Jeanne Renaud - Dance Collection Danse

In
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4 Dance Collection Danse
rchives
BY AMY BOWRING
SPANNING GENERATIONS:
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER PERFORMERS
It’s not unusual for the artistic gene to be passed from one
generation to the next. A recent visit to Dance Collection
Danse by Sheila (Milsom) Wilde and Anne (Hoban) Wilde
revealed just that. What started as a simple research
request grew into a new electronic portfolio at DCD.
As DCD’s Research Coordinator, one of my jobs is to
fulfill requests for archival materials, which come to us
from all over Canada and from individuals in the United
States, Britain and Europe. When people can’t visit DCD in
person, we duplicate materials and send them by mail or
over the Internet. While most requests are from scholars,
students, writers and the media, there are also enquiries
from people who are trying to learn more about their
ancestors. Having read about Alison Sutcliffe in a previous
issue of the DCD Magazine, dancer and teacher Anne Wilde
called to see if we had any house programmes from the
1930s for Dorothy Goulding’s Toronto Children Players.
Sutcliffe had done the choreography for a number of
Goulding’s productions and her archives contains house
programmes for these shows. Anne Wilde’s mother, Sheila
Milsom, performed leading roles in a number of
Goulding’s productions; however, Milsom’s mother was
strict and, not wanting her daughter to become vain, never
allowed her to look at the programmes or photographs
from these performances.
Anne and Sheila came to DCD and revisited their
pasts. Sheila was able to conjure some memories after seeing
her name listed in performances of Alice Johnstone
Walker’s “The Thursday” A Brittany Legend (1931), Frances
Helen Harris’ Franchette From France (1933), M. Jagendorf’s
The Gnomes’ Workshop – Mortals Repaired (1935), and
William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer-Night’s Dream (1938).
During their visit, we learned that while Sheila had not
made performing a career, daughter Anne had. Anne
donated items from her dance career and also loaned materials
that she wasn’t ready to part with. DCD scanned the
items and they now make up the Anne Hoban Wilde
Electronic Archives.
Performing in the 1960s and 1970s, Anne’s career has
connected her to a variety of personalities in Canadian
dance history including Norbert Vesak, Josephine Slater,
Ellen Andrews and the Canadian Dance World Studios in
New Westminster, B.C.; Gweneth Lloyd, Betty Farrally and
the Banff Festival Touring Company; Ottawa’s Nesta
Toumine and Ballet Imperial of Canada; the Toronto com-
House programme from the Toronto Children Players’ 1933 production of
Frances Helen Harris’ Franchette from France. Staged at Toronto’s Hart
House Theatre, the play featured Sheila Milsom as “Mademoiselle Franchette,
a French doll”. Sheila’s brother, John, was in charge of properties.
panies of Bianca Rogge and Marijan Bayer; and Montreal’s
Michel Cartier and Les Feux-Follets.
Anne has since transitioned into a career in education
and currently teaches for the York Region District School
Board where she is a teacher librarian and drama/dance
teacher. She produces, directs and choreographs various
theatre works with students from Kindergarten to Grade 8,
is involved in a Hand Drumming Club, and works collaboratively
with staff members on cross-grade integrated arts
projects. She co-wrote the Drama Dance Curriculum
Document for the school board and has given numerous
workshops in dance, drama and integrated arts to educators
throughout the province. She has also maintained her
interest in performing as a member of the On Stage
Uxbridge Committee through which she has performed
as a singer, actor and dancer.