Frank Joseph Augustyn, (born January 27, 1953) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

dancer and artistic director. He was principal dancer of the

National Ballet of Canada The National Ballet of Canada is a Canadian ballet company that was founded in 1951 in Toronto, Ontario, with Celia Franca, the first artistic director. A company of 70 dancers with its own orchestra, the National Ballet has been led since 2022 ...

and the Berlin Opera Ballet.

Background

Frank Augustyn was born in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. As a boy, Augustyn's interests were in gymnastics and acrobatics; he once appeared on the variety series '' Tiny Talent Time'' as a gymnast."Next Generation". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', October 7, 2000. During a summer course at Canada's National Ballet School (often called The National) intended to help improve movement and his control for his gymnastic acrobatic training, his abilities for ballet were recognized by Betty Oliphant, founder and director of the school. Although Augustyn's parents were reluctant to have their son pursue ballet as a career, Augustyn continued in the school until at seventeen he joined the professional company

Professional career

Augustyn joined the

in 1970. He was the National Ballet's principal dancer from 1972 to 1989. From 1980 to 1981, he was principal dancer at the Berlin Opera Ballet. From 1985 to 1986, he was the principal guest artist at the

Boston Ballet The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...

. From 1989 to 1994, he was the artistic director of the Ottawa Ballet. He was a founding member of ''Ballet Revue'' (dancing his own piece, Personal Essay) and has appeared frequently on international television. Television viewers are familiar with Mr. Augustyn's series on ballet, ''Footnotes'', seen on Bravo U.S. and Bravo Canada. In this series, which he co-wrote, co-produced and hosted, Mr. Augustyn outlines the history and techniques of classical ballet. He published ''Footnotes--Dancing the World's Best Loved Ballets'', which was based on the television production, as well as his memoir, ''Dancing from the Heart.'' Augustyn often danced with Karen Kain. They won the award for best

pas de deux In ballet, a ( French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The ''pas de deux'' is characteristic of classical ballet and can be found in many well-known ...

at the 1973 Moscow International Ballet Competition, dancing the extremely difficult Blue Bird pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty. Director of the dance program at

Adelphi University Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York, United States. Adelphi also has centers in Downtown Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County in addition to a virtual, online campus for remote students. As of 2019, it had ...

since 2000, Augustyn was appointed Program Chair in 2007, stepping down in 2019 appointing Orion Duckstein to chair. He is currently an assistant full time professor at Adelphi, and co-owner of Classical Ballet School of Long Island.

Awards

In 1979, Augustyn was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Augustyn, Frank 1953 births Living people Canadian male ballet dancers Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Officers of the Order of Canada Entertainers from Hamilton, Ontario National Ballet of Canada dancers