A graduate of Bennington College, Patricia Beatty studied at the Graham School, and performed with Pearl Lang’s company and Sophie Maslow. She returned to Toronto, in 1967 and started the New Dance Group of Canada.

Beatty’s commanding, womanly presence was an integral part of early TDT’s early impact. A pioneering Canadian teacher, she continued to teach at the School of TDT until 1999. Beatty is the author of Form without Formula, an elegant choreographic guide; it is one facet of her mission to bring rigorous study of composition to all modern dance training, as part of an overall regard for the art’s legacy, context and evolution.

Her own choreography has been marked by meticulous attention to detail. First Music (1969), set to Charles Ives’ enigmatic The Unanswered Question, was presented at the Joyce Theatre, New York, in November 1991, while Beatty’s Against Sleep (1968) was restaged in November, 1998, for TDT’s thirtieth anniversary performances.

Collaborations with composers and visual artists have been important to her; Painters and the Dance (1983) brought together artists Graham Coughtry, Gordon Raynor and Aiko Suzuki. Seastill (1979) and Skyling (1980) initiated a phase of increasing concern with “the deep feminine energies emerging at the spiritual forefront of our age.” Gaia (1990), Mandala (1992) and two editions of Dancing the Goddess (1993, 1995) signify her commitment to animating spiritual dimensions. In the fall of 2004, in recognition of her ongoing artistic contributions and advocacy for dance artists at all phases of life, she was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada.