Mission
Canada's National Ballet School is an international leader in ballet training. Dedicated to advancing the art of ballet, NBS develops dance professionals in a student-centred environment by weaving innovation and evolving practice with the finest teaching traditions.
Established in 1959, Canada’s National Ballet School is one of the world’s foremost training institutions for aspiring young dancers and teachers. Attracting students from across the country and around the world, NBS is the only ballet academy in North America to provide elite dance training, academic instruction and residential care on the same campus. The School’s progressive curriculum, with its emphasis on the physical and emotional well-being of the student, has put NBS at the forefront of dance training internationally.
Every effort is made to ensure no student is denied access to the School because of financial circumstances. Furthermore, NBS does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, race, religion, colour, national or ethnic origin.
NBS Through the Decades
1950s
NBS was founded by Celia Franca and Betty Oliphant. The School opened in a former Quaker Meeting House (111 Maitland Street, Toronto) purchased by the National Ballet Guild for $80,000. Enrolment consisted of 27 full-time students – all female – and 202 after-school students, of which nine were boys. Early NBS donors and advocates included Mona Campbell, Eddy Goodman and R.A. “Bobby” Laidlaw.
1960s
The early 1960s saw the establishment of the Scholarship Fund – an endowed fund to provide financial assistance to students who otherwise would not be able to attend the School – and a volunteer Scholarship Fund Committee.
Alumni include: Karen Kain, Veronica Tennant, Andrew Oxenham, Martine van Hamel, Nadia Potts, Vanessa Harwood and Victoria Bertram.
1970s
During the late 1970s, NBS began construction on a new studio and residence building at the rear of the Maitland Street properties at a cost of $2.45 million.
Alumni include: John Alleyne, Frank Augustyn, Robert Desrosiers, Gizella Witkowsky, Lindsay Fischer, Peter Ottman, Raymond Smith, James Kudelka and Mavis Staines.
1980s
NBS celebrates its 25th anniversary while Flamenco at 5.15, a National Film Board documentary on flamenco classes at NBS, wins an Academy Award for Best Documentary film in 1984. The Betty Oliphant Theatre, NBS’s stage training facility designed by Diamond & Schmitt, opens. Mavis Staines becomes the second Artistic Director to lead NBS, succeeding Betty Oliphant.
Alumni include: Rex Harrington, Martine Lamy, Jennifer Fournier, Dominique Dumais, Johan Persson and Michael Greyeyes.
1990s
Modern dance is taught for the first time since 1971 at NBS. Peggy Baker, renowned modern dancer, creates the modern dance component of the NBS training syllabus and is named NBS artist-in-residence. New York-based neuromuscular specialist Irene Dowd begins the professional development work with NBS staff that becomes a critical component of the NBS program. Adult ballet classes are introduced and NBS’s retail store, The Shoe Room, opens. The NBS/York University Teacher Training Program partnership is launched and Mavis Staines begins her influential relationship with the Prix de Lausanne.
Alumni include: Guillaume Coté, Greta Hodgkinson, Jason Reilly, Rebekah Rimsay and Jaime Tapper.
2000s
Project Grand Jeté is launched – a capital expansion and renovation project to reflect NBS’s international reputation for excellence. In 2002, NBS students are invited to dance in five cities in Japan. In 2005, students and staff move into the completely renovated Celia Franca Centre, Lozinski House and Margaret McCain Academic Building. In January 2007, NBS’s new facilities receive the coveted Institute Honor Award for Architecture from the American Institute of Architects (AIA), making NBS the sole Canadian building honoured in 2007, and only the fourth since the AIA, first bestowed the awards in 1949. NBS founder Celia Franca passes away in February 2007.
Alumni include: Tanya Howard, Jillian Vanstone, Tara Bhavnani, Tina Pereira, Stefan Stewart and John Lam.