Events

A groundbreaking Black Canadian tap dancer, Joey Hollingsworth swings fast and smooth. Born in 1936, raised in London, Ontario, he danced on variety, medicine and minstrel shows early on.

Grant Strate’s choreography brought an original Canadian perspective and a contemporary aesthetic to the repertoire of the National Ballet, but his contribution as an educator and nurturer of choreographic talent has been even more important for the development of Canadian dance.

Betty Oliphant, C.C. was born in London, England in 1918. She had a passion for dance and fought her middle-class British family for ballet lessons. In the late 1920s and ’30s, she studied ballet along with stage, tap, and ballroom dancing.

A performer of acclaim in both Canada and abroad, David Moroni is also founder of Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet School Professional Division. He has dedicated the majority of his life’s work to the education of dancers, and his dance legacy encompasses his work behind the scenes where he taught, coached and nurtured generations of dance artists at the Winnipeg school.

Constance V. Pathy studied law at Leiden University in her native country of The Netherlands. Before coming to Canada in 1960, she spent a year in New York on a United Nations scholarship. In Montreal, Ms. Pathy became involved in the city’s cultural scene, serving on boards of numerous organizations

Celia Franca was born in London, England in 1921. She began her ballet studies at age 4 and was a scholarship student at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Dancing. She performed with Ballet Rambert before joining Dame Ninette de Valois’s Sadler’s Wells Ballet (now The Royal Ballet) in 1941

He was resident choreographer and a leading dancer with Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) from 1979-2020, with 26 years as the company’s artistic director. He created over 60 works for TDT, opened the repertoire to new and diverse voices, and developed programs in education and support for young choreographers.