Royal Winnipeg Ballet
| Royal Winnipeg Ballet | |
|---|---|
|
|
| General information | |
| Name | Royal Winnipeg Ballet |
| Previous names |
|
| Year founded | 1939 |
| Founding choreographers | Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally |
| Location |
Winnipeg, Manitoba. Canada 
|
| Principal venue | Centennial Concert Hall |
| Website | www.rwb.org |
| Senior staff | |
| Director of Company Operations | Chris Turyk |
| Artistic staff | |
| Artistic Director | Andre Lewis |
| Ballet Master in Chief | Johnny Chang (Zhang-Wei Qiang) |
| Ballet Master | Jaime Vargas |
| Ballet Mistress |
|
| Music Director | Tadeusz Biernacki |
| Other | |
| Orchestra | Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra |
| Official school | Royal Winnipeg Ballet School |
| Formation | Principal First Soloist Second Soloist Corps de Ballet Apprentice Aspirant |
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is one of the world's premier dance companies. Based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, it is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America.
It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally. The name was changed to the "Winnipeg Ballet" in 1941 and the company began touring Canada in 1945. In 1948, with the initiative of the Winnipeg Ballet, the Canadian Ballet Festival was formed.
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet was granted its royal title in 1953, the first granted under the reign of Queen Elizabeth II. It completed its first American tour in 1954. In June that year the RWB's rented premises were devastated by fire; the company's entire stock of costumes, original music, choreographic scores and sets was destroyed. Conductor Eric Wild served as the company's music director from 1955 to 1962.
The company solidified its reputation under the artistic directorship of Saskatchewan-born Arnold Spohr from 1958 to 1988. Spohr, who first joined the company as a dancer in 1945, during his tenure maintained a strong focus on developing Canadian talent, and, at the same time, he developed the RWB as an international touring company, and actively engaged with choreographers and dancers from around the world to expand the ballet.
Spohr was succeeded by RWB principal dancer Henny Jurriëns who was formerly assistant to Dutch National Ballet director Rudi van Dantzig. Jurriëns, however, died in a car accident in April 1989. In 1990 John Meehan from American Ballet Theatre became artistic director but left in 1993 following the company's persistent financial difficulties.William Whitener, formerly the artistic director of Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, was chosen to succeed Meehan. Continuing financial problems and dancer "unrest", Whitener was released in less than two years later.
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