Canada’s ballet scene is built around three historic companies — the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (1939), the National Ballet of Canada (1951) and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens (1957) — together with Alberta Ballet, Ballet BC and Canada’s National Ballet School. They perform the classics, commission new Canadian works and train dancers who perform worldwide.
In 1939 two English teachers, Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally, founded the Winnipeg Ballet Club. In 1953 it became the Royal Winnipeg Ballet — the first company granted a royal title under Queen Elizabeth II — and it is the oldest ballet company in Canada. In Toronto, the English dancer Celia Franca founded the National Ballet of Canada in 1951 and, with Betty Oliphant, Canada’s National Ballet School in 1959. In Montréal, Ludmilla Chiriaeff created Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1957. Canadian stars include Karen Kain, who with Frank Augustyn won a prize for best pas de deux at the 1973 Moscow International Ballet Competition, and Evelyn Hart of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Mikhail Baryshnikov briefly danced with the RWB after defecting in Toronto in 1974. Today choreographers such as Crystal Pite and Guillaume Côté create new works for Canadian and international stages, and the National Ballet’s ‘Nutcracker’ is a holiday tradition in Toronto.
