Kimberly Glasco (born November 27, 1960 in Eugene, Oregon) is a Canadian

ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on ye ...

. She danced with 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 ...

until she was dismissed by artistic director James Kudelka. She filed a wrongful dismissal suit against the company which was reportedly settled out of court for $1.6 million.

National Ballet of Canada

Glasco danced at the company for 22 years, including lead roles in Manon and

La Bayadère ''La Bayadère'' ("the temple dancer") ( ru. «Баядерка», ''Bayaderka'') is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especiall ...

. She also served on the board as one of two dancers' representatives.

Wrongful Dismissal Suit

In 1998, Glasco filed a

wrongful dismissal In law, wrongful dismissal, also called wrongful termination or wrongful discharge, is a situation in which an employee's contract of employment has been terminated by the employer, where the termination breaches one or more terms of the contra ...

suit against the

instigated because artistic director James Kudelka dropped her from the company roster, allegedly because Glasco had questioned the allocation of funds for Kudelka's version of '' Swan Lake''. She said that Kudelka told her he was letting her go because she had opposed his plans to spend $1.6 million on the new production and because she had opposed his appointment as artistic director. At the time, the National was nearly $3 million in debt. Glasco also filed complaints with Ontario's Labour Relations Board and

Human Rights Commission A human rights commission, also known as a human relations commission, is a body set up to investigate, promote or protect human rights. The term may refer to international, national or subnational bodies set up for this purpose, such as nationa ...

. Kudelka maintained that her contract was not renewed for artistic and financial reasons. He alleged that her dancing was not as strong as it had been and that her dismissal was part of a larger strategy to expand the size of the ballet when cutbacks had reduced its budget from $16 million to $14 million. The company's founder

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 ...

and executive director Valerie Wilder spoke out in support of the artistic director. Glasco had the support of former National star Vanessa Harwood, Canadian Auto Workers boss

Buzz Hargrove Basil Eldon "Buzz" Hargrove, (born March 8, 1944) is a Canadian labour leader and the former National President of the Canadian Auto Workers. He is currently serving as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University's Ted R ...

, Dr. Nancy Olivieri and Betty Oliphant. On March 18, 1999, the National agreed to meet Glasco for private mediation which replaced both the Labour Relations complaint and lawsuit. The case was reportedly settled for $1.6 million in Glasco's favour. Kudelka remained as artistic director until 2005 when he was replaced by

Karen Kain Karen Alexandria Kain (born March 28, 1951) is a Canadian former ballet dancer, and was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 2005 - 2021. Early training and childhood Kain's mother enrolled her daughter in ballet training ...

References

External links

Kimberly Glasco settles wrongful termination case against National Ballet of Canada
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasco, Kimberly 1960 births Living people American emigrants to Canada Artists from Eugene, Oregon Canadian ballerinas Canadian female dancers National Ballet of Canada dancers