ACT 5 RISING TO STARDOM
Return to Vancouver
David and Lois stayed in Vancouver for close to a month after arriving back from California. They likely stayed with Lois’s family during this time. David was soon busy rehearsing the two ballets he had choreographed previously for Mara McBirney’s dance group. He wrote: “There had been auditions for the Third Canadian Ballet Festival in Montreal. Two of my works, Theorem A and L’Auberge Deranger, had been accepted in addition to a work by Ruth French called Invitation to the Dance. The festival was to be held in Montreal from November 20-25 (1950) at His Majesty’s Theatre. I spent time in Vancouver rehearsing my pieces and teaching for Mara McBirney. I also did a bit of catching up on my own technique.”
Living at Havencroft
In the fall of 1950, David and Lois went to Winnipeg to live with David’s family. Lois was not due to give birth for some time. According to David, she was troubled by morning sickness. There was plenty of room at Havencroft to accommodate Lois and David when they moved into the Adams acreage home north of Winnipeg. In David’s words: “Once more back in that enormous house, we settled in there and I made my overtures back with the Winnipeg Ballet. Never being content to have just one or two things going, I began working on photography- developing, printing and enlarging my own photographs. That all took place on the third floor of the house, assisted by my brother Lawrence. We became quite adept at this, until I found out that I was allergic to the chemicals. I tried rubber gloves, but discovered that one tiny drop of the chemical on any bare skin would create an allergic reaction.”
Canadian Ballet Festival / Reunion with Celia Franca
David agreed to choreograph two new works for the Winnipeg Ballet, to be performed the following spring. However, his first commitment was to meet Mara McBirney and her Vancouver Production Club in Montreal for the Third Canadian Ballet Festival. He wrote: “The audiences liked my works but the press was not terribly complimentary. They did not understand Theorem A and found L’Auberge Deranger obvious. Oh well, you can’t win them all.”
The festival was a great opportunity for the dance community, critics and the audiences to see new works performed by dance groups and companies from all across Canada. David’s pieces were appreciated more in Vancouver, where an enthusiastic audience of 1500 people helped to fund Vancouver production Club’s trip to the festival, according to the clipping on the right.
Both Lois and Gwenneth Lloyd sent telegrams to David, wishing him well at the Festival.
When David arrived in Montreal, there was a note at the hotel waiting for him. It was an invitation to lunch from Celia Franca. The last time he had seen Celia was when they had danced together with the Metropolitan Ballet in England. David described this important occasion:
“Arrangements were made and we met. The first words from Celia were: ‘I hear that you have become very conceited.’ Charming. We had not seen each other for some time and that is the introduction to our conversation. I did know that she had been invited to Canada with the idea of forming a national ballet company (see article to the right). With that opening remark hanging in the air, several things went through my head- get up and walk out of the hotel, give her hell for such a remark, or try to bend the conversation to my favour. I went through the scenario that I have used for many years when talking about myself and my profession. ‘Am I conceited? Well of course! I can’t go on to the stage and make an apology for being there. I can’t stand in front of a class as a ballet teacher and make an apology for teaching them. No! I have to present a feel of confidence on stage and in the classroom. Eventually she came round to my way of thinking, but I knew that there were to be problems.”
After this somewhat shaky start to their reunion, Celia and David discussed the need for a national ballet company in Canada. David spoke in glowing terms about the quality of Canadian dancers and that, with Celia’s background, she would be ideal for starting up such a company. In his writings, David stressed that, although Celia may have been the right person to start such a company, the ideal situation would have been that a Canadian take over the running of it. In his words: “I truly did not have aspirations for that job- not then, and not later. Of course, we now know the outcome of that story. One further thing which put me off the whole situation was a letter that I received from Celia a few weeks later in which she told me that she thought my dancing had, as she put it, ‘gone off’. I managed to swallow my pride and eventually danced for the opening of the National Ballet of Canada.”
Sadler’s Wells Ballet Performance in Winnipeg
In January of 1951, Lois and David attended a performance in Winnipeg of the full-length version of Swan Lake by the Sadler’s Wells Ballet, direct from the Royal Opera House in London England. Quoting from a review in the Winnipeg Free Press (January 5, 1951):
“Highlighted by a dazzling performance of the dual role of Odette and Odile by Beryl Grey, the Sadler’s Wells Ballet soared triumphantly through a performance of the ballet Swan Lake before a capacity and enraptured audience in the civic auditorium Thursday night.”
The Winnipeg Ballet hosted a public reception after the performance. Many of the dancers from the company attended, including David and Lois (on the far right of the newspaper clipping). David described the occasion: “We went into the city from the acreage, booked a hotel room, ate, then saw the performance. Beryl Grey, or BIG BERYL as we would later call her, was dancing the Swan parts. John Field danced the role of the prince.” David goes on to explain his previous connection to Field, who had returned to England from military duty in 1946 and needed a place in the Sadler’s Wells Ballet. David was subsequently moved to the junior company of the Sadler’s Wells Theatre at that time. Quoting David: “The performance was quite funny for me because I had worked with the company before. The show was a boost for both Lois and myself. Little did we know at that point that we would be dancing the full Swan Lake with the National Ballet a few years later.”
Through the Winnipeg Ballet, David was allowed to do class with the Sadler’s Wells company while they were in Winnipeg. He described his experience of reconnecting with the company as follows:
“The Ballet Master was Harijs Plucis. His class was a good challenge for me. After a couple of classes, he offered me a scholarship with the company. He liked my work. What he did not know was that I had already been there and was not about to do the return journey. Another amusing event from the visit of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet was the fact that the Winnipeg company was asked to show the company some repertoire. They chose Swan Lake pas de deux and some other classics that I had taught the company. Of course, the ballet mistress said the dancers had been taught the wrong versions and proceeded to teach them what she considered to be the correct versions. I was annoyed, but also amused, for the versions I had taught were used by most European companies. The Sergeyev versions were always a bit suspect. All that aside, I did enjoy meeting some of my chums from the company.”
Birth of Janine Dariel Adams
Lois gave birth to their daughter Janine at St. Boniface Hospital in Winnipeg on April 25,1951. According to Janine, one of the things Lois remembered about being in the hospital was her surprise at the way some of the other mothers made a lot of noise through their time of labour. Quoting Janine: “Mum said she couldn’t understand the need for all that racket!”
David wrote about his memories of this very important event: “My mother and I sat in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Doctor Joe, as we called him, passed by and said: ‘Oh…haven’t you heard? She’s got red hair!’ We knew that I had a daughter, but little else. She did not have red hair, but I did know that Dr. Joe had not lost his sense of humour.”
The happy couple received many cards and notes of congratulations after the arrival of their baby girl.
According to Janine, breast feeding was not as popular as it is today. In her words: “Mum didn’t feel comfortable doing that, so I was given a bottle from Day 1. It was found that I didn’t tolerate cow’s milk well, so I became a Carnation Milk formula baby.” The baby photo of Janine to the right was taken around the end of May, 1951.
David wrote: “Lois was determined to be in some kind of shape as soon as possible. The day after the birth, she was seen doing leg lifts to bring her abdominal muscles back into shape. Because money was becoming a problem, I had been trying to arrange night club shows in Winnipeg. I had already done a couple of shows with some Winnipeg Ballet members but it wasn’t long before Lois was ready to do a show with me in a Winnipeg Hotel- our usual Astaire Rogers type number.
Ballet in Springtime- May, 1951
In May of 1951, the Winnipeg Ballet launched Ballet in Springtime- a series of performances performed by the company at the Playhouse Theatre in Winnipeg. On the program below were two new works choreographed by David Adams- Geschrei, a satirical piece on the Charleston era and Masquerade, a pas de deux first performed by David and Lillian Lewis, set to music from Khachaturian’s Masquerade suite.
David described the process of creating Geschrei, named after the Yiddish word meaning “everyone talking and making a noise at the same time.” According to David, his piece was a big hit with the audience: “Seldom have I heard an audience take to a ballet from curtain up to the last note of the music. Winnipeg loved it. The amazing thing was that when I went to the studio to begin choreographing it, I had not a step in my head- just that wonderful music!
The musical setting for Geschrei was Le Boeuf sur le Toit (The Nothing Doing Bar) by the French composer Darius Milhaud- a lively, humorous piece. The ballet featured flapper girls, an apache couple, a wrestler and a silent singer. David wrote a letter to Milhaud to discuss his concept of the ballet and asked where he could get a musical score. What a delightful surprise it must have been for David when he received a hand written conductor’s score signed by the composer himself. Unfortunately, the score was destroyed during the devastating Winnipeg fire on Portage Avenue in 1954, along with many other valuable items in the Winnipeg Ballet studios. David wrote: “I should have kept it. Hindsight!”
Former Winnipeg ballet dancer Eva Von Gencsy described Geschrei as a comedy ballet- a farce on the 1920’s Flappers era. She loved dancing in the ballet and said: “It was an audience pleaser- a big success!”
Offer to Join a Possible National Ballet Company
David and Lois received an official letter from Celia Franca dated May 11, 1951, asking them if they would be interested in joining a proposed National Ballet Company and whether or not they would be free to accept a five month’s engagement commencing in September of that year.
It is interesting to note that Gweneth Lloyd was to receive a copy of this letter (see the bottom of the letter). Quoting author Max Wyman, from his book The Royal Winnipeg Ballet- The first Forty Years: “In the fall of 1951, Celia Franca crossed Canada looking for dancers. David Adams was invited, and went. With him went his wife Lois Smith, who had also spent a season dancing with the Winnipeg company. Lillian Lewis, Jean McKenzie and Arnold Spohr- the company’s top talents- were all invited to go to Toronto, but refused. Their commitment- personal and professional- was to the Winnipeg company.”
No doubt Gweneth was disappointed that David and Lois eventually decided to accept Celia’s invitation to join the new company, but she did not hold on to any bitterness towards them. Of course, David had left the Winnipeg company in 1946 to study and perform in Britain for a couple of years and also in the summer of 1949, when he accepted a contract to dance with Theatre Under the Stars in Vancouver.
In his later years, David reflected on his eventual choice to accept Celia’s offer to dance with the proposed National Ballet Company: “I often wonder what would have happened if I had turned down the offer and stayed in Winnipeg. Would I have become the director of the Winnipeg Ballet, or would Lois and I have taken up that New York offer of $1000 a week to dance in New York and other places? We would have ended up being the Astaire and Rogers of Canada. The first Canadian Prima Ballerina would have made her name in the commercial world. HA!”
First Promenade Concert in Toronto (June, 1951)
David wrote: “Correspondence began flying in from Toronto about a show at a Promenade Concert in Toronto. That was the beginning of what would become The Canadian National Ballet, later to be called the National Ballet of Canada. The first name sounded too much like a railway for most people.” In June of 1951, David went to Toronto to meet with Celia Franca and start rehearsals for the first of a series of Promenade Concert performances, featuring the second act of the ballet Coppelia. David described his reconnection with Celia and how the second act was to be performed:
“Celia Franca, fortunately, did not come up with any more remarks like the opener in Montreal. In fact, we got along quite well, after an initial talk. We would do the second act of Coppelia, which takes place in the workshop of Doctor Coppelius. I would meet the other dancers eventually; they had been chosen from various studios around Toronto. Celia would be Swanhilda, who pretends to be the Coppelia Doll, and Sydney Vousden would be Doctor Coppelius- the man who builds the mechanical dolls that are in his workshop. I was Franz, the young man who admired the doll sitting on the balcony of the house owned by Doctor Coppelius. I would sneak into the house to find her. We had an extended mime scene in which I tried to explain why I was there and the good Doctor would ply me with a drink. For this version, I would dance a solo for the Doctor, giving me more to do than is usually done. In the traditional version, the drink knocks Franz out and he sleeps through the bulk of Act 2, slumped on to a table. Little did I know at that point that I would eventually dance in dozens of performances of this complete ballet all over North America with the National Ballet of Canada.”
The first Promenade Concert was performed on June 14, 1951 (program above) at the University of Toronto Varsity Arena. Previously, these ballet performances were usually organized by Boris Volkoff, who directed his own ballet company. There was no remuneration for the dancers at this first concert. David wrote: “I had been in a production of Copellia in 1946 at Covent Garden in London, when I was a student with the Sadler’s Wells Ballet School. Franca staged this second act, based on a production done by Beriosoff. The performance was a success. Franca was introduced to Toronto. I was reintroduced.”
After his first two nights of dicey accommodation in Toronto, David met Stuart James (also referred to as James Bolsby), who was to become the first manager of the Canadian National Ballet- as it was first called. He kindly offered David more suitable accommodation during his stay in Toronto. In David’s words: “James, or Jim, as I called him, came from a fairly well to do family. His Dad was in the funeral business. The family had a house in the city and a house along the lakeshore in Mimico, which was where I stayed with Jim. It was a large comfortable three-story house with space and a scenic location. Jim had the transportation.”
The second floor of St. Lawrence Hall was to be used for rehearsals. David described it in this way: “The Hall was used in the winter to house indigents- a polite way of saying street people. As time went on, I learned that the building had been everything from a City Hall to a concert hall; in fact, Jenny Lind had sung there. The studio on the second floor was enormous, with big windows- perfect for our needs. It was rather dirty when I first saw it but myself and another young man would soon make short of cleaning it.”
During this time, David did a lot of socializing, rehearsing for the Promenade concert and seeing Toronto “on the run.” He wrote to Lois, who was anxious to hear any news of what was happening. She was doing some classes with the Winnipeg Ballet, but avoided the subject of what David was up to, since they were trying to keep their options open at this point. David wrote: “I began to put two and two together. I had toured with the Winnipeg Ballet to Toronto and, while there, had been billeted with one of the persons responsible for bringing Celia to Canada. I was asked a lot of questions about ballet companies, how they operated and how they were financed. The group calling themselves the National Ballet Guild of Canada were responsible for organizing the Promenade performance and they had dreams of forming a national ballet company in Canada. I was obviously in the right place at the right time. Meeting some of these people once more put the stamp on it.”
Permanent Move to Toronto with Lois
After the first Promenade Concert, David went back to Winnipeg. He eventually convinced Lois that she could become a ballerina with the new company in Toronto. In his words: “I returned to Winnipeg to visit Lois and Janine, but also to persuade Lois to return to Toronto with me. It was extremely difficult; first, to take Lois from our daughter, but also to put Lois in the position of becoming ‘the Ballerina’. Given what I had seen Lois do, plus what I had taught her, I knew that she was the ballerina we needed. There were some times when Lois wondered what she had taken on, but the truth was she was born for it. There were some sticky moments along the way, but in the true SMITH fashion, she became the first Canadian Prima Ballerina.”
David and Lois decided to leave their baby daughter Janine in Winnipeg, to be cared for by David’s family. As David mentioned in the quote above, it was a difficult decision to make and one that must have brought a measure of guilt throughout Janine’s childhood and subsequent years. David’s mother Stella was eventually appointed as Janine’s legal guardian. In Janine’s words: “In this capacity, she had the last word in any decisions about my life but my grandfather, Charlie Adams, and my two aunts, Joy and Joan, also actively participated in my upbringing- especially Joan, who was the stay- at-home adult in the family.”
Despite the support of David’s family in raising her, Janine reflected that she felt orphaned throughout her childhood and this feeling of abandonment remained with her well into her adult years: “I had mixed feeling about my parents being professional dancers. Yes, I was certainly proud of what they did but I also found not being allowed to live with them painful, and I always carried an intense longing for them that never quite left me as a child.”
When Lois and David moved to Toronto, they stayed in the same house where David had resided in Mimico, at the western edge of Toronto along the shore of Lake Ontario. During the first season of the Canadian National Ballet, former dancers Earl Kraul and Grant Strate were invited to live in another part of the house. In his memoir, Grant Strate wrote: “Lois and David were very welcoming, the view was exquisite and the house was elegant and spacious.”
National Ballet Guild Summer School
From July 2 to August 4 (1951), The National Ballet Guild of Canada presented its first summer school, under the direction of Celia Franca at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto. This school attracted dancers from many parts of Canada. The first school was a success and it continued annually until 1965. Celia Franca and Betty Oliphant (founding member of the Canadian Dance Teachers Association) favoured the Cecchetti method of teaching basic dance technique.
Rev. Barbara Cook, a former dancer with the Volkoff Canadian Ballet in the 1940s and with the Janet Baldwin Ballet in the 1950s, remembered attending the first summer school. It was the first one in Toronto where the dancers were given the opportunity to dance every day. In my interview with Barbara, she recalled the classes were challenging and that it was the first time many of those attending had taken pas de deux classes. Because there were more girls than boys, each group had two girls and one boy. Barbara and Colleen Kenney, the same height, were grouped with a much shorter boy. Barbara recalled: “When we were en pointe (on the tips of their toes with an extended vertical foot), we towered over the boy, higher than his shoulders. He didn’t show up for the next class.” She went on to say: “David arrived one week late. Celia asked him to be our partner. We had heard about him so we were very nervous. It was a terrific experience; he was more than kind and must have known we didn’t know much. He was very helpful. We learned the Pas de Trois from Swan Lake. Celia asked us to perform it for the others so we had to jump right into it. She liked the version we had learned. We felt important!”
Quoting James Neufeld from his book Power to Rise (The Story of the National Ballet of Canada): “The summer school had turned a profit of one thousand dollars. Under the terms of the start-up loan which the National Ballet Guild of Canada had advanced to her for the school, Celia Franca was obliged to use that profit to travel to the West Coast and intervening cities for the purpose of auditioning dancers for the Canadian National Ballet Company, if and when formed. In late August of 1951, the tour took place, but not without its share of controversy…. It was a diplomatic tightrope that Franca walked as adroitly as any human could. But despite tact and diplomacy, reaction was sometimes negative.” (page 24)
In my interview with Eva Von Gencsy, former dancer with the Winnipeg Ballet, she commented that Celia ended up with the best dancers. This caused some resentment from companies, such as the Winnipeg Ballet, who had struggled to establish themselves.
Second and Third Promenade Concerts
Due to the success of the first Promenade Concert, Celia Franca was invited to present a similar program at the second Promenade Concert, which took place on August 8 (1951) in Montreal at Chalet de la Montagne. In Celia’s memoir, she wrote: “Mme. Antonio David would pay me $900 after the performance, but I was able to borrow money from the guild to pay for the travelling and other expenses of the little troupe I took to Montreal. This production- of the second act of Coppelia– was also well received, and just broke even financially.”
Oldyna Dynoska, a former dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, remembered dancing the role of the Skeleton Doll. In my interview with her, she said: “I took my role very seriously, knowing that the company’s future depended on the success of these performances (photo above right).
While David was in Montreal performing in the second Promenade Concert, he went to one of the pre-company audition classes with Celia. Robert Ito, a former dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, remembers David giving the class. Many of the dancers admired David’s technique. Robert Ito said; “He was like a God, with fantastic jumps! All the dancers watched him and were amazed at what they saw.”
David made the following remarks when he reflected back on the audition process in his later years: “Some people were not able to do very much at all, and people who were able were told that they weren’t good enough. I didn’t see, I don’t see to this day, the reason why that group were there. We did, eventually, fit. As a matter of fact, we fit like a glove; it was fantastic. But those are personalities, and in an audition system you don’t find out personalities. She (Celia) was lucky.”
The third Promenade Concert took place by special request on September 13, 1951. To this performance was added the peasant pas de deux from the ballet Giselle, performed by David and Lois. However, a few days before the performance, Lois sprained her ankle while she and David were performing in the show Rhapsody in Blue at the Canadian National Exhibition show in Toronto. Former Winnipeg Ballet dancer Eva Von Gencsy recalled: “It started raining, but the performance must go on!” These CNE shows provided many dancers with extra work in the summer. According to a news release at the time, Celia Franca thought she may have to dance Lois’s part in the Giselle pas de deux, but Lois managed to pull it off in the end. Former National Ballet dancer Robert Ito remembered how magnificent this performance was and how inspiring it was for the rest of the company.
Debut Performance of the Canadian National Ballet
Quoting James Neufeld from his book Power to Rise: “The company she (Celia Franca) assembled had to make a splash with the very first performance…The cohesiveness of the group of people she finally brought together proved to be one of its strongest assets…Given the turbulent climate in the summer of 1951 when the company was formed, this sense of equality and devotion to the cause was the company’s strongest suit.” (page 26)
Soon after the third Promenade Concert, the newly selected members of the Canadian National Ballet began rehearsing for their upcoming debut performance, which would take place in November of 1951. Quoting from the book The National Ballet of Canada (A Celebration, with a Memoir by Celia Franca) Celia wrote:
“There were twenty-nine of us. In accordance with our national purpose, the dancers I found came from as many provinces as possible at that time. We were nineteen girls and ten boys. The only Canadian dancer I had known before coming to Canada was David Adams. He had danced with the Winnipeg Ballet before coming to England to work with the Sadler’s Wells and then the Metropolitan Ballet; there we had sometimes danced together in Victor Gsovsky’s work The Dances of Galanta. In the late forties, he went to Vancouver where, fortunately for me and the National Ballet, he met and married Lois Smith.
Lois Smith had had ballet training, but had never danced in a professional ballet company; nevertheless, with her beautiful legs and feet, natural classical line and zeal, she was destined to become our first principal ballerina. David was an excellent partner for her: Lois, though on the tall side, had a delicate, fragile appearance; David was built like a football player and his muscular physique showed off Lois’s femininity to advantage.” (page 23-24)
Rehearsals for the important debut performance were held at St. Lawrence Hall in Toronto. For many years, the hall was used as a hostel for homeless people during the winter months so the company had to find alternative spaces for rehearsing after their lease expired in late autumn. Celia Franca wrote the following description of the hall in her memoir:
“There was no heating supplied until later in the year. Even then, it was inadequate…We would sometimes exercise in our overcoats, and at one desperate point the dancers threatened to strike… For the dancers, however, it had one rare advantage- a floor of real unwaxed wood. Many times, we would have to turn down engagements because we were offered a stage floor built on concrete; dancers needed the resilience of a wooden floor, for too often have muscles been strained or spines jarred in dancing on floors that did not have enough give.”
Some former National Ballet dancers I interviewed recalled the conditions in the hall were rough all around- appalling dressing rooms, pigeons sometimes flying overhead; and yet, despite all of this, the atmosphere was great, like a close-knit family.
Every morning, the dancers attended an hour and a half class, followed by an intense rehearsal schedule the rest of the day. Former National Ballet dancer Robert Ito remembered the boys in the company being so tired they could barely lift their feet to get on the street car each morning.
David acted as Ballet Master for the first season of the company. Both he and Boris Volkoff, a distinguished Russian teacher and choreographer who did much to establish early dance in Canada, taught classes especially suited to the needs of the male dancers since most of them had very little classical technique. Brian Macdonald, who was a dancer with the National Ballet for the first two seasons, recalled how enormously helpful David was to the men in the company. He said: “Celia thought his classes were too heavy, but that was just what we needed!” David helped them to develop confidence and strength. Ultimately, the combination of Celia Franca’s leadership and the energy and enthusiasm of the dancers made it possible for the company to achieve the standard that was needed for a successful premiere.
The Gala Debut of the Canadian National Ballet took place at Eaton Auditorium in Toronto, with the first three shows scheduled November 12-14, 1951. The company presented the following program: the ballet Les Sylphides, The Dance of Salome (adapted by Celia Franca from a 1949 BBC televised version), the peasant pas de deux from the ballet Giselle (danced again by David and Lois), Etude (an abstract piece choreographed by Kay Armstrong), ending with Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin. The final piece, or grand finale, presented a strong masculine image of the male dancers. Quoting from a Globe and Mail review dated November 13, 1951:
“Lois Smith and David Adams demonstrated clear, attractive techniques in the pas de deux and variations from the first act of Giselle and also a sense of style and showmanship. Both these dancers know the relation of performer and audience in divertissement and augmented their excellent dancing by this knowledge.” The photo of David and Lois below highlights their artistry in Giselle.
The company was highly praised for their considerable achievement, uniformity of style and projection. They had built the foundation for a successful future. In January of 1952, the official name of the company would become the National Ballet of Canada.
The company’s first three performances were part of a larger series. The second set of performances would take place from January 28-30, 1952 and the final set from April 21-23 of that year. After the excitement generated from the big debut, the company resumed rehearsals and more repertoire was added for the rest of the series. Due to financial restrictions, the new repertoire was limited to excerpts from longer works and shorter modern works. For the January performances, the second act of the Nutcracker ballet was added along with David’s work Ballet Composite, which he had choreographed for the Winnipeg Ballet in 1949.
The company’s first out of town tour took them to Montreal, Quebec and to London and St. Catharine’s, Ontario. David received a great review for his performance in Montreal. According to the excerpt from the article on the right, David “won applause for his flowing movements and controlled leaps” and that “critics and audience alike said the performance was one of finest ever seen in the Quebec metropolis.”
Toronto Theatre Ballet
David and Lois were receiving a mere $25 per week each from the National Ballet company. This was, in David’s words, “a momentous problem.” They had to find ways to earn extra money. To open up more dance opportunities, David and Boris Volkoff, with the help of manager Stuart James, formed a small company called Toronto Theatre Ballet. Using some of the dancers from the Canadian National Ballet, a small-scale production was presented on July 19, 1952 at the Arena Gardens in Midland, Ontario. The show featured choreography by both David and Boris Volkoff. It provided a creative challenge for the dancers and helped them earn a little money during the off season.
David wrote: “This was the first time Lois would dance the Swan Queen in the second act of Swan Lake. This performance would also provide the stage debut for my brother Lawrence Adams, who appeared as Von Rothbart, the evil magician. He was a quick learner. The performance was in an arena, not on a stage, but it all went well. Many years later, I would remind Lawrence about that performance and we had a good laugh. He, along with Miriam Adams, eventually started the dance archival organization Dance Collection Danse and, at one point, received archival material from the estate of Stuart James which included some costumes from that same performance. The National Ballet did not quite know what to make of what we were doing, but there was only that one performance; we did not continue with Toronto Ballet Theatre.”
Move to Grenville Street
By the summer of 1952, David and Lois were no longer living in the house at Mimico. The dancers who had lived there eventually rented their own places. David had fond memories of their new accommodation on Grenville Street in Toronto. He wrote: “Around this time, an item appeared in a Toronto newspaper, saying: ‘Neighbors remark what a nice couple they seem to be, taking off arm in arm every week day morning from the small apartment on Grenville Street.’ Yes, Adams and Smith were living in a house on Grenville Street owned by the photographer John Steel. It was fairly central; not too far from St. Lawrence Hall where we rehearsed, and the price was right. We had one large room with a kitchen nook and shared a bathroom down the hall. We found this place through Celia Sutton, who made costumes for the company and rented another room in the house. The house and its occupants became a small cultural colony.”
According to David, there were many gatherings at the house on Grenville Street. He described those who attended as “a marvelous collection of people who were just on the edge of becoming well known. The CBC brought us Barry Moore, Christopher Plummer and many more; the Crest Theatre brought us Murray and Donald Davis, plus many new actors from abroad and from various places in Canada. From across the street, we had Michael Snow and Graham Coughtry. They had an animation studio and were doing commercials on television. Through them, we met Aurom Isaacs, who ran a gallery for Canadian painters. The house was a hive of activity.”
First Canadian Tour
In the fall of 1952, the company went on a major tour of western Canada, as far as British Columbia and back through southern Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba before returning to Toronto by the end of the year. Taking a ballet company to perform across Canada in those days was a formidable challenge! Former National Ballet dancer Robert Ito recalled traveling by train in those early days. Occasionally, the costume car would get shunted off to the side and they would have to spend time locating it. Everybody had to pitch in with the unloading, but they all had a good time for the most part. The company would often have to perform in hockey rinks, school auditoriums and old cinemas, sometimes hanging curtains for impromptu dressing rooms. Stage conditions could be treacherous, such as the time David was warned in a small east coast town to “aim for between the beams!” when his six feet, one hundred eighty pounds body went soaring skywards in a grand jete on the low- ceilinged tiny stage of a high school auditorium. The photo above is of David assisting Lois as they disembark from the train. Following them is George Crum, the company’s first music director, holding the orchestral scores. Despite the rough conditions performing, they had to wear fancy clothes on the train to present a good image to the public.
Quoting from an article by John Brehl (The Star Weekly, November 8, 1952): “In the biggest step yet toward living up to its name, the National Ballet company is taking professional ballet to the people on a coast-to-coast tour, more than 12 weeks of feeding Canada’s hunger for top-notch ballet. Late in October, the young (average age just over 21) and attractive (don’t believe that canard about about knotty legs) and dedicated (they must be to give up other careers for a mere $40 a week contract) dancers packed their bags in Toronto and swung aboard two railway cars for a four-week invasion of the west. Later, following a week each in Toronto, London and Montreal, they’ll spend two weeks in the Maritimes, to be followed by performances in Quebec, Ottawa and a three week tour of Ontario.”
In the same article, Brehl describes David as “a promising young choreographer and a tall, broad-shouldered young man.” He also wrote: “David Adams and his wife, Lois Smith, grabbed the opportunity to be principal dancers even though it meant long periods of separation from their young child, who lives in Winnipeg.”
Sacrificing Parenthood
These periods of separation were to have a huge effect on Janine’s relationship with her parents. She recalled seeing them perform as a young child after David’s family had moved to Vancouver. Janine describes the experience of attending her first ballet, starring her very own parents. In her words:
“I remember when I was about four, I saw my first ballet performance, when my parents came to Vancouver to perform with the National Ballet of Canada …Over a couple of evenings, I saw Offenbach in the Underworld, Coppelia and Swan Lake. It was all very enthralling, but everything- the costumes, the sets, story being told in dance, the music- in Swan Lake was absolutely magical, and the Swan Queen and the Prince were my parents!! Even as a young child, I was deeply moved by the music of this ballet, and for years, to listen to it would move me to the place of tears.
Very strange to me in this whole experience of watching my mother and father dancing on stage, was the devastating contrast between the magic of seeing them in these roles and then afterwards, in the return to real life, being taken to the washroom by a very tired and impatient mother who was telling me to “Hurry up!!”. As a very little girl, I found this extremely confusing and remember being very upset by it.
When I was a child, the arrival of Mum and Dad- and Uncle Lawrence, who also danced, was something like a stage performance. With great flourish they were welcomed in a way that today reminds me of applause, as they took their places at the centre stage of our home. I recall the feeling of disappointment as I would vie for their attention and often be told to go off and play, and feeling as though I didn’t matter much to them. It felt like I was just a nuisance. It hurt very much. They did set aside certain special times just for me, but it never felt like quite enough to satisfy the intense longing for their attention. Then would come the final curtain call and they were gone again, to be seen again, who knew when?… In a good year, it may have been twice in one year. Every time they left, it was like having a partially healed scab torn off, and I would cry and grieve for a few days, until the feelings settled and a new scab would form- until the next time round.”
Glowing Reviews- Successful Tour
Most of the reviews from the first coast to coast tour were great, which helped to build a solid reputation and a reliable audience for the newly formed company. Quoting from a Vancouver newspaper article (November 5, 1952): “As far as the audience which almost filled Vancouver’s International Cinema Tuesday night is concerned, Canada’s National Ballet can come back as often as it likes. In fact, the crowd obviously didn’t want to go home at all. After the performance of Theophile Gautier’s adaptation of the Slavic folk-tale Giselle (description of the ballet included), they brought Celia Franca, David Adams and Lois Smith back for thirteen curtain calls. Then they laughed themselves hoarse at David Adams’ original farce, Ballet Behind Us– a review of the history of ballet seen through the bewildered eyes of a flunked-out student at a ballet school. The transition was so complete that half the audience was sneaking glances at its programs to be sure that the superb clowns in the farce were really the same people as the flawless classic dancers in the folk tale.”
David received many compliments from reviewers regarding his dance technique, artistic expression and his skill as a choreographer. Quoting from a newspaper article by Audrey Johnson from 1952: “Breathtaking star of the Polovetsian dances from the opera Prince Igor was David Adams. This Winnipeg-born virile and graceful young artist has had considerable experience, both as a dancer and a choreographer. It seems to me there is little doubt a glowing future lies ahead of his winged feet. His leaps are classic; his elevation and balance extremely fine.”
No doubt David and Lois were pleased to perform in Winnipeg, where they would reconnect with Janine and David’s family. Quoting from a Winnipeg article (November, 1952) by Frank Morris: “David Adams, principal male dancer with the company, was returning to his home ground, Winnipeg. Lois Smith, Mrs. Adams in private life, is also in the company and they are happy to be here, particularly as they have left their little daughter in care of his parents of Little Britain. The dancers were met at the station by members of the Winnipeg Ballet, who helped them into the St. Regis with their luggage. The National Ballet is also rehearsing in the Winnipeg Ballet club rooms. Which just goes to show you…there may be rivalry between the two companies, but it is on a strictly friendly basis this weekend. Despite this implied rivalry, the National Ballet received a good review from the Winnipeg Tribune (November 22, 1952). In it, David and Lois were described as “dancers ideally paired for the Nutcracker and, following the grand pas de deux, met with tumultuous acclaim.”
The reviewer S.R.M. goes on to say: “Mr. Adams had his moments of successful bounding, spinning and leg-beatings. He was dashing and authoritative, and his bravura variation won rounds of applause. It was delightful to welcome him ‘home’.” The clipping to the right shows some members of the company relaxing in Winnipeg. Lois is front left, holding the cat, with David behind her.
The Canadian National Ballet had become recognized throughout Canada as a professional ballet company. The endearing company mascot -a cat named Salome, adopted by the dancers in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan- brought them good luck along the way (see left image in clipping). Not only that, David and Lois danced the leading roles of Albrecht and Giselle in the ballet Giselle for the first time by a Canadian ballet company (right image in clipping).
Reflections on Giselle
David recalled dancing the role of Albrecht in the company’s first season. He wrote: “The second act contains the bulk of the dance for Albrecht and I found it to be harder than I had ever imagined. After most performances I was exhausted and had to sit for some time in my dressing room recuperating. I had not realized the strength needed for the role.” David also remembered not liking his costumes for this role. In his words: “I would arrive with striped tights (as shown in the clipping), which made my rather large legs at the best of times, look even larger. Then there was my costume for the first act in the 1956-57 production. I looked like Little Lord Fauntleroy (1936 film). Thank heavens we managed to persuade Kay Ambrose, the company’s costume designer, to change that.”
In an article by Herbert Whittaker (Toronto Globe and Mail, January 21, 1953), some remarks were made about David’s costume and, of course, his performance in the ballet Giselle: “David Adams, in wildly striped tights, was the prince, less romantic than heroic, matching Miss Franca in the clarity of his mime and performing with bounding vitality throughout.”
In another review by F. Beatrice Taylor from London Ontario’s Evening Free Press (February 2, 1953), she wrote: “David Adams’ Albrecht was extremely good. It seems safe at this stage to prophesy important things for this dancer who has made valuable contributions of strength and grace, added to resource, invention and charm.”
David wrote: “For more than twenty-five years, this ballet played an important part in my career. Beginning with the National Ballet and ending with the Royal Ballet, it was seldom out of sight. If there was one ballet which I could have called a favorite, and if there was one which had the greatest influence upon me as a performer, it is Giselle.”
Antony Tudor Influence
In January of 1953, after the company’s successful western tour, two works were added to the repertoire- David’s piece Ballet Composite (originally performed by the Winnipeg Ballet) and one of Antony Tudor’s ballets Jardin aux lilas (Lilac Garden). In Celia Franca’s memoir, she wrote: “Of all our ballets at that time, Lilas was best suited to the company. We had an excellent cast. Lois Smith as Caroline came nearer in quality to the original- the sensitive and delicate Maude Lloyd- than any other dancer I have seen; and David Adams as her Lover was strong and blessed with good timing. James Ronaldson, who had now joined the company, gave dignity to the role of the Man She Must Marry and I danced the Woman in His Past.”
Celia had learned her role from Antony Tudor himself when she was dancing with Ballet Rambert in England. In her words: “I then learned all the roles in Jardin aux lilas, simply because the ballet fascinated me. But when I came to teach it to the Canadian company some fifteen years later, a few pieces of the choreography had escaped me; fortunately, Tudor was at that time rehearsing the New York City Ballet in a revival of the work, and I was able to join him to refresh my memory of this romantic work.”
Sydney Johnson was impressed with the company’s performance of this ballet at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Montreal. In his review, he wrote: “It is most gratifying to be able to report that the four principals of last night’s performance- Lois Smith. David Adams, James Ronaldson and Celia Franca- were more than equal to every demand the ballet made on them. This pathetic story of the couple who are to be married against their own inclinations, the girl seeking a last embrace from her true love and the man sadly but determinedly breaking his alliance with his mistress, was danced with a full awareness of the psychology of the ballet. The dance flowed smoothly, each little climax was fully realised and the whole work built up beautifully.”
In early August of 1953, the Canadian National Ballet dancers packed their bags for their first appearance outside of Canada. Quoting an article from the Globe and Mail in Toronto (August, 1953):
“The debut in the United States of the Canadian National \ballet will take place on Tuesday at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival at Lee, Massachusetts. The seven-performance engagement is being presented by Ted Shawn at the Berkshire dance centre under the joint patronage of the Governor General of Canada and the Governor of Massachusetts.”
Antony Tudor was a member of the faculty at Jacob’s Pillow and helped the company in their rehearsals of Lilac Garden. According to a local review by Richard V. Happel in the Berkshire Evening Eagle (August 5, 1953), “the most demanding work of the evening was the hauntingly beautiful Lilac Garden, to Antony Tudor’s choreography. The result was a highly professional dance classic…”
The company’s performance of this work at the festival, with houses filled to capacity and the American press was encouraging. Quoting an excerpt from an article by Walter Terry from the New York Herald Tribune (August 16, 1953): “Here then, at Jacob’s Pillow, the United States caught its first glimpse of a fine new ballet company with ideals and ideas, with young strength and good taste. And we have neither heard nor seen the last of the National Ballet Company of Canada. It seems destined to find a place of importance in the international ballet world.”
The company had begun its important connection with one of England’s leading choreographers. Antony Tudor worked with the company directly on some other works of his that were performed over the next few years. These included: Gala Performance– a satirical comedy (debut 1953), Offenbach in the Underworld– a hugely popular production performed 265 times on one of the company’s tours (debut in January, 1955) and Dark Elegies (debut in November, 1955) set to one of Gustav Mahler’s song cycles and described as “lyrical, poetic and moving, expressing all the emotional content of both poem and the music.” (Hamilton Spectator)
In David’s words: “Antony Tudor made an impression upon the National Ballet dancers through his ballets and his way of working with the dancers. He terrified so many dancers in the company through his very direct method of achieving the end product. The outcome was the countless performances of his ballets, especially Lilac Garden and Offenbach in the Underworld. The influence in the company by Tudor carried over into other repertoire.”
Judie Colpman, a former dancer with the company, remembered dancing with David when she was one of the party guests in Lilac Garden: “It was marvelous working with him on stage. Every move in the Tudor ballets came from a psychological need.” According to Judie, the dancers as a whole became more mature from working with Tudor over the years, coming to realize the importance of, in her words, “thinking before you move. David supported this whole process. He was to become a great actor on stage. To take his hand was a real contact- something larger was going on.” Quoting Myrna Aaron, another former dancer with the company: “Tudor was magnificent- a genius! The company was so lucky to have so many of his works in the repertoire.”
David’s Choreographic Contributions
David choreographed several pieces for the National Ballet of Canada. In the first season (1951/52), Ballet Behind Us and Ballet Composite (originally choreographed for the Winnipeg Ballet) were added to the company’s repertoire. Ballet Behind Us, as mentioned earlier, was a satirical look at nineteenth century ballet conventions. It was successful as a comical piece. Former dancer Oldyna Dynoska enjoyed performing this ballet because it allowed for individuals to show their uniqueness of style. She and Brian Macdonald were the Romantic Couple, poking fun at partnering techniques. Oldyna remembered a time when Brian’s wig got caught on the stars of her crown in the middle of a performance and she was unable to shake it off. This must have delighted the audience!
David’s piece Pas de Chance became part of the company’s repertoire in the sixth season (1956/57). It was performed several times in subsequent seasons due to its popularity. The piece was short, light and comical, with Angela Leigh dancing the role of the flirtatious female. Two male suitors competed to win her affection, to no avail. It was danced to the music of Tchaikovsky.
David’s work The Littlest One was added to the company’s repertoire in the ninth season (1959/60). Unfortunately, the debut performance of this narrative ballet about a dysfunctional family did not receive a good review. Consequently, it did not remain in the repertoire for very long. David was inspired by an animated cartoon about a family and their strange ideas. David thought Frances Greenwood was perfect for the role of the young child. Sally Brayley (or Bliss, as she was called) danced the role of the mother. She was fascinated with how David worked on this piece. In her words: “His thoughts were like he was directing a movie-in sections. He was wonderful directing everyone in this.”
Miriam Adams, David’s sister-in-law and co-founder of Dance Collection Danse, was fascinated by The Littlest One when she saw this piece being performed as a young dance student. To her, it stood out as being less predictable than most of the other ballets she had seen. In her opinion, David’s strongest choreographic works were his narrative pieces and she thinks he should have been given more opportunities to develop his skill as a choreographer.
Quoting from an article describing the premiere performance of Barbara Allen at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto (November 8, 1960): “David Adams presented an artistic work of great strength. The emotions displayed on stage, the imaginative invention of detail and the organic development of the theme made Barbara Allen a memorable experience.”
In the company’s tenth season (1960/61), David created three more works- Barbara Allen, Pas de Six and Pas de Deux Romantique. The sensational narrative ballet Barbara Allen premiered in November of 1960. David used music composed by Louis Applebaum from the ballet Dark of the Moon, based on the same story and choreographed by Joey Harris in 1953, for his new version. He had danced the role of Witch Boy in Dark of the Moon and danced it again in Barbara Allen. Many former dancers from the company believed this role to be one of David’s stronger acting roles. In Judie Colpman’s words: “The image was so right- the way he inhabited the role of Witch Boy. He changed his body to be rougher, abandoning the other images from the classical roles.”
David choreographed Pas de Six as a divertissement (a diversion or entertainment). He created three pas de deuxs and a pas de six for this piece. Lorna Geddes, who joined the company at a young age in 1959, was flattered when David chose her to be a soloist in this piece. She described the choreography as “zippy, in a classical style, with challenging point work.
Pas de Deux Romantique was a gift for Lois, from David. Choreographed in 1960, it was in the style of the Russian Bolshoi Ballet with spectacular lifts, celebrating Lois’s newly discovered freedom of movement. At their request, it was not to be danced by any other couple. Sadly, around this time was a turning point in their relationship. It would be the last time they would dance together as a romantic couple (see photo right). The reviews were glowing after the National Ballet’s Night of Romance (November 22, 1960) at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Montreal, as indicated in the following quote: “David Adams’s new Pas de Deux Romantique which he had designed to be danced by himself and the company’s prima ballerina, Lois Smith, is a dream of a dance- rhythmical, sensuous, flowing, with everything- including James Ronaldson’s costumes- attuned to the romantic dark of the moon. Mr. Adams has surpassed himself in clever lifts and inventiveness of movement…nothing breaks the continuity of the dance and it flows smoothly and dreamily…from beginning to end.”
Work in Television- CBC Connection
In 1952, David began doing some pre-broadcast television work in Toronto and eventually staged or danced in a number of CBC shows. In his words: “The CBC was a constant source of new arrivals. My own work with CBC was going well; I was appearing fairly regularly. We had a wonderful season featuring Frosia Gregory and Robert Goulet, with David doing the choreography. We even had a newspaper review for a dance about a Lautrec poster- quite amazing for the new kids on the block.”
Some other shows included:
The Concert Hour– a CBC presentation from Montreal. David and Lois danced in a piece choreographed by Brian Macdonald (former dancer and choreographer with the National Ballet) which involved two couples and was set to music by the French composer Bizet.
An Hour With the Stars (CBC television show, June 1960)- Quoting from a preview of this show: “Sixty minutes of music and dancing- extracts from some of the best loved opera and ballet by North American stars in these arts- is the promise on this week’s An Hour With the Stars….two famous Canadian dancers, Lois Smith and David Adams, of the National Ballet Company of Canada, will also be on the program. Miss Smith has appeared often on television, including the dual role of Odette-Odile in the full-length TV presentation of Swan Lake. Mr. Adams, known for his superlative leaps, is equally at home with TV, both appearing and doing the choreography.”
The Merry Widow (CBC-May, 1959)- a ninety-minute televersion of Lehar’s operetta The Merry Widow, staged by David, with members of the National Ballet of Canada performing and produced by Norman Campbell. Former dancer Judie Colpman recalled how wonderful it was to dance so many grande waltzes.
Between 1956 and 1961, the CBC produced several ballets by the National Ballet of Canada, performed live at the CBC studios, under the direction of Norman Campbell. David danced in Swan Lake, Winter Night, The Nutcracker, Lilac Garden and Giselle. Video tapes were made of most of these performances.
Yves Cousineau, a former dancer with the company, remembered how thrilled the dancers were to be performing live at the CBC studio, despite the rudimentary conditions, which included dancing on a cement floor. The image to the right is of David and Lois dancing in a CBC production.
Extensive Touring
By 1959, the National Ballet had made three tours of Canada (from Victoria to Halifax), five US tours of varying lengths and performed before 70,000 people in Mexico City. Quoting Celia Franca from her memoir: “In 1955 we became the first Canadian cultural activity to be booked for American tours by a leading agency…the William Morris Agency of New York…We had a potentially marketable repertoire by then, but we could not command a big fee because we were unknowns from Canada, which, as a country itself, was also as good as unknown. I secretly suffered on these tours from an ever-present consciousness of our shortcomings. At first, we could only afford two pianos for accompaniment, and later a pitifully small touring orchestra…The lighting equipment we carried was minimal, and sadly most theatres had little usable equipment of their own. Nevertheless, we gradually built up an excellent reputation with the impresarios and concert managers, most of whom requested return engagements every two years.”
Many of the former National Ballet dancers I interviewed recalled the gruelling conditions on these long tours. Lorna Geddes remembered getting on the bus at 8:00 every morning, often riding for 8 hours, and doing a show every night. The costumes went by truck. On one tour they did this for six weeks, travelling 10,000 miles, all the way to Florida. They went from one hotel to another. If they were lucky, they may get a free evening to watch a movie, but only if the bus arrived in time. At first, according to Lorna, the bus was referred to as the iron lung. Eventually, there was a smokers’ bus and a regular bus. The company always provided emergency candles in case there were any blackouts in the theatres. In Lorna’s words: “David and Lois set the standard for devotion and hard work; they also helped establish a non-hierarchy atmosphere by never talking down to or intimidating the other dancers. We were like a family- all in the same boat and often all in the same dressing room!”
Former dancer Lillian Jarvis offered the following reflection: “There were difficult times to get through, and such things tend to bind people closer together- like the common sacrifice of giving up a week’s pay to help prevent the life we all wanted from being taken away. Even the cramped and often cellar-like dressing rooms we shared and the trials of one-night bus tours had a unifying effect, just because we were all in it together, Celia herself included.”
Quoting Celia from her memoir: “The first few performances on the road were always nerve-racking. After hours of travel, our knees were so stiff we could hardly stagger off the bus. Often our journeys took twice as long as necessary owing to the incompetence of the company manager or bus driver whose duty it was to navigate. Since the theatre season in North America is from late autumn to early spring, we often encountered blizzards and more than once ended up in a ditch. It was difficult to rise above the sheer physical discomfort of it all and transform ourselves into creatures of beauty in time for curtain up.”
David wrote about a bus accident that occurred when the company was on their way back to Toronto after a long tour:
“In all the years that we traveled by bus, which for me was in excess of ten years, we had only one real accident. Amazing, when I think of the thousands of miles we covered. The tour had been long and hard and we were anxious to get home to Toronto. As usual, we were all sleeping or reading. The freeway into Buffalo was smooth, no concerns, just the usual dose of Benylin DM D to put you into that ‘don’t drive when you have taken this medicine’ state. I, for some reason, was awake and thinking of what I could do when I got home.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang. I looked to the front of the bus to see a large blue sign crash into the windshield. The windshield cracked, the driver leaped from his seat and began steering the bus from a standing position. I could see that his hands were cut. On either side of the freeways there were usually deep ditches and down we went, at a speed of at least 60 miles per hour. I looked to my right to see the edge of the ditch against the right side of the bus. We were moving on an angle, on the wheels at that side of the bus. I did not see the driver any more until we stopped. From the moment of the bang until we stopped, there were a series of screams and then silence, except for the sound of the suspension system on the bus dying. Someone asked: ‘Is anyone hurt? A pause- then enough answers to give an indication we were all still in tact.
The driver tried to open his door but it was against the side of the ditch. ‘Open the rear exit door quick! It is the only way out.’ Someone tried opening a side window but it just fell back for our angle was too steep. As soon as the rear door was open, the buzzer alarm started which did not help the atmosphere. At least the engine was off so a less chance we would blow up, but who knew? As people made their way to the back of the bus, it began to rock. ‘Slowly please, one at a time.’ Tell that to people who are scared out of their wits and see the reaction. Common sense and discipline prevailed. One by one, the dancers began the jump down to the ground. The driver and I remained until the last. We all stood looking at that monster sitting there on a rakish angle.
We then became aware that another bus had pulled over on the edge of the freeway by us. I think they were in more of a state of shock than we were. From their vantage point travelling behind us, it had looked as if our bus had exploded. Many tears, much drama, but we were all alive and swearing. We all piled into the second bus with the promise that our luggage would be taken to Buffalo and moved to another bus. It was a squeeze, but we managed.”
Despite the challenges of touring, many of the dancers I interviewed had many happy memories. Former National Ballet dancer Judie Colpman loved the tours. She remembered the tour in Washington, DC and going to Rock Creek Park. The company did lots of photo shoots while they were in the US capital (photo of David’s famous leap to the left). Judie said the company performed in the greatest opera houses in North America and Mexico. The dancers were well fed, entertained by their hosts on several occasions, and received some glowing reviews. There was a sense of personal dedication and clarity of vision. In Judie’s words: “We were there on stage for a reason.”
Quoting Celia Franca from her memoir: “These performances in the United States were vital for the National Ballet for various reasons: Canada’s population was too small then to support a long season of employment, for one thing, and this inhibited the development of a permanent company or of a real company at all. The costs of Canadian coast-to-coast tours were too high when measured against the income they generated; we had to try for the US audiences who had been attending ballet performances for years. In Canada, we were still trying to create an audience, and the fact of US recognition helped us to succeed at home.”
The tour of 1958 took the company to Mexico City- their seventy fifth stop on the tour and their first appearance outside North America. Former National Ballet dancer Donald Mahler recalled this long tour by train from Toronto to Mexico City- the company was on the move throughout the whole season. Donald had to leave for two weeks and David kindly took over his roles so that he could go away. According to Donald, they were “soul brothers”- the dancers were very close during that time.
Quoting from an article written by JB McGeachy on June 16, 1958: “When the dancers began warming up for their opening in Mexico City, suddenly all 35 dancers, hit by the thin 7500 feet high atmosphere, began wheezing like freshly boated blowfish.” The managers at the Bellas Artes (Palace of the Fine Arts) installed oxygen tanks for the artists to puff on between scenes. The article went on to say: “Thus resuscitated, the National Ballet of Canada spun and leaped its way through an opening Swan Lake that had a capacity audience roaring its approval.” The photo in the clipping above is a light-hearted moment during this time, with Lois being flung up in the air wearing her costume for Act three of Swan Lake, David in the centre below her. The demand for tickets was so great that the company was shifted to a much larger Auditorium. The crowds “shook the rafters. With them came the President’s wife- eleven times!”
Outstanding Roles
The partnership between David Adams and Lois Smith sustained the National Ballet Company through its early years. Many have described David as a virile dancer and partner. Former National Ballet dancer Lorna Geddes described him in this way: “David was the ‘jock image’ of a male dancer-he removed the stigma of the ‘sissy’ image. He was a great partner and made Lois and everyone he danced with look wonderful.” Lillian Jarvis, a former principal dancer with the National Ballet put it this way: “His muscular body and masculinity contributed enormously to changing public opinion about ballet and helped to grow a male audience for our performances. His technique was always secure and grounded; he displayed confidence and, in partnering, was totally dependable.”
David danced several major roles with the company. He was recognized for his great classical roles, which demanded technical brilliance along with mature character projection. In David’s words: “The National Ballet brought me to the status of classical male dancer which had just been out of my reach in previous years; also, a very full roster of repertoire- classical and contemporary. Beginning with single acts from the classics, we grew into full blown three and four act versions, including Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Giselle and Coppelia. We did not achieve a full Sleeping Beauty– that would come after my leaving the company. We did have Les Sylphides, Carnaval, Prince Igor and excerpts from Sleeping Beauty.”
David was well known for his portrayal of Witch Boy in the 1953 production of Dark of the Moon. After the premiere performance in Halifax, the review from the Halifax Star stated the following: “David Adams, as the Witch Boy, did a magnificent job, for much of the mingled spirit of mysticism and humanity depended on him- a difficultbut well conceived and projected performance.” The photo to the left shows David dancing the role of Witch Boy, spreading his wings over Celia Franca, in the ballet Dark of the Moon which was choreographed by Canadian Joey Harris.
Another great role for David with the National Ballet was The Painter in the Tudor ballet Offenbach in the Underworld. This ballet became part of the company’s repertoire in their 1954/55 season. The world premiere took place at the Palace Theatre in Saint Catharine’s, Ontario. Quoting from E.H. Lampard’s review of this performance from the St. Catharine’s Standard (January 16, 1955):
“Last night’s audience, which nearly filled the palace, showed its enthusiasm by prolonged and insistent applause at the closing curtain that brought soloists and ensemble back again and again. It was an occasion…Lois Smith is enchanting as the Operetta Star and dances with a fluid grace and charm that is most engaging. As The Painter, David Adams brings a great deal of deft characterization to the role and dances with his wife, Lois Smith, with perfection. They are a perfectly attuned couple, surely one of the finest to be seen anywhere.” The photo above shows Lois and David dancing these roles.
Former National Ballet dancer Donald Mahler shared the role of The Painter with David when he joined the company for their 1956/57 season. Donald was in the second cast and said that David was happy to teach him the part. The company performed this ballet almost every night when they were on tour. Donald remembered that they also shared the same corduroy coat costume for The Painter and that it was always wet!
Joysanne Sidimus, another former dancer with the National Ballet, remembered doing a performance with David in Offenbach while the company was on tour in the 1970s. Celia Franca announced that David Adams, in town with the Royal Ballet from England at that time, would be dancing the role of The Painter, replacing the usual artist for that evening’s performance. Joysanne recalled that David knew the part so well he had no need for a rehearsal. He was very dashing, strong and musical on stage. In her words: “It was an incredibly spontaneous performance.”
David and Lois began dancing all four acts of the ballet Swan Lake in the company’s 1954/55 season. They did hundreds of performances of this production over the next few years, which must have been incredibly challenging, especially when they performed night after night on some of the tours. A review from New York (March, 1955) described David and Lois in this way: “Lois was gracious and fragile as the Swan Queen and David Adams has my vote as the Nijinsky of Canada for his light agility and suave line.”
Another review from April, 1958 stated: “As Prince Siegfried, Adams displayed a completely masculine characterization that lent the role an authenticity not always noted. He is the perfect support for the premiere ballerina, and in his solo in the third act, as well as in the pas de deux with his partner, Adams performed superb elevations that brought gasps from the audience.” The photo above left shows David and Lois dancing in a 1955 production of Swan Lake; the photo to the right, from a 1960 production.
The National Ballet presented their first full length Nutcracker ballet in their 1955/56 season. David danced the role of the Nutcracker Prince several times in the years to follow. A review from the Montreal Gazette (November 22, 1955) described the three pas de deux performed by David and Lois in this way: “It would be hard to find better classical dancing anywhere these days. That Canada should produce it, is quite thrilling.”
David also partnered premiere dancer Irene Apine in his role as the Nutcracker Prince (photo to the left).
The complete version of the ballet Giselle became part of the company’s repertoire in their 1956/57 season. David became famous for his portrayal of Albrecht in this ballet. A review from November, 1956 describes the depth of his interpretation of this role: “David Adams’s Albrecht is just about the best I have ever seen. This is a dancer of exceptional gifts who is surely fulfilling every promise he ever made. The moment he entered the first act, the dashing, eager lover, superb with cloak and sword, you got the atmosphere of the Byronic gesture. And that’s what the role calls for. He was the noble lover to the hilt and his exceptional command of technique, his energy, grace and manliness all added to the impression. This dancer is a real Canadian discovery.” The photo below is of David dancing the role of Albrecht, with Celia Franca as Giselle.
The ballet Le Carnaval was first presented by the National Ballet in their 1957/58 season. The original choreography was taught to Celia Franca by Stanislas Idzikowski, considered the greatest ballet authority of the Diaghilev company. He was quoted as saying to Celia Franca: “Teach Le Carnaval like that, just like that and your Canadians will be seeing the real thing.” David danced the role of the Harlequin, frequently danced by the famous Russian dancer Nijinsky after the ballet’s premiere in 1910. According to a review by Marjory Fisher from the San Francisco News (April 12, 1958): “David Adams is a masculine star with romantic appearance, remarkable elevation, and a sense of humour as revealed in the role of Harlequin. His dance skill was of stellar quality in all aspects.” In the photo to the right, David is dancing the role of Harlequin, with Lois Smith as Columbine.
Another major classical role that David mastered was Franz in the ballet Coppelia. In a review from the Halifax Chronicle-Herald (November 11, 1958), Lois and David were both praised for their performances in this ballet: “In the dual role of Coppelia and Swanhilda, Lois Smith was exquisitely lovely, and her pirouettes were a joy to watch. Personable David Adams gave us effortless leaps and well-defined beating steps which added excitement to the piece and together, their extremely difficult pas de deux in the third act was excellent.”
In the photo to the left, David and Lois are dancing together in the pas de deux from the third act of Coppelia.
Family Visits
In Janine’s document entitled Growing Up with the Adams Family During the 1950s, she writes about the special times when her parents (David and Lois) came to visit her and David’s family at their home on Dalkeith Drive in North Vancouver. One of her earliest memories was when she was three and Dad and Mum arrived in May or June of 1954 to help the family move in. Quoting Janine:
“Most fortunate for the elders was that Dad and Mum arrived in time for the move and were there to help with some of the early tasks of working on the outside of this new home. In the beginning, there was no carport, and no outside sheds, and this was something David and Uncle Lawrence helped Grandad Charlie build.”
The photo to the right was taken a year later, when Janine was four, with Mum (Lois) and Panda (in the baby carriage) beside Grandad Charlie’s 1949 Ford.
According to Janine, by 1956 Lawrence had left the family home in North Vancouver to live with Lois and David in Toronto, where Lawrence also joined the National Ballet of Canada. In Janine’s words: “Until I was about nine, there were visits with the three of them once or twice a year.
One memorable visit was timed with my fifth birthday. It was one I can remember as being extra special because it involved a visit from the ‘Eastern Branch’, chocolate cake, a new dress, a bouquet of yellow roses from Joy, a lovely big rubber ball, and my favourite brand- new tricycle. That particular birthday really sticks out in my memory as being such a happy day.” The photo to the left is a posed shot taken of David and Janine on the day of her fifth birthday.
During the summer of 1957, when Janine was six, she and her Aunt Joan (David’s sister) went across Canada on a Canadian Pacific Railway train to Toronto, where they stayed with David, Lois and Lawrence. Quoting Janine: “I can’t remember that meeting at Union Station when we arrived, but I believe all three of them- Dad, Mum and Lawrence- came to meet us and take us to their home at 123 Annette Street. ‘123’ was a lovely, very large second floor apartment in a house that was owned by an older couple who lived downstairs…Two young women (Sally Brayley was one) from the National Ballet Company lived up on the third floor apartment…Lawrence had a private area of his own down the stairs from where the kitchen was and at the complete opposite end of where Mummy and Daddy slept…Just off the living room was a little study, with all kinds of books and ornaments, and that’s where a little bed was set up for me.”
Janine recalled going to the fourth floor of St. Lawrence Hall to watch the National Ballet rehearse. She described her experience in this way: “I was content to watch what Mummy and Daddy were doing along with all the other dancers… I came to know many of the dancers by name, and they were all kind to me and talked to me when they could…I do recall that their leader, Celia Franca, was a very stern woman who put up with no nonsense from anybody.”
That summer, Janine and David’s sister Joan were taken on some special outings, including a week or two at “The Lodge” in Port Carling. “The Lodge” (Eden Lodge) was a summer vacation place primarily for show people, owned and operated by Archie and Celia McDonnell, friends of David and Lois. Quoting Janine: “In 1957, it was very old and rustic, with the lodge itself being of another era. We were given a ‘roughing it in the bush’ type of cabin, with hewn wooden furniture, and it was very much like camping with a roof over our heads…There were no locks on the door of the cabin, being all very rustic but happily memorable.”
Janine would visit the lodge again the following summer (1958), this time with her Grandmother Stella (David’s mother). In Janine’s words: “Our accommodations were a notch up from the rustic little cabin where we had stayed the summer before. It is possible we may have stayed in the lodge. At the grand old age of seven, I had a job! Archie McDonnell, the owner/operator of the lodge, arranged things so that I could help the chamber maids with all the beds in the mornings. Between my pay and my allowance, I got 50 cents for each week! To my surprise, while we were up at The Lodge, Grandmother Stella did allow me some leeway to go off exploring and further afield out of her sight.”
The three pictures below were taken by David’s mother Stella while the family was at The Lodge in the summer of 1958. On the left is Stella on the patio; on the bottom right is Lois and David on the steps by the main lodge; on the top right is Janine posing as the Bathing Beauty.
Janine reflected on the sadness she felt when it was time to return home after these summer vacations with her parents. Remembering what it was like to leave with her Aunt Joan in the summer of 1957, she wrote the following: “The summer was indeed a summer to remember, and after our month-long stay, the time came when we had to travel back to Vancouver. It was very hard to say Good Bye, and for much of the trip home, I felt that familiar sadness of grief at the separation from Mummy and Daddy. I remember telling Joan on the train that I felt gloomy. She told me that she felt like that too. We understood each other.”
Janine also recalled day trips with her parents and Uncle Lawrence to Squamish in British Columbia, at least two trips (1955 and 1957) to the World Centre “Tower of Light” in Seattle, and to Margaret Long Camp at Archer Mountain in the state of southern Washington, USA.
Personal Interests
Even though David’s dance career kept him extremely busy, he managed to find some time to develop other interests. David and Lois referred to their west Toronto apartment on 123 Annette Street as their refuge. Lois was quoted as saying: “This is where we can get away from it all.”
One of the rooms served as a combination studio-workshop where cameras, a telescope and other equipment were set up. David, his brother Lawrence, and some of the other dancers from the company enjoyed many Sunday afternoons working on various projects. David’s woodworking hobby enabled him to construct much of the furniture in the spacious flat, including a chesterfield. He was also into cinematography. Quoting from an article entitled The Many Faces of Talent by Helen Parmalee (Toronto Telegram, 1959): “David is an amateur photographer bordering on the professional class. He has just made a cinemascope lens for his movie camera; he has taken movies of the National Ballet Company since its inception in 1951.”
David compiled a film record of the company’s repertoire without sound. When former National Ballet dancer Veronica Tennant was working on the production Celia Franca- Tour de Force (TV movie, 2006) she learned about the footage David had shot of the early days of the company. She was impressed with his creative ability as a cinematographer. In Veronica’s words: “He recorded life across Canada and the US with a poetic hand and eye.” Walter Babiuk, who joined the company as assistant conductor in 1960, recalled many lively discussions he had with David about film. He was able to get David some 16mm film ‘at cost’ and helped him with some of the filming.
Lois also had many interests and talents besides dance. She was an excellent seamstress and made her own clothes as well as some for David. She also designed some of their furniture, such as the ornate Aztec calendar on their coffee table. Despite these activities, the long bouts of separation from their daughter Janine created a void that was hard to fill. Quoting once again from Helen Parmalee’s article The Many Faces of Talent: “In the midst of their busyness, there’s a heart-breaking emptiness. That’s because Janine lives on the west coast with David’s mother, a necessary arrangement because of the constant tours and shows. An entire album of pictures of her is at hand, but that doesn’t fill the gap. ‘Yes, we miss her a lot. Any parents would,’ says Lois softly. ‘But we feel she should be kept away from our spotlight and be allowed to have her own life’…”
Bolshoi Ballet Performances, 1960
Many of the dancers from the National Ballet were amazed at the quality of performances they attended by the Bolshoi Ballet from Russia in 1960. They marveled at the flamboyant style of this Moscow company. David and Lois, along with some of the other dancers, took advantage of the opportunity to watch the Bolshoi rehearse in St. Lawrence Hall. Former National Ballet dancer Yves Cousineau described this unforgettable experience: “We could not believe what they were able to do- they were like demi-Gods, bigger than what we could imagine, with such scope, personality and highly individualized as artists. Big stars, such as Galina Ulanova, were there. This was their first visit to America. Our eyes were not big enough to capture the essence of what we beheld!”
According to the article by Hugh Thompson below, Celia Franca made some critical remarks about the Bolshoi performances, saying that they were “lacking in subtlety” and suggesting that the dance vocabulary of the Russians was small compared to that used in the Western world. Boris Volkoff, a respected Canadian choreographer and teacher at that time who had studied at the Bolshoi’s ballet school in his early teens, publicly challenged Celia Franca’s critique. He said the following: “I have the greatest respect for Celia Franca professionally, but she is plainly no judge of Russian ballet…All I can honestly say, and I say it without passion and malice, is that any one who was not genuinely moved by the performance of the Bolshoi, is ready for the embalming fluid, because they must be dead, that’s all.”
Many former dancers with the National Ballet, including David, took classes from Boris Volkoff on the side, feeling somewhat restricted by Betty Oliphant’s ‘by the book’ approach to teaching based on the Ceccetti syllabus. When Celia tried to put a stop to this, some of the dancers began to look beyond the company to grow as artists. David was one of them. According to former National Ballet dancer Leila Zorina (later Kovacevic), Celia Franca was a one woman show and she became increasingly defensive and protective of the company, feeling threatened by any outside influences.
David Takes a Leave of Absence
1959 and 1960 were pivotal years for David, both personally and professionally. In April of 1959, he sprained his ankle during a performance in Brantford, Ontario and needed time off to recover. While he was nursing his injury, Lois spent three months in London, England studying dance with various renowned teachers, having received a Senior Artist’s Award through the Canada Council. According to former dancer Leila Zorina, who joined the company for their 1957/58 season, David began to drift away from Lois during this time. He also became increasingly disillusioned with the company. Leila was renting one of the flats in the five- room flat where David, Lois and Lawrence resided during the main season. The friendship between David and Leila gradually developed into a romantic relationship. Quoting Leila: “Lois and David were wonderful dancers but Lois was not David’s soul mate.”
David made the decision to take a leave of absence after the 1960/61 season. In a press release from the Toronto Telegram on July 29, 1961, it was announced: “David Adams, leading male dancer during the ten-year history of the National Ballet of Canada, will leave the company to dance in England for at least a year. He has signed a one-year contract with the Festival Ballet Company of England, but is expected to return to Canada when the contract expires.”
In his later years, David reflected on this decision. He wrote: “Having been stationery for ten years, and by that I only mean living in the same base city for that period of time, it was time once more to move. Stale, walking against the wall, disenchanted, bored, unhappy? No idea which, but perhaps a combination of them all took me back to my spiritual homeland, Britain.”
When David was asked by reporter Clive Barnes from The Star why he was quitting Canadian ballet, David replied: “Let’s get this quite straight. I’m not quitting Canada- I’m not quitting Canadian ballet. I’ve just taken a year out to work abroad. I felt it was time for me to get away from the environment I have been in for ten years now. This is not a question of loyalty, but the basic professional need to work with different people and do new ballets, a need to find stimulus from fresh and, yes, tougher competition…of course, this temporary break, though only for a year, is going to be anything but easy. There are new audiences, new problems, and worst of all new partners. For ten years, I have worked continually with my wife, Lois Smith, and we naturally have a sympathy and understanding together I shall never find elsewhere. Yet this is something I had to do to develop, and Lois supports me in every way.”
The next few years would determine whether David would return to Canada for good, or make a clear break and continue his career in England. There would be some leaping back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean before that final decision was made.
