Volunteer Committee

Three ladies, Mesdames Sydney Mulqueen, Pearl Whitehead and Aileen Woods first raised funds to bring Celia Franca to Canada and then to realize the first performance at the Eaton Auditorium on November 12, 1951. Then these ambitious ladies spent the rest of 1951 working with other women supporters and laying plans for the founding of a formal Women... s Committee. It is no exaggeration to say that if there had been no Womens Committee in those early days there would be no National Ballet . Known as the National Ballet Guild, the mandate was to encourage interest in the ballet, and The National Ballet in particular. Although the Guild never succeeded in its aim in having a fully national structure, it did, in its heyday, have active branches in Toronto, Hamilton, Oakville, St. Catharines, Kitchener-Waterloo, London, Windsor, Belleville, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Quebec City, and even Buffalo. They provided grass root support for the company in their communities and conducted year round activities to raise money to finance the Companys tours to their community. The local Guild would sponsor the Companys appearance, doing advance publicity, selling tickets, handling arrangements with the local theatre, and in the early days, provide lodging and hospitality for company members. The branches also provided scholarships to dancers within the Company and at the National Ballet School. Unfortunately this network of volunteer Guilds did not survive. The Constitution and Standing rules of the Toronto Branch were rewritten to become The Volunteer Committee, The National Ballet of Canada in 1972. Many and varied were the money raising efforts there were fashion shows, supper dances, ballet lectures, demonstrations, and dance teachers fairs. The main events over the years became a gala ball (no longer held due to changing times), Paper Things, The Boutique in the theatre lobby and Art Shows. The Build-A-Ballet fund began with giving $150,000 for Sir Frederick Ashtons La Fille mal gardée in 1977. Judy Tait (President 1974-76) ...Read More