Memorable Manitobans: Gladys Forrester (1914-1998)

Dancer.

Born in Winnipeg, she studied dancing of all kinds from an early age, winning the Highland dance championship for Western Canada in 1921. She studied ballet in New York, and she operated a dancing school in Winnipeg from 1936 to 1941. She danced in the first two seasons of the company created by Betty Farrally and Gweneth Lloyd and became an exponent of the Royal Academy of Dancing method of teaching. In 1948 she was one of the dancing corps in the film The Red Shoes. That same year she moved with her husband to Toronto, where she taught dance and did choreography until her death. She helped to introduce jazz dance to Canada in the 1950s.

Sources:

Dictionary of Manitoba Biography by John M. “Jack” Bumsted, Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1999.

Page revised: 8 March 2008

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

This is a collection of noteworthy Manitobans from the past, compiled by the Manitoba Historical Society. We acknowledge that the collection contains both reputable and disreputable people. All are worth remembering as a lesson to future generations.

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