Celia Franca

Dancer, born in London, UK. She trained under Marie Rambert, Antony Tudor, and Vera Volkova (1905–75), and performed with Ballet Rambert (1937–40) and Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet (1941–50). She was invited to set up a new ballet company for Canada, and in 1951 the National Ballet of Canada was founded under her directorship (1951–74).

Celia Franca CC (born June 25, 1921) is the founder of The National Ballet of Canada (1951) and was its artistic director for 24 years.

Born in London, England, in 1921 she began to study dance at the age of 4 and was a scholarship student at the Guildhall School of Music and the Royal Academy of Dance. A determined woman who thrived on challenges, she did the impossible in only 10 months - while supporting herself as a file clerk at Eaton's department store, she recruited and trained dancers, staged some Promenade Concerts, organized a summer school, gathered a talented artistic staff and whipped her uneven but enthusiastic new company into shape for its opening on November 12, 1951.

She and Betty Oliphant founded The National Ballet School of Canada in 1959 to provide exceptional dancers for the Company.

In 1978 Celia Franca, Merrilee Hodgins and Joyce Shietze opened The School of Dance in Ottawa as a nationally registered, educational, charitable, non-profit organization designed to provide professional training for dance.

Celia now lives in Ottawa and, among many commitments, is a Co-Artistic Director of The School of Dance, a member of the board of governors of York University and the board of directors of the Canada Council and currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Canada Dance Festival Society.

Celia continues her association with The National Ballet of Canada, revising works for the Company such as Offenbach in the Underworld (1983) and staging The Nutcracker.