Remembering Lazo Surmeyan
Hazaros (LAZo) surmeyan
As we chronicle the ever-increasing losses of a generation in Canadian dance history, DCD is sad to report the death of Hazaros (Lazo) Surmeyan on June 1, 2026. Lazo was born in Skopje, Yugoslavia, and came to Canada in 1966 at the request of National Ballet dancer and resident choreographer Grant Strate. Strate had been sent to Europe to find a strong, male dancer who could partner Martine van Hamel and found Lazo working as a principal dancer at the Mannheim Opera Ballet in Germany. Though somewhat hesitant, Lazo made the journey and went on to have an extraordinary 54-year career with The National Ballet of Canada dancing as both a principal dancer and then a principal character artist from 1986-2020. It was here that he also met and married dancer Lorna Geddes who also spent more than a half century with the company.
Before his arrival in Canada, Lazo had danced with the Skopje Opera Ballet, Belgrade Opera Ballet, Mannheim Opera Ballet, and Cologne Opera Ballet. Throughout his career, he was noted for his commanding presence on stage and performed in classics such as Swan Lake, Coppélia, Romeo and Juliet, Onegin, La Fille mal gardée, The Nutcracker, and Don Quixote.
He was also notable for his roles in many of James Kudelka’s ballets including Washington Square, Cinderella, The Contract, The Four Seasons, An Italian Straw Hat and Hedda, and was acclaimed in Ann Ditchburn’s Mad Shadows for which he also performed in the CBC television version directed by Eric Till. His work as a principal character artist helped to define what that role was within the National Ballet.
Beyond the National Ballet, Lazo created a production of Romeo and Juliet in Macedonia in 1987 and Anna Karenina in Skopje in 2003. He also taught widely including Diana Jablokova-Vorps’s Toronto Summer School in Dance, the Vancouver Ballet Society, Sarasota Academy of Ballet Arts, and was guest ballet master and principal character dancer for a tour of China with Xing-Bang Fu’s Panda Dance Theatre Canada.
Fellow principal dancer and principal character artist Tomas Schramek had a long friendship with Lazo after arriving in Canada in 1968. The two shared a dressing room for many years – Tomas recalls with affection that after they became character artists, they were often compared to famed Muppet characters Statler and Waldorf, the curmudgeonly audience members of The Muppet Show who sat in the balcony and heckled performers. Tomas also remembers being welcome at Lazo and Lorna’s home anytime, even when dropping by unannounced.
DCD extends its condolences to Lazo’s family, friends and loved ones.
(L to R) Hazaros (Lazo) Surmeyan and Nadia Potts; Hazaros (Lazo) Surmeyan; Hazaros (Lazo) Surmeyan and Sabina Alleman/ All photos, including banner picture, by Andrew Oxenham
