OBITUARY: Canadian dance legend Lois Smith
25 JAN/11

JOHN COULBOURN - QMI Agency

Lois Smith, one of Canada's classical ballet pioneers, died Saturday in Sechelt, British Columbia. She was 81.

Born in 1929 in Vancouver, where she trained at the BC School of Ballet, Smith and her husband, David Adams, were invited to join the fledgling National Ballet of Canada by founder Celia Franca back in 1951.

Smith danced with the NBOC as a principal until 1969 when she stepped down to assume a role as a teacher and choreographer. She established the Lois Smith School of Dance in Toronto, which was then incorporated into the Performing Arts Program of George Brown College, where Smith served as chairwoman of the dance program from 1979 to 1988.

Smith also choreographed several productions for CBC television, staged ballets for the Alberta Ballet, the Florida Ballet and the South West Ballet Company. She was made an officer of the Order of Canada in 1988.

"Lois Smith was a continuous source of inspiration," the National Ballet's artistic director Karen Kain said Monday, recalling Smith's enduring partnership with Adams and calling it "a captivating partnership that veteran fans still recall with delight and affection. She possessed a beautiful unique talent and will be greatly missed," Kain said.