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Glen Tetley, the choreographer who gave the National Ballet of Canada such enduring works as Oracle, Tagore, La Ronde and Alice, died last Friday in Florida, just days shy of his 81st birthday, on Feb. 3.
Born into a newspaper family in Pennsylvania, Tetley took up dancing as a young man, landing a job in the Broadway production of On The Town.
Encouraged by the legendary Jerome Robbins, he went on to study dance with Hanya Holm, Martha Graham, Margaret Craske and Antony Tudor. Tetley was a founding member of the Joffrey Ballet and a principal soloist with the American Ballet Theatre.
But it was as a choreographer that he left his most enduring legacy, creating works such as Rite Of Spring, Daphnis And Chloe, Sphinx and Voluntaries, the latter of which the NBOC will perform in tribute to Tetley at the Erick Bruhn Competition March 3 and in the up-coming winter season, March 21 to 25. These performances were originally programmed as part of an international celebration of Tetley's 50 years in dance, during which he created works for major ballets around the world.
Tetley served as an artistic associate with the NBOC from 1987 through '89.
"Glen's association with The National Ballet of Canada goes back many years and the company has been enriched with his work," NBOC Artistic Director Karen Kain said yesterday. "Most of all, we will miss the kind and gentle man himself -- especially for his compassion, generosity and his ability to articulate the mysteries and complexities of our art form."