Anouar Brissel

Reviews:

Peter Salem’s original score is almost a character itself, whispering and thundering through a seamless series of mise-en-scènes to establish a strong rapport with the storyline and by extension the audience, listening enthralled in the dark.

Deirdre Kelly 4 Jun 2026 Critics At Large ↗

Emma’s splendour, joy, self-centredness, cruelty and despair are captured by Peter Salem’s magnificent composition, as interpreted brilliantly by the National Arts Centre Orchestra.

Sheenagh Pietrobruno 4 Jun 2026 CriticalDance ↗