Two for the Road, Eh?

Aleksandar Antonijevic is one busy guy onstage. The principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada takes lead roles in a pair of works — The Firebird and The Four Seasons — being performed this weekend. And the 36-year-old hoofer still manages to dance circles around troupe members half his age. “I do need to remind my body what to do here and there,” he jokes.

Antonijevic is constantly on the road with the National Ballet, which performs different shows all over the world. So he is usually rehearsing about half a dozen dances at once. “It’s more exhausting than performing,” he says.

The Firebird and The Four Seasons are two of the National Ballet’s most popular works. The latter is a signature piece, but Antonijevic has a fondness for the mythic Firebird. “Story ballets are the reason I still dance,” he says. “To get lost in a role and to be somebody else is so much more rewarding.”
Jan. 27-28, 8 p.m.; Sun., Jan. 29, 2 p.m.