Jean McKenzie

honour roll inductee

Biography

Jean Mackenzie was the first prima ballerina of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, known as the Winnipeg Ballet Club at the time, and appeared in its premiere season in 1940. She performed and toured with the company for the next decade, except for 1944 to 1946, when she taught at the Vancouver School of Dancing. Ms. Mackenzie was the first partner to Paddy Stone, danced with Arnold Spohr, and worked with the RWB founders Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally.

After her dancing career, Ms. Mackenzie received her Solo Seal and advanced teaching degrees from the Royal Academy of Dance in London, England. She began teaching all over the country and around the world including Devenson Studios in Vancouver, the Banff School of Fine Arts, the International Peace Gardens and the Minneapolis Theatre of Dance as well as adjudicating at Dance Festivals in Western Canada. In 1962, she was approached by RWB Artistic Director, Arnold Spohr, and came back to Winnipeg to open the School of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and served as Principal of the School until she retired in 1985.

During her 23 years as Principal, she maintained the highest of standards for her faculty, the curriculum, and her students, as she did her dance career. In the beginning, the ballet classes that ran six days a week for ages 5 to adults focused on small class sizes and proper placement in levels that challenge but do not frustrate students. Dancers gained a solid foundation in the art that allowed them to continue their careers anywhere. Ms. Mackenzie grew the school from 150 students to more than 1,000 and the foundation that she built remains the same today.

Ms. Mackenzie’s contributions to the art of dance as both a dancer and a teacher remain significant to the way the RWB operates today. She impacted the lives of countless students and taught them discipline, self-control, manners, and to fulfill their duty to the best of their abilities. She was an inspiration to all those around her and continues to inspire the work of those at the RWB and beyond.

Ms. Mackenzie died in March of 1986 and a scholarship was created in her name to financially support promising students in the RWB’s Recreational Division.