Anna Wyman Death | Obituary – Canadian modern dance pioneer Anna Wyman age 92 sadly passed away. She opened her own school in England before moving to Canada and established the Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts in Vancouver in 1968.
Born in Graz, Austria, Wyman was a choreographer, artistic director, and dance teacher. She opened her own school in England before moving to Canada and established the Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts in Vancouver in 1968.
She started a dance troupe in 1971, beginning with a series of performances at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Eventually, the group toured across Canada and as far as China, Australia, and Southeast Asia, according to Max Wyman, a dance historian, and Wyman’s ex-husband.
She was “foundational matriarch of a mini-dynasty of dance in Canada,” he said.
“She was a very driven personality, she was totally devoted to dance and to movement.”
Wyman died at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday after suffering a heart attack at home in West Vancouver.
Wyman was keen on the technical side of dance and blended ballet and contemporary styles, Max Wyman said. She wanted audiences to be enticed by the theatricality, abstraction and improvisation of her dancers on stage, as well as the light, film and laser components she included, he added.
She saw dance in any kind of movement and her creativity knew no bounds, he said.
“It was like being with a firework. There was always a surprise, always something new, and flashing and sparkling coming out of her,” he said.
We express our sympathy and deepest condolences to Wyman’s family today and in the days, weeks, months, and years that are to come as they cope with her passing. May her soul rest in peace.
Anna Wyman, a trailblazer of modern dance in Canada, has died at the age of 92. She opened her own school in England before moving to Canada and established the Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts in Vancouver in 1968. https://t.co/odQynTwmUQ
— CBC British Columbia (@cbcnewsbc) July 13, 2020
