Gweneth Lloyd, OC (September 15, 1901 - January 1, 1993) was a co-founder of 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 ...

, a ballet teacher and choreographer. Lloyd was born in Eccles, Lancashire, United Kingdom. She attended

The Perse School (He who does things for others does them for himself) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day school , religion = Nondenominational Christian , president = , head_label = Head , he ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, but began taking dance when she attended

Northwood College Northwood College for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18. The school was founded in 1870 and is located in Northwood, London, England. History Northwood College for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 ...

. In 1927 she and Doris McBride open their own dance school in Leeds. It was here that Lloyd met student

Betty Farrally Betty Farrally (May 5, 1915 – April 9, 1989) was an English-born Canadian dancer, educator and ballet director. She was co-founder of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. The daughter of Arthur Hey and Ada Sugden, she was born Betty Hey in Bradford ...

(née Hey) who would accompany Lloyd to

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 ...

, Manitoba, Canada in 1938. They opened the Canadian School of Ballet on Portage Avenue and shortly afterwards founded the Winnipeg Ballet Club, that in 1953 became the

. The first performance of the Winnipeg Ballet Club was part of a production in Montreal, celebrating the visit of Princess Elizabeth (not yet Queen) and her husband Prince Philip to Canada in May, 1939 (followed by a visit to Winnipeg). Lloyd also founded the dance program at the Banff School of Fine Arts (now

The Banff Centre Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...

) in 1948. She choreographed 36 works between 1939 and 1952. Her choreographic notes were destroyed in a fire at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in 1954. Although she received the appointment as Director of Ballet, she left Winnipeg in 1950 to move to Toronto, where she established another branch of the Canadian School of Ballet, formed the short-lived Toronto Festival Dancers, and continued her choreography. Her work ''Shadow on the Prairie'' was filmed by the

National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

in 1954. Anna Blewchamp successfully enacted a stage reconstruction of Lloyd's ''The Wise Virgins'' with help from former dancers in 1992 and the performance was video-recorded. Later Lloyd and Betty Farrally moved to Kelowna in 1958, where they opened a branch of the Canadian School of Ballet. She continued her teaching throughout British Columbia as well as choreographing works for the Kelowna Little Theatre and Vernon Little Theatre. She was also an examiner for the Royal Academy of Dancing. Lloyd was awarded the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

in 1969, a Fellowship Award from the

Royal Academy of Dance "Health and happiness" , predecessor = , successor = , formation = 1920 , extinction = , type = NGO , status = Registered charity , purpose = Examination board – dance education and training , headquarters = 36 Battersea SquareSW11 3 ...

in 1979, and the Diplôme d’honneur from the Canadian Conference for the Arts in 1989. She received the

Governor General's Performing Arts Award A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

for Lifetime Achievement in 1992. Lloyd died in Kelowna in 1993.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lloyd, Gweneth Canadian choreographers Officers of the Order of Canada 1993 deaths 1901 births Canadian women choreographers People educated at Northwood College