Frank Augustyn

Frank Augustyn
Born	(1953-01-27) January 27, 1953 (age 64) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

Frank Joseph Augustyn, OC (born January 27, 1953) is a Canadian ballet dancer and artistic director. He was principal dancer of the National Ballet of Canada and the Berlin Opera Ballet.

Frank Augustyn was born in Hamilton, Ontario. As a boy, Augustyn's interests were in gymnastics and acrobatics; he once appeared on the variety series Tiny Talent Time as a gymnast. During a summer course at Canada's National Ballet School (often called The National) intended to help improve movement and his control for his gymnastic acrobatic training, his abilities for ballet were recognized by Betty Oliphant, founder and director of the school. Oliphant was at the time looking for male dancers, always a challenge for ballet schools. Although Augustyn's parents were reluctant to have their son pursue ballet as a career, Augustyn continued in the school until at seventeen he joined the professional company National Ballet of Canada.

Augustyn joined the National Ballet of Canada in 1970. He was the National Ballet's principal dancer from 1972 to 1989. From 1980 to 1981, he was principal dancer at the Berlin Opera Ballet. From 1985 to 1986, he was the principal guest artist at the Boston Ballet. From 1989 to 1994, he was the artistic director of the Ottawa Ballet. He was a founding member of Ballet Revue (dancing his own piece, Personal Essay) and has appeared frequently on international television. Television viewers are familiar with Mr. Augustyn's series on ballet, Footnotes, seen on Bravo U.S. and Bravo Canada. In this series, which he co-wrote, co-produced and hosted, Mr. Augustyn outlines the history and techniques of classical ballet for a general audience. He has published Footnotes--Dancing the World's Best Loved Ballets, which is based on the television production, as well as his memoirs, Dancing from the Heart.

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