Village Squire, 1977-09, Page 38DANCE
Dance companies in Canada building international reputation
BY NANCY COLDHAM
Satin slippers, starched tutus and
stretchy leotards are the props for a
relatively new theatre art in Canada.
Ballet struggled into existence in Canada
in the late 1930s.
In 1938 professional ballet began with
the founding of a ballet school in Winnipeg
by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally. A
year later Miss Lloyd produced her first
ballet, Kilowatt Magic.
Kilowatt Magic celebrated cheap electric
power and the advent of electricity to rural
Manitoba. Within the next five years Miss
Lloyd produced 21 ballets. The Winnipeg
group received its Royal Charter in 1953
and became the Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
The 1971-1978 season has the Royal
Winnipeg Company branching out and
adding new works to its repertoire. Three
are by the young Argentinian choreograph-
er Oscar Araiz, The Unicorn, The Gorgon
and The Manticore along with Festival and
Women, are welcomed by the Company.
Oscar Araiz has become an important
contributor to -the Royal Winnipeg. His
new works join the list of previous
successes he has produced for the
Company including Family Scenes and the
Rites of Spring.
Defining a Canadian ballet company is a
difficult task. Each has its own character.
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, for example,
does not seek to be a grand European style
classical ballet company. Its aim is to make
ballet available to audiences in Canada and
elsewhere. This compact -sized company,
with just 25 principal dancers, has always
toured extensively. This season the
Company plans to tour New York City,
Vancouver, Saskatoon, Regina, Ottawa and
most major Canadian cities.
Tours in 1976 included appearances at
the Stratford Festival, the Paris Inter-
national Festival of the Dance, in Prague
and other major Czechoslavakian cities, in
Moscow, Leningrad and Odessa in Russia,
and, in 40 American cities. Time Magazine
has called the Royal Winnipeg "one of the
freshest and most vigorous companies on
the continent."
The National Ballet Company, located in
Toronto, occupies the middle place among
Canada's three largest companies. The
Royal Winnipeg is oldest and Les Grands
Ballets Canadiens is younger. The National
Ballet Company of Canada began its
1977-1978 season in New York City in July
with the premiere of Collective Symphony
created by Dutch National Ballet
cnoreographers Rudi van Dantzig, Hans
van Manen and Toer van Schayk. The
season ends in March, 1978 in Hamilton,
Ontario.
Irl Novemb&l, 1976 the National Ballet
Company celebrated its silver anniversary
-- 25 years to the day of its first
36, VILLAGE SQUIRE/SEPTEMBER 1977.
performance in 1951. A quarter of a
century agc the Company, under the
direction of its founder, Celia Franca,
presented a mixed program: Les Sylphid-
es, The Dance of Salome, Giselle, Etude
and the Polovetsian Dances from Prince
Igor.
By 1972 the National Ballet had reached
a respectable level of technical accomplish-
ment and had a substantial repertoire of
classical staples. Then the Company was
awarded the opportunity to work with
Rudolph Nureyev, to perform in Europe
and to take on regular commitments at the
Metropolitan Opera House in New York.
The National embarked upon a new
phase with the coming of Alexander Grant
as Artistic Director, July 1976. While not
departing from its classical origins it began
to mirror contemporary themes.
The success of a ballet troupe, Les Ballet
Chiriaeff, and a school founded in 1952 by
Madame Chiriaeff in Montreal prompted
the establishment of a permanent company
in that city in 1958 --Les Grands Ballets
Canadiens. With the development of a
third company, ballet became an integral
element of Canadian culture.
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens has been
called Canada's most innovative company.
It has strayed from the ballet norm by
performing rock -dance spectaculars like
Tommy and Christ Rock.
Brian Macdonald, the Company's
Artistic Director, claims he is dedicated to
the realization of "Canadianism" in ballet
and has gained an international reputation
as the country's most prolific choreograph-
er.
Western Canada has recently given birth
to yet another company, The Alberta, Ballet
Company, incorporated in 1966 by Artistic
Director Ruth Carse who previously toured
her dancers as the Edmonton Ballet
Company and Alberta Ballet Interlude. The
Company, which claims to be one of
Alberta's natural resources, became
professional and began touring extensively
in 1972.
In 1938, Canada had no professional
ballet companies. now there are four. In
four decades ballet has been established as
an important theatre art form.
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the National
Ballet Company of Canada, Les Grands
Ballets Canadiens and the Alberta Ballet
Company are devoted to this development.
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