National Ballet of Canada
| National Ballet of Canada | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Name | National Ballet of Canada |
| Year founded | 1951 |
| Founders | Celia Franca and Julia Bondy |
| Principal venue | Four Seasons Centre |
| Website | national.ballet.ca |
| Artistic staff | |
| Artistic Director |
|
| Music Director | David Briskin |
| Other | |
| Associated schools | The National Ballet School of Canada |
| Formation |
|
The National Ballet of Canada is Canada's largest ballet company. It was founded by Celia Franca and Julia Bondy in 1951 and is based in Toronto, Ontario. Based upon the unity of Canadian trained dancers in the tradition and style of England's Royal Ballet, The National is regarded as the premier classical ballet company in Canada.
In 1951, the two major ballet companies in Canada were the Royal Winnipeg Ballet headed by Gweneth Lloyd and the Volkoff Canadian Ballet founded by Boris Volkoff and based in Toronto. Although both of these companies were well renowned, they were biased in their selection of dancers and often held auditions in their founding cities. With a desire to create an unbiased Canadian ballet troupe, and inspired by the Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet, a group of ballet enthusiasts set out to create the National Ballet of Canada. Both Lloyd and Volkoff were interested in being the first artistic director of the company, but the organisers agreed that the only way to create a truly unbiased ballet company was to hire an outsider named Celia Franca as artistic director.
Franca had been to Canada twice in her life, and would not have the same biases a Canadian would in selecting dancers for the company. Furthermore, she had many connections within the dance community and be able to expand the company’s influence on the international stage. However, she was not interested in heading this new company. She had refused similar invitations in Australia and South Africa and liked living in the United Kingdom. Nevertheless, when she came to Canada in 1951, she was begged by the founders to accept their invitation. Franca accepted the job and became the first artistic director, while Volkoff would be the Resident Choreographer and Lloyd would be the Artistic Consultant and Choreographer. Conductor George Crum would take on the role of conductor, as well as musical director.
...
Wikipedia