Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Kathleensmith (talk | contribs) at 20:53, 29 October 2018 (added a paragraph further addressing Skanks' legacy). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Ola Skanks, (November 28, 1926 - August 13, 2018) was a Canadian dance artist, choreographer, and teacher. She was a pioneering figure in the development of African diasporic dances in Canada and instrumental in growing Canada’s emerging modern dance scene in the early 1960s.

After teaching herself how to tap dance at a young age, Skanks began performing professionally. She studied Eurocentric dance styles with dancer/choreographer Willy Blok Hanson before becoming interested in dances related to her African heritage. She also studied with American dancer, choreographer and anthropologist Pearl Primus.

In the 60s and 70s Skanks’ choreographic work merged European interpretive dance forms with dances and movement of the African diaspora. Throughout her life, she performed, taught and choreographed in Toronto and the United States for both stage and screen, with clients including CBC Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Mariposa Folk Festival, Caribana and the San Diego Museum of Art. She was on the faculty at the University of New York at Buffalo and taught at the Three Schools Artists’ Workshop in Toronto. In 1974, Skanks opened her own studio in Toronto.

In 2017, Skanks was one of ten notable dance pioneers inducted into the Dance Collection Danse Encore! Hall of Fame.

References

1. "Remembering Ola Skanks". The Dance Current. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
2. "A day after the show came down - 92-year old Ola Skanks passed away (August 13)". www.newz4u.ca. Retrieved 2018-10-29.
3. "Honouring Dance in Canada".
4. "dance-hall-of-fame - 2018 Inductees". dance-hall-of-fame.

External Links

• Encore! Dance Hall of Fame Interview

• Canadian dancers
• Canadian choreographers
• 21st-century Canadian dancers