Anne Ditchburn (born October 4, 1949) is a Canadian ballet dancer, choreographer, and film actress headlining films like 1979's Slow Dancing in the Big City as a dancer with a crippling disease, a film directed by Rocky director John G. Avildsen and co-starring Paul Sorvino . She also played the doomed ballet dancer Laurian Summers in the 1983 cult horror film Curtains with John Vernon and Samantha Eggar . She danced in nearly all of her film credits, and earned a Golden Globe nomination for her work in Slow Dancing in the Big City . In her time with the National she choreographed some of its most distinguished pieces of the 1970s, including Mad Shadows and Kisses , while also heading side company Ballet Revue.
20-1046: Ditchburn is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Anne Ditchburn (born 1949), Canadian ballet dancer and actress Barry Ditchburn , British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer David Ditchburn , Scottish historian Jim Ditchburn (1908–1964), Australian sportsman in Australian rules football and first-class cricket John Ditchburn , Australian cartoonist Robert Ditchburn (academic) (1903–1987), English physicist Ross Ditchburn (born 1957), former Australian rules footballer Ted Ditchburn (1921–2005), English professional football goalkeeper See also [ edit ] Ditchburn & Mare , British shipbuilder founded in 1837 Ditchburn Boats , manufacturer of wooden pleasure craft launches and racing boats located in Gravenhurst, Ontario on Lake Muskoka [REDACTED] Surname list This page lists people with
40-556: A "gifted dancer, choreographer and author". On November 11, 1979, two months after her resignation from the National Ballet of Canada, Ditchburn married Ray Wagner. Wagner, the vice-president of MGM 's Production Department after the two had met at the last Golden Globes ceremony. The couple divorced some time before Wagner's death in 2014. ^a Also worked as choreographer. James Kudelka James Kudelka , OC (born September 10, 1955 at Newmarket, Ontario ),
60-623: A "thrill" to see. Her final and most famous role in the company was for the 1977 ballet Mad Shadows , which she also exclusively choreographed after feuding with fellow choreographer James Kudelka . The production premiered on February 16 at the O'Keefe Centre in Toronto and was enormously successful, with a televised version playing at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera. Critical reaction
80-494: A career as a film actress, as well as freelance choreography. Other issues revolving around her resignation were creative differences with Alexander Grant, as well as complaints about insufficient facilities and a general low morale though the company. Fellow National members Karen Kain and Frank Augustyn agreed with the choreographers statements, though remained with the company. For her television and film career, Ditchburn first worked on variety shows, including choreography for
100-455: A choreographer and a performer in short films like Leonard Cohen 's I Am a Hotel and several shorts by Jurgen Lutz, most famously A Moving Picture . Ditchburn also worked as an editor for the 1992 film Killer Image with Michael Ironside , a creative producer for the 1997 TV movie Truth About Lying (or Loss of Faith ) with John Ritter, and as the production manager for the 1999 film Pocahontas: The Legend . Lutz would later call her
120-475: A lack of creative commitment at the National Ballet, Kudelka joined Les Grands Ballet Canadiens in 1981 where he was a principal dancer. There his choreography changed toward a less dramatic style in works such as In Paradisum (1983) and Alliances (1984). He was resident choreographer of Les Grands Ballets from 1984 to 1990, while also creating works for other companies such as the Joffrey Ballet ,
140-554: A role in her first major ballet when she was 11, as "Gold" in a 1961 production of Hungarian . Baldwin trained her until she was fourteen, when the instructor suggested she audition for the National Ballet School , something Ditchburn later stated was "the best experience of [her] life". Her first public ballet was at age 19, when the then National Ballet of Canada artistic director and founder Celia Franca decided to produce Ditchburn's own Brown Earth . Ditchburn
160-478: Is a Canadian choreographer, dancer, and director. He was the artistic director of the National Ballet of Canada from 1996 to 2005, now serving as the National Ballet's artist in residence. Kudelka began choreographing while a student at the National Ballet School . He gained critical attention for dramatic ballets such as A Party (1976) and Washington Square (1979). Frustrated by what he saw as
180-454: Is different from Wikidata All set index articles Anne Ditchburn Ditchburn was born on October 4, 1949, in Sudbury , Ontario . When she was three, her father moved her, her mother, and her four siblings to Mississauga . Sensing a natural flair for dancing in his daughter, Ditchburn's father began enrolling her in private lessons with Janet Baldwin, who helped her attain her
200-708: The San Francisco Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre . Kudelka returned to the National Ballet of Canada as artist in residence in 1992. Kudelka reworked The Nutcracker , for the National Ballet in 1995. The production's success led Kudelka to be appointed artistic director after Reid Anderson resigned due to frustration over government funding cuts. As artistic director, Kudelka commissioned works from Dominique Dumais and Matjash Mrozewski and from Montréal modernist Jean-Pierre Perreault . He also continued to choreograph for
220-415: The surname Ditchburn . If an internal link intending to refer to a specific person led you to this page, you may wish to change that link by adding the person's given name (s) to the link. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ditchburn&oldid=1100230018 " Category : Surnames Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
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#1732793867681240-720: The Irish-Canadian band Ryan's Fancy on a 1973 episode of Singalong Jubilee , while her first on-screen appearance was on a December 1976 episode of the Peter Gzowski talk show 90 Minutes Live , where she performed a ballet routine with pianist Andre Gagnon . To obtain the role of dancer Sarah Gantz in Slow Dancing , it was stated that director John Avildsen had seen a photograph of her dancing and could not get her image out of his head, so he invited her to an audition. She later stated that her initial audition
260-570: The company roster, allegedly because Glasco had questioned the allocation of funds for his version of Swan Lake . She said that Kudelka told her he was letting her go because she had opposed his plans to spend $ 1.6 million on the new production and because she had opposed his appointment as artistic director. At the time, the National was nearly $ 3 million in debt. Glasco also filed complaints with Ontario's Labour Relations Board and Human Rights Commission . Kudelka maintained that her contract
280-428: The company, including new versions of Swan Lake and Cinderella . He also several pieces from George Balanchine. In October 1998, Kudelka took his company on a critically acclaimed tour to New York and on a United States tour in 2004. In 1998, principal dancer Kimberly Glasco filed a wrongful dismissal suit against the National Ballet of Canada instigated because artistic director Kudelka dropped her from
300-601: The support of former National star Vanessa Harwood , Canadian Auto Workers boss Buzz Hargrove , Dr. Nancy Olivieri and Betty Oliphant . On March 18, 1999, the National agreed to meet Glasco for private mediation which replaced both the Labour Relations complaint and lawsuit. The case was reportedly settled for $ 1.6 million in Glasco's favour. He resigned as artistic director in 2005, being succeeded by retired ballet dancer and artistic associate Karen Kain . He
320-646: Was a "disaster" due to her inexperience in the profession, but she "gradually improved". Reaction to her performance was mixed, though it did earn her a nomination at the Golden Globe Awards for Best Newcomer. Ditchburn also choreographed her dance scenes in the film, something she would repeat in the 1982 Six Weeks and the 1983 film Curtains , where she had top billing as well as helped choreograph both her own and her co-star Lesleh Donaldson 's performance scenes. Reaction to her performance in Curtains
340-484: Was a notable member of the National Ballet of Canada from 1967 to 1979, where she worked as both a dancer and a prominent choreographer (one of the few females to do so). She was influenced by the then artistic director Alexander Grant, as well as fellow ballerina Karen Kain . Sometime during the period Ditchburn worked with Ballet Ys to choreograph Nelligan , with Claudia Moore . Moore would go on to describe Ditchburn's direction as both "rebellious" and "contemporary",
360-457: Was also positive, with Linda Howe-Beck of The Gazette calling it a "first-class" show. Despite the praise, Ditchburn regarded the piece as "naive in the international sense" but still "appropriate for the time". Ditchburn resigned from the company because, as stated in the October 1979 issue of Cinema Canada , she felt that "my life isn't going anywhere fast enough," choosing instead to pursue
380-526: Was mixed, with Cinema Canada's Andrew Dowler stating in his review of the film in 1984 that she, as well as several other actresses in the film, was not "on-screen long enough for me to be certain [she is] in the final print, let alone long enough to develop character." In an interview with producer and director Peter Simpson, he stated that "You know, it's a very obvious omission but we should have had more bits of stuff... even short scenes with Anne to pay off her death. She's not in it enough." She later worked as
400-404: Was not renewed for artistic and financial reasons. He alleged that her dancing was not as strong as it had been and that her dismissal was part of a larger strategy to expand the size of the ballet when cutbacks had reduced its budget from $ 16 million to $ 14 million. The company's founder Celia Franca and executive director Valerie Wilder spoke out in support of the artistic director. Glasco had
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