The Dance Ontario Awards Committee (BaKari Ifasegun Lindsay, Ofilio Sinbadinho Portillo and Peter Ryan) today announced that the Association’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Nadia Potts.
Said nominator Kenny Pearl “My perceptions of Nadia have been shaped by the time I have spent working with her, speaking with her, watching her in action and learning from her. Also, having worked under many outstanding leaders durng my career, I clearly see that Nadia’s own abilities and gifts, learned and processed over a 50-year career, are special – super special.
She has just retired after teaching 27 years at Ryerson’s University’s Theatre School Dance Program: 21 years as Program Director and several as Associate Chair. It is the perfect time to honour a person who has spent a lifetime giving so generously to dance and dancers.”
During her illustrious 20 year career as a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada, she performed throughout the world in all the major roles in the ballet repertoire. She has also been partnered by many of the most renowned artists of her era such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Peter Martins and Rudolf Nureyev.
Teaching has always run tandem to her performing career. Nadia has taught at Canada’s National Ballet School, the Banff Centre of Fine Arts, York University and George Brown College and has conducted numerous master classes and workshops.
In 1989, she was appointed Director of Ryerson’s Dance Program. Drawing on her wide range of experience, her professional standards, and her ongoing contacts with the dance community, she continued to ensure that Ryerson’s Dance Program’s graduates made a vital contribution to the Canadian dance profession.
Her outstanding achievements will be celebrated following DanceWeekend on Sunday January 19, 2014 @ the Fleck Dance Theatre. Tickets will be available shortly through the Harbourfront Centre Box Office.