Celia Franca - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Celia Franca, was the founder of The National Ballet of Canada

National Ballet of Canada

The National Ballet of Canada is Canada's largest ballet troupe. It was founded by Celia Franca in 1951 and is based in Toronto, Ontario. Based upon the unity of Canadian trained dancers in the tradition and style of England's Royal Ballet, The National is regarded as one of the premier classical...

(1951) and its artistic director for 24 years (http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=6384de00-8cbf-4e6d-b7af-cc174899f90c&k=89472).

Born Celia Franks in London, England, the daughter of an East End tailor, she began to study dance at the age of 4 and was a scholarship student at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Dance

Royal Academy of Dance

The Royal Academy of Dance is an international dance education and training organization, and examination board that specialises in the teaching and technique of Ballet. The RAD was established in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Operatic Dancing of Great Britain, and received its...

. She made her professional debut aged 14. She caught the attention of choreographer Walter Gore and successfully auditioned for Marie Rambert

Marie Rambert

Dame Marie Rambert DBE was a Polish-Jewish dancer and dance pedagogue who exerted a great influence on British ballet, both as a dancer and teacher.- Early years and background :...

's ballet company in 1936. She changed her name to Franca in emulation of Alice Marks, who changed hers to Alicia Markova

Alicia Markova

Dame Alicia Markova, DBE, DMus, was an English ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internationally, she was widely considered to be one of the greatest classical ballet dancers of the...

Career

In 1941, aged 20, she was recognized as one of the finest dramatic ballerinas in the Sadler's Wells company. In 1947 she joined the Metropolitan Ballet as a soloist and ballet mistress. It was there that she began choreographing for television, creating the first two ballets - Eve of St. Agnes and Dance of Salomé - ever commissioned by the BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

.

In 1950, a group of Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

balletomanes asked Franca to start a Canadian classical company. A determined woman who thrived on challenges, she did the impossible in only 10 months – while supporting herself as a file clerk at Eaton's department store, she recruited and trained dancers, staged some Promenade Concerts, organized a summer school, gathered a talented artistic staff and whipped her uneven but enthusiastic new company into shape for its opening on November 12, 1951.

She and Betty Oliphant

Betty Oliphant

Nancy Elizabeth "Betty" Oliphant, was a co-founder of the National Ballet School of Canada.Born in London, she suffered from pneumonia as a child and her doctor prescribed ballet lessons to help with her breathing. She studied with Tamara Karsavina, Laurent Novikoff and Marie Rambert...

founded the National Ballet School of Canada in 1959 to provide exceptional dancers for the Company. During her years with the National Ballet and since her retirement, Celia was recognized at home and abroad.

in 1979 Celia Franca, joined Merrilee Hodgins and Joyce Shietze as a Co-Artistic Director to The School of Dance

The School of Dance

- The School of Dance – 32 Years of History :The School of Dance was founded by Merrilee Hodgins and Joyce Shietze. It opened its doors on Wellington Street in Ottawa's near west end in 1978 as a nationally registered, educational, charitable, non-profit organization designed to provide...

in Ottawa as a nationally registered, educational, charitable, non-profit organization designed to provide professional training for dance.

Celia lived in Ottawa

Ottawa

Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...

and, among many commitments, was a Co-Artistic Director of The School of Dance

The School of Dance

, a member of the board of governors of York University

York University

York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....

and the board of directors of the Canada Council and later served on the Board of Directors for the Canada Dance Festival Society.

Celia continued her association with the National Ballet, revising works for the Company such as Offenbach in the Underworld (1983) and staging The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker
The Nutcracker is a two-act ballet, originally choreographed by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov with a score by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto is adapted from E.T.A. Hoffmann's story "The Nutcracker and the Mouse King". It was given its première at the Mariinsky Theatre in St...

. She returned to the Company to produce a 35th Anniversary Gala Performance at Toronto's O'Keefe Centre.

In 1967, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

and was promoted to Companion in 1985.

For the past year she had been in poor health after breaking vertebrae in her back. She died on February 19, 2007, aged 85, in an Ottawa Hospital.

External links

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