- Betty Oliphant
Nancy Elizabeth "Betty" Oliphant, C.C., O.Ont., LL.D. (
August 5 ,1918 –July 12 ,2004 ) was a co-founder of theNational Ballet School ofCanada .Born in
London , she suffered frompneumonia as a child and her doctor prescribedballet lessons to help with her breathing. She studied withTamara Karsavina ,Laurent Novikoff andMarie Rambert . By the age of 17, she had opened her own school.She moved to Canada in 1947. In 1951, she became ballet mistress for the
National Ballet of Canada at the request ofCelia Franca , the company's director. She and Franca founded the National Ballet School of Canada in 1959. Alumni includeFrank Augustyn ,Rex Harrington ,Karen Kain ,James Kudelka andVeronica Tennant . Her training was based on theCecchetti method of classical dance.In 1969, she became associate artistic director for the National Ballet of Canada, but resigned in 1975 to devote herself to the school. She retired in 1989.
She was known for her strict manner, high standards and insistence on technique; she was a strong voice for the support of the arts in Canada.
She was awarded the
Order of Canada in 1973. In 1988, the National Ballet School of Canada named its new performance space the Betty Oliphant Theatre. In 1996, she published an autobiography "Miss O: My Life in Dance" (ISBN 0-88801-210-1).She died in
St. Catharines, Ontario at the age of 85.External links
* [http://www.gg.ca/Search/honours_descript_e.asp?type=2&id=1262 Order of Canada Citation]
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