[1] Prior to the festivals, it was difficult for professional Canadian dancers to earn a living by practising their art in their own country.
In a statement to the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, the Canadian Ballet Festival Association identified the purpose of the festival as being to generate interest in dance in order "to prepare a professional field for Canadian dancers, thus enabling them to earn their livelihood by the practice of their own art in their own country.
[5] Kay Armstrong, with the British Columbia School of Dancing planned on performing which would have established her as the only Canadian choreographer with an original ballet.
[6] Canadian composers wrote most of the music for the Second Annual festival, held in Toronto in March 1949 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
[3] The British Columbia Ballet Company performed Leonard Gibson's Gershwin Preludes.