Wyman, Anna (Anna Margaretta Schalk), 1928-2020 : Anna Wyman (Anna Margaretta Schalk) (1928-2020) - Canadian choreographer, artistic director and dance teacher, was born in 1928 in Graz, Austria. She began to dance at a young age with the Opera House in Graz and then continued with the Hansi Schönemann Company. In 1952, she moved to England where she studied the Rudolf van Laban dance techniques, which will have a profound influence on her futur work as a choreographer and teacher. During this time she will have two children from her first marriage with journalist, dance critic and biographer Max Wyman (they will separate in 1974).
In 1967, Wyman will immigrate with her family to Canada and settle in Vancouver, B.C. She will open the Anna Wyman Studio of Dance Arts the following year. In 1971, Wyman will set up the Anna Wyman Dancers (which will eventually become the Anna Wyman Dance Theatre in 1973) and offer various performances at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
From the 1970's on, the Anna Wyman Dance Theatre will tour Canada and the world (notably the United States, Europe, China, South-East, Asia, Australia) and become recognized as one of the World's most vibrant and innovative Contemporary dance companies. In 1973, they performed at the International Young Choreographers Competition in Cologne, Germany. In 1985, the company's New York debut will be received with great praise. During these years, the company will also be regularly headlined at the National Arts Centre. A number of films were made of the company, including two National Film Board productions, two CBC-TV productions in Europe and a US public television special in 1986.
Wyman will develop an original style of choreography, blending ballet and contemporary styles, imbedded with various elements of theatricality. Wyman's choreography often included social, political and spiritual themes. She will also collaborate with the era's most prominent Canadian composers and visual artists, such as Jack Shadbolt, Toni Onley, Sylvia Tait and John Mills-Cockell. Wyman's choreographic work will receive several honours and awards over the years: Here at the Eye of the Hurricane (1973) was honoured as one of the three best works. The company will disband in 1991 (notably due to lack of public funding). Wyman will continue to manage and teach at the Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts in West Vancouver with her second husband, Neil Christopher Wortley (dancer of the Anna Wyman Dance Theatre) through the 1990's and 2010's.
For her career in Contemporary Dance in Canada, Wyman was inducted into the British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame in 1998. In 2000, the West Vancouver Community Arts Council gave Wyman a Millennium Award for community service.
Anna Wyman died in Vancouver B.C. on July 11, 2020. She was predeceased by her husband Neil Christopher Wortley. She was the mother of Trevor Wyman and Gabrielle Capewell.
