Ottawa Ballet

Ottawa Ballet

Ottawa Ballet was the successor to Theatre Ballet of Canada. On becoming artistic director of TBC in February 1989, Frank Augustyn felt it appropriate to give the troupe a clearer local identity and it was formally renamed Ottawa Ballet that July. By the time he took over, TBC was already facing financial and artistic problems which, despite Augustyn's efforts, proved ultimately unsolvable. Augustyn broadened the repertoire, took the troupe on tour and produced a highly popular evening-length production of The Tin Soldier (1990), later televised by CBC, with choreography by Timothy Spain and an original score by Robert Swerdlow. Augustyn, with the experience of his own career and a gift for teaching, also worked to improve the mostly young company's level of dancing, but within an increasingly competitive environment for public arts funding and with insufficient support from private sources it became impossible to sustain operations. The Canada Council withdrew its subsidy in 1993. Augustyn resigned in September 1994 and the company folded soon after.