Olga Fricker

Olga Fricker (July 19, 1902 – November 20, 1997) was a Canadian-born dancer, educator and choreographer.^[1] She was born in Kitchener, Ontario and trained with Amy Sternberg in Toronto. Fricker moved to the United States during the 1920s. She worked with Victoria Cassan in Detroit and took over the School of Dance at the Civic Theatre there. She also established the Concert Group, which performed with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. She became a charter member of the Cecchetti Council of America and completed her teacher qualifying examinations in the Cechetti method with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. Fricker moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s and opened a school there. Her students included Jennet Zerbe, who became a soloist with American Ballet Theatre. Fricker also established a Cecchetti Summer School, a Cecchetti Ballet Company for students and the California Festival Ballet company. In 1971, with Lucille McClure and Shiela Darby, she founded Cecchetti USA.^[2]

Fricker was also the sister-in-law of author Hugh Lofting, author of the Doctor Dolittle books. She completed two of his books which were published posthumously based on material which had previously appeared in serial format: Dr. Dolittle and the Green Canary (1950) and Dr. Dolittle's Puddleby Adventures (1952).^[3] She also wrote the script for a play Doctor Dolittle based on Lofting's books.^[4]

The Fricker/Darby Scholarship, which supports the development of teachers of the Cecchetti method, was established in the name of Fricker and Shiela Darby.^[2]

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