Dancer Awards Nurture Professional Development

Geneviève McKillop, Chair, Patrons' Council Committee with Corps de Ballet members Hannah Galway and Kota Sato,
Recipients of the 2019 Patron Award of Merit. Photo by Alana de Haan.

The National Ballet of Canada is committed to the professional and personal wellbeing of every dancer in the roster, and has made it a priority to develop and showcase their talents with a diverse repertoire, touring opportunities, health and wellness programming, artistic mentorship and more. The company’s annual awards are part of this constellation of support and serve not to reward or fuel competition, but to recognize and encourage the dancers’ unique contributions to the company, the art form and their peers. 

The Patron Award of Merit and the David Tory Award are a much loved part of the Season Closing Party each June and are presented in a spirit of friendship and celebration among dancers, donors and artistic staff. Each award provides a meaningful link with members of our donor community who, like the dancers, have enriched the company with their individual strengths. The dancers accept these awards in recognition of their shared value within the National Ballet family and the qualities of generosity, commitment and caring they represent. 

The Patron Award of Merit is funded by the members of the Patrons’ Council Committee who lead the Patrons’ Council annual giving programme. The artistic staff selects one female and one male dancer from either the Corps de Ballet or the RBC Apprentice Programme who have shown incredible progress that season. A member of the Patrons’ Council Committee presents the award, generously donated by Myles Mindham, which is then inscribed with the dancers’ names and displayed at the Walter Carsen Centre in Toronto. The Patrons’ Council Committee also makes a donation in the dancers’ names to The National Ballet of Canada, Endowment Foundation to ensure continued support for young artists. 

“The Patron Award is so valuable to young dancers who are eager and hopeful like I was at that stage in my career,” says First Soloist and 2010 recipient Alexandra MacDonald. “It is such a lovely award to celebrate and encourage the dancers in the Corps de Ballet. And the fact that it is sponsored by the Patrons’ Council Committee, which is so committed to our success, is very meaningful.” 

Second Soloist Miyoko Koyasu received the Patron Award of Merit in 2018, her fifth season with the National Ballet. “I was in shock when my name was announced and then I felt very honoured,” she says. “Many dancers have received the award before me and I have always admired their work ethic and positive influence on other dancers.” 

The David Tory Award is named in honour of the former Vice-Chairman of The National Ballet of Canada’s Board of Directors who passed away in 2006. David served in many capacities for the National Ballet, and his generosity of spirit and quiet leadership were an inspiration to all who knew him. The award recognizes a dancer who exemplifies the values that David brought to his life and work: professionalism, honesty, compassion, humility, integrity, mentorship, optimism and enthusiasm for life and the art of dance. A member of the Tory family presents the dancer with the award, a gesture the entire company accepts with full and grateful hearts. 

Rebekah Rimsay, Principal Character Artist, won the David Tory Award in 2008. “When I received the David Tory Award in its first year of existence, alongside Lorna Geddes, David Tory’s exemplary contributions to this company through his work on the Board of Directors and the profound loss of his life were so fresh and tragic. It was therefore a very emotional honour to be recognized by my peers through David’s family’s touching tribute.

“Now, with time to offer perspective, I see that his legacy lives on through his work for this company and especially through his beautiful family. I am also reminded year after year, through the successive David Tory Award recipients, of the depth of humanity, generosity and communal dedication that I am surrounded by in my colleagues. A ballet company relies on this trust, respect and shared sense of purpose between dancers, on stage and in the studio. I feel profound honour at having received this award and incredible humility in the company with whom I share it.”