'This is about a mission,' says incoming artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens

The new artistic director of the Les Grands Ballets Canadiens says that he doesn't expect perfection in his work because perfection doesn't exist but creativity is always accessible.

IvanCavallari was announced as the incoming artistic director last April, and has since been finding his feet in Montreal and Les Grands Ballets with the help of outgoing artistic director Gradimir Pankov.

Pankov has been at the helm of the company for the past 18 years.

Cavallari was attracted to his new role because of the artistic freedom it offered.

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His last role was in Strasbourg, France, where he was the artistic director at the Ballet del'Opra National du Rhin.

He said that in Europe, opera houses tend to dictate the creative direction of their resident ballet companies.

"I was working with an institution that principally served the opera," Cavallari told CBC Montreal's Daybreak.

He added, "I came from frustration, here I found freedom."

Cavallari has spent years globetrotting as a ballet dancer and artistic director.

Born in Bolzano, Italy, near the German border, he began his ballet studies in Milan before earning a scholarship to one of the most prestigious ballet schools in the world, TheBolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow.

From there he performed in Germanyat the Stuttgart Ballet, first as a soloist then principal dancer.

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In that time, he rarely felt that he got a performance completely right.

"Obviously in a career of 14 years as a principaldancer, you have three, four, five performances that you take with you. But the rest is just building towards those performances," he said.

He doesn't think anything can ever really be perfect because perfection is too much ofa moving target.

"We keep changing, keep moving, we keep adding to ourselves. One can't be perfect, but one can be creative," Cavallari said.

In the months that he's been in Montreal, he said he has yet to findany local haunts to settle into because all his time and focus is taken up with the ballet.

A home in dance

Since he was 14 years old, ballet has takenCavallarito different cities in pursuit of creative opportunities.

He saidthe idea of "home" doesn't take on the same meaning for him as it does for other people.

"This is about a mission, not thinking,'I'm here, I'm going to be here forever,'" he said.

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He admits that at times life on a mission can bea hard one.

He said that despite some challenges settling into a new city, he is looking forward toJune, when he will take on his role as artistic director.

The double bill opening Les Grands Ballets's 2017/2018 season includes Beethoven'sSymphony No. 7 a piece of music which lends itself perfectly to dance and offers something extra.

"There's a mystical side, spiritual side, of dancing that can bring a lot to society. This is why I chose Symphony No. 7. Beethoven could not hear it and was completely deaf when he composed it," Cavallari said.

The season ends with a tribute to Leonard Cohen called Soire des toiles, even though thecompany has been known for shying away from contemporary music in the past.

"I'm new and want to bring my own way of looking at things," Cavallari said.