Fonds UAA Fonds 0442 - Edmonton Ballet Association fonds

Edmonton Ballet Company was registered as an Alberta non-profit in 1961 with the objective to encourage and promote ballet in Edmonton and throughout Alberta.The Company was founded by Ruth Carse, who acted as artistic director and choreographer, as well as designing and sewing costumes and heading publicity of the Company. She worked with a group of up to 28 dancers at a time.

Ruth Carse was a professional ballet dancer from Alberta who trained in New York, danced with the National Ballet of Canada, and attended the Academy of Ballet in London, England. Ruth returned to Alberta in 1954, following an injury, to teach at the Muriel Taylor School of Dancing in Edmonton. By 1958 Ruth began choreographing and staging performances at the newly constructed Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium with a group of advanced students known as Dance Interlude. Dance Interlude performed with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra in their Christmas programs, as well as appearing in performances of the Light Opera of Edmonton. This dance troupe was the precursor to the Edmonton Ballet Company.

The Edmonton Ballet Company became registered as an Alberta non-profit organization in May 1961. The Company’s performers were advanced amateur ballet dancers. In addition to performing in Edmonton, the Edmonton Ballet Company also traveled throughout the province for performances, and danced with the Calgary and Edmonton Symphony Orchestras during the Christmas season. The Muriel Taylor School was the training school for dancers in the Edmonton Ballet Company, although dancers were accepted from anywhere in the province so long as they met the Company’s standards.

In August 1966 a senior dance ensemble, Alberta Ballet Company, was formed to serve the entire province, with the Edmonton Ballet Company continuing as a junior company that would feed dancers to the senior ensemble. Both companies continued to perform under the artistic direction of Ruth Carse. Under this move, the Alberta Ballet Company qualified for funding as a provincial performing company. In fall 1969 theAlberta Ballet Company was able to begin paying some senior dancers a stipend. Christmas 1969 was the last time the junior company performed under the name Edmonton Ballet Company, with both the junior and senior dance companies called Alberta Ballet Company in 1970. In 1971, Carse opened the Alberta Ballet School as a training ground for professional dancers in Alberta. In 1972 the Alberta Ballet Company became a professional ensemble with funding from the Canada Council. Carse continued as artistic director of the Alberta Ballet Company, until her retirement in 1975. The Alberta Ballet Company merged with the Calgary City Ballet and moved from Edmonton to Calgary in 1990.