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Antony Tudor Ballet Trust
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Trustee - Sally Brayley Bliss
Born in London, England, to Canadian parents, Bliss grew up in Canada and danced with the National
Ballet of Canada from 1955 until moving to New York in 1962. She performed as a principal dancer with the Metropolitan
Opera and New York City Opera and as a guest artist with American Ballet Theatre and the Joffrey Ballet. In 1969,
she co-founded and subsequently served until 1986 as artistic director of The Joffrey II Dancers. Since 1969, she
has also been a master teacher, guest lecturer, and adjudicator of dance festivals. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan
appointed her for a six-year term to the National Council on the Arts.
Upon Antony Tudor’s death in 1987, Bliss was named Trustee of the Antony Tudor Ballet Trust, created to license
the rights to his dances and to stage them in a manner that preserves their style and integrity. Under her leadership,
the Tudor Trust has become known throughout the international dance community for its distinctive generosity in
enabling not only large-scale, world-renowned ballet companies but smaller, regional companies and university dance
programs to learn and perform Tudor’s works.
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Sally Brayley Bliss became executive director emeritus of Dance St. Louis on June 30, 2006, after
11 years as executive director. She shaped Dance St. Louis’ destiny for longer than any other executive director
since the not-for-profit dance presenter was founded in 1966. Among her accomplishments since she became executive
director in May 1995 were widely expanding
Dance St. Louis’ education and outreach programs, and establishing the organization’ s first in depth fundraising
programs including an endowment, as well as maintaining an unbroken tradition of bringing extraordinary dance to
St. Louis audiences.
In recognition for her contribution to her profession, the Canadian Women’s Club of New York City honored her as
Woman of the Year in 1988. In May 1992 Bliss was honored by The Dance Notation Bureau of New York as the recipient
of the Bureau’s Tenth Annual Service Award. Bliss has served extensively on many Boards of Directors, including:
The Board of the Joffrey Ballet; Chairman of the Board of Visitors of the North Carolina School of the Arts; Board
of Trustees of New England College, Henniker, New Hampshire; Advisory Board of the Kathryn and Gilbert Miller Health
Institute for Performing Artists; and The Paul Taylor Dance Company, among others. Sally Bliss also served as a
member of the University of St. Louis Business School’s Executive Leadership Council.
Bliss was married to the late Anthony Bliss, former General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera and has two grown
sons, Mark and Timothy and two granddaughters McKenna and Parker. She also has six stepchildren, seven step-grandchildren
and one great grandchild. She currently lives in St. Louis, with her husband Jim Connett, where she avidly supports
her beloved New York Rangers, St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Rams.
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