|
| ||
Back to National Ballet |
 |
Onstage |
| |
||
|
There really weren't many, but what is theatre without its illusions? The partnership was photogenic, and the photographers were playful. The 1950s were a time of exploration in Toronto: David and Lois were at the centre of it. In the late fifties, the National moved into the difficult area of ballet for television. Franca recalls much of that era of televised dance as an appalling mockery; inappropriate camera angles, crotch shots, chopping off hands and feet, dangerously slippery studio floors, inconsiderate producers and arrogrant performers. Through some miracle of fate, the National was gifted with a considerate and accessible producer who was willing to work with the company to produce quality. Appropriately, it was David and Lois who blazed the trail. In 1956, they were in the first live CBC production of Swan Lake, then in march of 1961 they danced in the first NBC/CBC studio video series ... again, it was Swan Lake.
|
||