June 25: Today in Dance

Born Today: Celia Franca

Ballerina Celia Franca (1921–2007) studied at the Royal Academy of Dance and performed with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet (an early version of The Royal Ballet) and was commissioned by the BBC to choreograph for TV. On a trip to Toronto in the 1950s, she was asked to create a Canadian dance company, and along with Betty Oliphant (1918–2004), she co-founded the National Ballet of Canada in 1951, the…