The Canadian Ballet Festival was an annual

event Event may refer to: Gatherings of people * Ceremony, an event of ritual significance, performed on a special occasion * Convention (meeting), a gathering of individuals engaged in some common interest * Event management, the organization of eve ...

staged in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from 1948 to 1954 that brought together various Canadian

dance companies This is a list of notable dance and ballet companies. Notes References See also * List of folk dance performance groups *List of ballet companies in the United States {{Dance Companies A company, abbreviated as co., is a leg ...

to generate public interest in classical dance. Prior to the festivals, it was difficult for professional Canadian dancers to earn a living by practising their art in their own country. When the festivals ended in 1954 after six years, Canadian dancers were able to find paid work in

Canadian television Television in Canada officially began with the sign-on of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, a ...

practising their art.

Formation

In 1947, the

Royal Winnipeg Ballet The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest ballet company and the longest continuously operating ballet company in North America. History It was founded in 1939 as the "Winnipeg Ballet Club" by Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally (who also fou ...

formed the Canadian Ballet Festival under the direction of the manager David Yeddeau. The Canadian Ballet Festival Association (CBFA) became the official organizing body. In a statement to the

Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences The Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, otherwise known as the Massey Commission, chaired by Vincent Massey, was founded in 1949. The Massey Commission examined Canada's cultural needs. Massey had long belie ...

, the Canadian Ballet Festival Association identified the purpose of the festival as being to generate interest in dance in order "to prepare a professional field for Canadian dancers, thus enabling them to earn their livelihood by the practice of their own art in their own country."

Events

The inaugural festival in 1948 in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

brought together three ballet companies. In addition to the fledgling Winnipeg Ballet, the festival included the

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

-based Volkoff Canadian Ballet, and a

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

-based modernist troupe under Ruth Sorel. Kay Armstrong, with the

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

School of Dancing planned on performing which would have established her as the only Canadian choreographer with an original ballet. However, when the promised travel subsidy was withdrawn, Armstrong's troupe couldn't afford to participate. Canadian composers wrote most of the music for the Second Annual festival, held in

in March 1949 at the

Royal Alexandra Theatre The Royal Alexandra Theatre, commonly known as the Royal Alex, is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located near King and Simcoe Street. Built in 1907, the 1,244-seat Royal Alex is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in Nort ...

. It featured eleven companies, including Neo Dance Theatre, and 21 ballets were performed, including Cynthia Barrett's, ''Song of David'' and Boris Volkoff's ''Red Ear of Corn''. John Jacob Weinzweig wrote the first Canadian score commissioned by the Festival. Samuel Hersenhoren directed the orchestra. Subsequent to the 1949 festival, participating teachers formed the Canadian Dance Teachers' Association in order to unite, communicate and monitor teaching standards. The Third Annual Festival occurred in November 1950 in

with fifteen Canadian companies and 23 original Canadian ballets. Sydney Johnson and Marcel Valois wrote introductions in the 1950 program. Le Ballet Concert performed ''Étude'' and ''Le Rêve Fantasque''.

Celia Franca Celia Franca (25 June 1921 – 19 February 2007) was a co-founder of The National Ballet of Canada (1951) and its artistic director for 24 years. Early life Franca was born Celia Franks in London, England, the daughter of an East End tailo ...

, founder of the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca as the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

, was invited by the CBFA to be a guest. The Fourth Festival was held in Toronto in 1952. The Fifth Festival occurred in the spring of 1953 at the Little Theatre in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. The British Columbia Ballet Company performed Leonard Gibson's ''Gershwin Preludes''. By 1954, when the Festivals were over, Canadian dancers were able to find paid work in television through the

and the

References

{{Reflist Organizations disestablished in 1954 Recurring events disestablished in 1954 Festival, Ballet, Canadian Recurring events established in 1948 Arts organizations established in 1947 Royal Winnipeg Ballet Dance festivals in Canada Ballet competitions 1947 establishments in Manitoba 1954 disestablishments in Canada Festivals established in 1948