Jeanne Renaud - Dance Collection Danse

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In the A 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.
Anne Hoban Wilde's collection included a couple of items from her work with German Expressionist choreographer Bianca Rogge including this image from a house programme for a Hart House Theatre concert in 1969. There is still much to be revealed about Bianca Rogge’s contribution to the early modern dance scene in Toronto. We know that she was a Lithuanian émigré and contributed to the organization of the Toronto modern dance festivals between 1960 and 1964. Among her students and dancers was modern dance choreographer Judy Jarvis. Anne’s association with the Canadian Dance World Studios led her to have a copy of one of the five issues of Canadian Dance World Magazine published by Norbert Vesak and Josephine Slater in 1962/63. This now means that DCD has a complete set of these rare hand-made magazines. Other editions are found in DCD’s Harry Locke Portfolio. In the Archives Continues In the last issue of DCD Magazine, we presented a series of telegrams from the collection. While harvesting the Gweneth Lloyd Portfolio to produce a new edition of “Pages in History” on DCD’s web site, two more telegrams of note emerged. 1953 APR 1 PM 7:17 – Famous British ballet dancer Adeline Genée sends her congratulations to the Winnipeg Ballet after it became the first ballet company in the British commonwealth to receive a royal title. 1954 JUN 8 AM 9 38 – Royal Winnipeg Ballet co-founder Betty Farrally sends an urgent telegram to her friend and co-founder Gweneth Lloyd about the fire that destroyed the company’s Winnipeg studio including costumes, sets, business records and Lloyd’s choreographic notes. At the time, Lloyd was teaching in Toronto. No. 62, Fall 2006 5
Page 1 and 2: Jeanne Renaud
Page 3: In the Archives Amy Bowring .......
Page 7 and 8: conductor Reginald Stewart. In the
Page 9 and 10: (L-R) George Moran, Clifford Toner,
Page 11 and 12: Elizabeth (Johnstone) Leese, from a
Page 13 and 14: Bill Coleman and Anne Plamondon The
Page 15 and 16: What a rehearsal! James was quick,
Page 17 and 18: Françoise Sullivan and Jeanne Rena
Page 19 and 20: This type of spontaneous collaborat
Page 21 and 22: (L-R) First two subjects from extre
Page 23 and 24: BY AMY BOWRING Moving Mountains A H
Page 25 and 26: In 1933 and 1934, Ferguson cotaught
Page 27 and 28: RWB dancer Marina Katronis at the B
Page 29 and 30: Choreographer David Earle wins Walt
Page 31 and 32: CANADIAN DANCE VISIONS AND STORIES

Jeanne Renaud - Dance Collection Danse

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