Betty Oliphant, 85; Co-Founded Canada’s National Ballet School

Betty Oliphant, 85, a co-founder of Canada’s National Ballet School in Toronto and its former artistic director, died July 5 in St. Catharines, Ontario, of unspecified causes.

A native of London, Oliphant was trained as a ballet dancer there and performed with the Ballet Rambert and in West End musicals. She moved to Toronto in 1949 and established her own ballet school, but two years later joined the newly formed National Ballet of Canada as ballet mistress.

In 1959, the ballet company founder, Celia Franca, and Oliphant co-founded the school to train dancers. Oliphant, known as “Miss O” to her students, became the school’s artistic director in 1975 and retained the position until her retirement in 1989, building the school into one of the world’s best. A school theater is named for her.

Oliphant, often criticized for her candor, taught what she described as “very pure technique” stripped of affectations. Among the dancers she trained were Frank Augustyn, Veronica Tennant, Karen Kain and Rex Harrington.