National Ballet of Canada’s Rex Harrington.Aleksandar Antonijevic
Although he retired as principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada in 2004, Rex Harrington has not left the building. He's the company's artist-in-residence and was one of four dancers (along with Veronica Tennant, Evelyn Hart and Frank Augustyn) to be honoured at its annual Mad Hot Ballet fundraising gala this week. With the company busy with its productions of A Streetcar Named Desire (to June 10) and Swan Lake (June 15 to 25), we asked Harrington what was putting a spring in his step these days.
What he's reading: "I have just started reading again after a long hiatus and am very much enjoying The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff. It's a beautiful story about love and redemption during the Second World War. I commute to the city on the GO train every day. I find it the perfect time to read. Recently I read Rich Roll's Finding Ultra, which inspired me to switch to a plant-based diet. Roll turned his life around and became the fittest ultra-marathon runner in the world."
What he's watching: "I always tape The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She truly is a funny voice for our mad world, and I try to live up to her motto 'Be kind to one another' each day. Of course, I also watch our boys of summer, the Toronto Blue Jays."
What he is listening to: "I listen to my friend Jean Stilwell, the morning host of the New Classical FM 96.3. She has a lovely on-air persona and humour matched by a knowledge of music like no other diva I know. Not ignoring another diva friend, I listen to Seth Rudetsky on SiriusXM's On Broadway channel on SiriusXM. He's hysterical while highlighting the best of Broadway. I met him in Toronto recently and found out he was a fan of mine, as he is obsessed with The Amazing Race. My partner Bob and I were on The Amazing Race Canada's second season."
Brad Wheeler