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Dance Collection Danse Archives maintains its collection in portfolios. These carry the name of the donor. We are currently building a catalogue for each portfolio using the Canadian Integrated Dance Database.
If you require more information or would like to book an appointment to visit the archives, please contact Amy Bowring, Director of Research, at , 416-365-3233, 1-800-665-5320 (toll free in Canada only).
Several collections are stored in the DCD Electronic Archives.
The following inventory provides a brief overview of some of the individual portfolios in the Collection.
As well, the Archives contains thousands of items including photographs, periodicals, house programs, news clippings, books, theatrical props, drawings, paintings, films, videotapes, artifacts and memorabilia related to Canadian theatrical dance and approximately 700 hours of oral histories.
In most cases, copies of paper documents, photographs and oral histories can be obtained by users. There are nominal charges for these services. (Scroll through the page at your leisure or use the following alphabetical links to skip down to the section that contains the name you are searching for.) PC indicates photocopied items, O indicates originals and E indicates electronic archives.
Search the Collection List by using the alphabetical links below
Vancouver Ballet Society (VF)
Brochure; newsletters; correspondence
See also Vivian Ramsey
Vancouver – General (VF)
Newspaper clippings 1932 & 1939; performance advertisement c. 1930s; American Ballet Caravan handbill 1939; dance studio listings and ads 1930 & 1936; data from city directories 1920-1930 (excluding 1927 & 1928); dancing academies listed in “Wrigley’s BC Directory”; Friends of Vancouver City Archives newsletter 2000; magazine article
Vancouver Moving Theatre (VF)
Performing arts company founded by Savannah Walling and Terry Hunter (1983)
Press kit; correspondence; Vancouver-based newsletter “In the Heart of the City: The Downtown Eastside Community Play”
Van Hamel, Martine (VF)
Born: 1945
Ballerina; choreographer; dancer with National Ballet of Canada and American Ballet Theatre
Ticket stub; program; magazine article; newspaper clippings (O); cookies
Vaze, Bageshree (VF)
Khatak dancer; classical Indian singer
Photographs
DCD CATALOGUE LINKS
Canadian Dance: Visions and Stories: “The Rebel Goddess: An Investigation of the Shift in Narrative in Indian Classical Dance” by Sarala Dandekar
Verge, Karen (VF)
Dancer; researcher
Correspondence; book chapter “Indian Reflections” by Gertrude Hanova; draft manuscript “A Biography of Magda and Gertrude Hanova” by Karen Verge
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issue 29
Vesak, Norbert (VF, EA)
Born: October 22, 1936, Port Moody, British Columbia; Died: October 1990, Charlotte, North Carolina
Choreographer; designer; artistic director; dancer; teacher
Scrapbook (E)
DCD CATALOGUE LINKS
ETDC/EDTC: “Norbert Vesak” by Max Wyman
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issue 41
Visini, Kaye (Bowness) (VF)
Teacher; member of Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing; co-founder CDTA
Correspondence; biographical notes; magazine article 1953
Viscount, Billy Martin (VF)
Teacher; danced with Royal Winnipeg Ballet; choreographer; ballet master; studied with Arnold Spohr at Royal Winnipeg Ballet School
CV; photograph (PC)
Visus Foundation
Video organization founded by Lawrence Adams, Miriam Adams and Terry McGlade (1974)
Catalogue 1975; videotapes; letters patent; by-laws
Vladimiroff, Dimitri (VF)
Born: 1896, Russia; Died: 1977, England
Family background and crests (in Russian); biographical notes
See also Rosalind Dilworth, Edna Liggitt
DCD CATALOGUE LINKS
Estivale 2000: Canadian Dancing Bodies Then and Now/Les corps dansants d’hier à aujourd’hui au Canada: “The Russian Influence on Dance in Toronto” by Mary Jane Warner
Toronto Dance Teachers, 1825-1925 by Mary Jane Warner
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issues 21, 22, 40
Volkoff, Boris (AR)
Born: April 24, 1900, Schepotievo, Russia; Died: March 11, 1974, Toronto, Ontario
Teacher; choreographer; artistic director; dancer; artistic director/founder of Volkoff Canadian Ballet; often referred to as the “Father” of Canadian ballet
Hand-written draft of will; correspondence with Canada’s National Ballet School regarding Volkoff Estate and donation to National Ballet School for scholarship fund; photographs (O&PC); newspaper clippings (PC); house programs; brochures; notes (PC); inventory list for Volkoff Collection at Toronto Reference Library; regarding Red Ear of Corn: print articles regarding Encore! Encore! Reconstruction; script for the ballet; copy of the legend; score Act I (PC); transcript for live CBC broadcast interview with Volkoff and Herbert Whittaker; full page ad from La Presse 1932; correspondence with composer John Weinzweig; newspaper clippings c. 1949; house programs 1949-1950 (O&PC); Canadian Ballet Festival souvenir program 1949 (PC); notation score; videotape; rehearsal photographs
See also Janet Baldwin, Jim Bolsby, ENCORE! ENCORE! Reconstruction, Fraser MacDonald
DCD CATALOGUE LINKS
ETDC/EDTC: “Boris Volkoff” by Clifford Collier
Canadian Dance: Visions and Stories: “Boris Volkoff: Father of Canadian Ballet” by Clifford Collier
Estivale 2000: Canadian Dancing Bodies Then and Now/Les corps dansants d’hier à aujourd’hui au Canada: “The Russian Influence on Dance in Toronto” by Mary Jane Warner
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issues 2, 6, 7, 45, 75, 62
Vorps, Diana Jablokova (Finding Aid: VF; OS)
Born: 1920, Riga, Latvia; Died: 1987
Dancer; teacher; founder Canadian Junior Ballet, Toronto Regional Ballet; Canadian Dance Teachers’ Association (CDTA) president
Photographs; CDTA Membership list c. 1980; CDTA constitution; correspondence; business records; house programs; souvenir programs; newspaper clippings; Vorps Reunion booklet August 24, 2008
Von Gencsy, Eva (VF)
Born: March 11, 1924, Csongrad, Hungary
Dancer; choreographer; teacher; danced with Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Les Ballets Chiriaeff and Les Grands Ballets Canadiens; co-founder of Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal
CV c. 1963; poster for film Eva von Gencsy; photographs (E)
DCD CATALOGUE LINKS
ETDC/EDTC: “Eva von Gencsy” by Linde Howe-Beck
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issue 56
Von Tiedemann, Cylla (VF)
Dance photographer
Photographs used for ETDC/EDTC
See also ENCORE! ENCORE! Reconstruction
Voyer, Simonne (VF)
Born: October 11, 1913, Montreal, Quebec
Dancer; studied with Hanya Holm; scholar; author of La Danse traditionnelle dans l’est du Canada
Correspondence; house programs for dance demonstrations at Columbia University 1949 (PC) and at Universidad Autonoma de Mexico 1950 (PC); dance studio membership card (New Group Studio Inc., NY)
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issue 38
Wace, Lionel (VF)
Connected to Canadian School of Ballet in Kelowna, British Columbia
Correspondence regarding Canadian School of Ballet, Gweneth Lloyd and Betty Farrally
Wagner, Anton (VF)
Theatre historian; Voaden scholar
Slides from Herman Voaden productions; posters and house programs for Viennese Dancers 1950
Wait, Elena (VF)
Inventory list of donated books 1994; script “Kinephonia”; information regarding Elsa Galafrès
Wales, Gordon (VF, AR)
Born: Vancouver, British Columbia
Dancer with Theatre Under the Stars, Winnipeg Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet
Scrapbooks; oral history; newspaper clippings 1948-1954 (O&PC); house programs and photographs (PC) regarding Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Theatre Under the Stars; Chorus Equity Association contract; house programs including for BC School of Dancing: Stars of ’48, Yvonne Firkins recital 1950, Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo 1938, Lynn Seymour presented by Vancouver Ballet Society, Mara McBirney Dance Productions c1950s, Sadler’s Wells Ballet 1953; souvenir program for Fifth Canadian Ballet Festival 1953 (O); house program, flyer, newspaper clippings regarding Fourth Canadian Ballet Festival; plane ticket to Vancouver and various train ticket stubs; membership cards for Theatre Under the Stars 1950, Canadian Ballet Festival 1952, Chorus Equity Association 1952; Celebrity News magazine March, October, November 1952 (O); Western Tour Schedule c. 1954; contracts with Royal Winnipeg Ballet (1953) and Chorus Equity Association (1954)
Walker, David (VF)
Born: October 25, 1916; Died: May 1, 1994
Danced with National Ballet of Canada; assistant to four National Ballet of Canada directors
Obituaries; photograph (O); correspondence
Walker, Doreen and John (VF)
John Walker: Born: 1932, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Doreen Walker: Born: March 3, 1923
Founders of Niagara Youth Studio (1969)
CVs for John and Doreen; handbills; business cards; house programs; studio information and mandate; scripts with notes; tickets; set designs (O); correspondence
Warne, Rita (MacDonald) (VF)
Born: October 17, 1906, Southampton, England; Died: October 24, 2000, Toronto, Ontario
Dancer; teacher; studied with and principal dancer for Volkoff Canadian Ballet; founder of Toronto Ballet School (1946-1960s) and The Wilderness Ballet Camp (1950)
Obituary (O&PC)
Warren, Vincent (VF)
Born: August 31, 1938
Dancer; teacher; dance historian; danced with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens; curator of La Bibliothèque de la danse de l’école supérieure de ballet contemporaine de Montréal
Photographs (laser copy); souvenir programs for Les Grands Ballets Canadiens
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issues 18, 30 (article by Vincent Warren), 33, 57 (article by Vincent Warren), 58
Weidman, Charles (VF)
Born: 1901, Lincoln, Nebraska; Died: 1975, New York
Dancer; choreographer; teacher; artistic director; studied at Denishawn school; co-founder of Humphrey-Weidman Dance Company and technique; Canadian Saida Gerrard performed with his company in 1930s and 1940s
Biographical notes from interview with Saida Gerrard
Weir Robbins, Alice (VF)
Born: November 19, 1903, Rat Portage (Kenora), Ontario; Died: April 4, 2003, St. Norbert (Winnipeg), Manitoba
Dancer; teacher
Obituary (O&PC)
Welch, Lillian (VF: 009.2008-0-1)
Born: England
Studied Greek Dancing with Gweneth Lloyd in England and became a physical education teacher at Rupert’s Land College, Winnipeg c. 1928-1930s
Donated by Sandy Anderton, Welch’s daughter
Recital programs for concerts presented by Lillian Welch in Winnipeg, Manitoba, 1934 & 1935 (O); photographs of dancers (possibly at Liverpool Physical Training College or Winnipeg) late 1920s, Welch, students of Rupert’s Land College and their recitals c. 1930s (PC); personal correspondence between DCD and Balmoral Hall School (formerly Rupert’s Land College) Archives; Balmoral Hall archives newsletters with mention of Farrally and Lloyd & photo of Les Sylphides mounted by Betty Farrally on Rupert’s Land College’s senior class; Rupert’s Land College newsletters 1929-1930 with articles written by Welch including photographs of physical training classes; correspondence containing biographical notes regarding Welch’s early life in Liverpool before moving to Winnipeg c. 1927; notes regarding electronic file
Weller, David (VF)
Born: Halifax, Nova Scotia
Dancer with Regina Modern Dance Works and Halifax Dance Co-op
Photo negatives; contact sheets; posters
See also Regina Modern Dance Works
Westlake, Marilyn (VF)
Photographer
Photographs and contact sheets of Judy Jarvis c. 1981; contact sheets for Dance in Canada 1984
Westlake, Shirley (Jones) (VF)
Dancer 1920s
Photographs (PC)
Weyms, Elizabeth “Beth” (AR)
Born: Norwich, Ontario
Dancer 1920s: vaudeville, Leon Leonidoff, Savoy touring company, The Doris Humphrey Dancers; teacher in Toronto
Newspaper clippings; tickets; correspondence; photographs; autograph book 1925-1931; house programs for deBasil’s Ballets Russes, Vaughan Glaser, Amy Sternberg, Arts and Letters Club, David Lichine Ballet Co., Women’s League of Health and Beauty 1936, Weyms’s school recitals; Royal Academy of Dancing syllabus notes; Sadler’s Wells Ballet teacher training brochure; music scores; Young Dancer magazines 1930s; Vaughan Glaser Players Bulletin 1923-1927
Wherry, Sheila (VF)
Visual artist and designer; designed mask for Boris Volkoff’s Mala (1936)
Audiotape; biographical notes; Mala mask
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issue 45 (colour photo of mask)
Whittaker, Herbert (VF)
Born: 1910, Montreal, Quebec; Died: September 9, 2006, Toronto, Ontario
Writer; critic; Critic Emeritus of the Globe and Mail
Correspondence re: role and nature of the critic; newspaper clippings of Whittaker articles from “Showbusiness” column 1950s (PC); house program and poster for Herbert a biographical play put on at Hart House 2000; slide; house program from West Hill High School 1937 (Whittaker is listed as costume and set designer)
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issue 17
Wickson, Mildred (VF)
Born: 1907, Milton, Ontario; Died: November 7, 1984, Aurora, Ontario
Dancer; teacher; choreographer; danced with Boris Volkoff; performed at 1936 Berlin Olympics; founding member of Canadian Dance Teachers’ Association; founded Mildred Wickson Studio
Correspondence from sister Ethelwyn with brief history; house program for Mildred Wickson Studio of Dancing recital June 14, 1951 (PC)
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issue 1
Wigman, Mary (VF)
Born: November 13, 1886, Hanover, Germany; Died: September 18, 1973, West Berlin, West Germany
German Expressionist dance artist
Souvenir program
See also Judy Jarvis, Sarah Nixon Gasyna, Alison Sutcliffe
Wilder, Mary (Bosley) (Finding Aid for electronic archives: VF; AR)
Dancer for Boris Volkoff; travelled to 1936 Berlin Olympics with Volkoff Canadian Ballet
Souvenirs from 1936 Berlin Olympics: pin, scarf, book about the history of Berlin (in German), Wir tanzen (trans. ‘We Dance’) souvenir brochure, restaurant menu; scrapbook of Berlin Olympics containing newspaper clippings, programs, photographs, Olympics photo I.D.card, brochures for Olympics, magazine clippings of Berlin tourist sites; menu and program from performance on the Empress cruise ship; musical score; house programs for Volkoff performance at Berlin Olympics, symphony concerts at Berlin Olympics (July 18 & 25, 1936), Kurt Jooss European Ballet at Massey Hall November 1937, Volkoff performance at University of Toronto Arena October 24, 1940; scrapbook regarding Volkoff Canadian Ballet; photo album includes photographs of Berlin Olympics and Jean Macpherson’s students (E); oral history
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issues 2, 9, 40, 45, 62
Wildman, Julia (VF)
Dancer; actor
Magazine articles c. 1965; workshop program; newspaper clippings c. 1965; photograph of Boris Volkoff (O)
Williamson, Mary (VF: 196.2010-0-1, AR:196.2010-C1-1)
Librarian
Newspaper clippings regarding dancer Cissy Fitzgerald 1897 (PC); articles; chapter excerpt c. 1945; booklet “Ballroom Companion and Guide to Dancing” 1871 (PC); book Book of the Victorian Ball 1898; book Bibliographie de la Danse Théâtrale au Canada by Pierre Guillmette c. 1970; Maud Allan postcards; sheet music cover for The Opera Polka as danced by Carlotta Grisi and Jules Perrot, published by Nordheimer c. 1844; handwritten notes by Williamson describing the sheet music cover
Windreich, Leland (VF)
Writer; librarian
Photographs of Leland Windreich, Ian Gibson, Karen Conrad, June Roper, Jean Hunt, Rosemary Deveson, Patricia Meyers, Freddie Franklin, Tamara Toumanova, Nora Kaye, Leonide Massine, André Eglevsky, Mary Ellen Moylan, Alicia Alonso, Alicia Markova, Tatiana Riabouchinska, Mia Slavenska, Irina Baronova, Lois Smith and David Adams, among others; newspaper clippings; reviews; manuscript “June Roper 1906-1991: A Biography”; correspondence with Agnes de Mille, Patricia Neary, among others; articles by Windreich; reviews; resume and short biography; promotional material for dance conferences; Vancouver Opera House Empress Theatre Serge de Diaghileff's Ballets Russes house program; telegrams (PC); Windreich's research notes; George Balanchine's last will and testament (PC); magazines; conference proceedings; scrapbook
DCD CATALOGUE LINKS
June Roper: Ballet Starmaker by Leland Windreich
Dance Encounters by Leland Windreich
Dancing for de Basil Letters to her Parents from Rosemary Deveson, 1938-1940 compiled and edited by Leland Windreich
DCD MAGAZINE LINKS
Issues 17, 39, 43, 47, 48, 55, 66 (articles by Leland Windreich)
Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers (VF)
Winnipeg-based modern dance company founded by Rachel Browne (1964)
40th Anniversary images with photo descriptions; correspondence
Winnipeg Kiddies (VF)
Children’s performing theatre group founded by businessman A.H. Smith (1915-1922)
Biographical notes; newspaper clippings c. 1956; correspondence; budget for “Dancing Through Time” a play about the theatre group; Winnipeg research – list of names and potential contacts
Wootten, Jean (VF: 194.2010-0-1, 194.2010-0-2)
Born: April 1929, London, England; Died: April 1996, Victoria, British Columbia
Mother of dancer/teacher/choreographer Anne Wootten and dancer/teacher Claire Wootten
Souvenir programs for Royal Winnipeg Ballet 1973/74, 1977/78, 1980/81, 1981/82, National Ballet of Canada 1958/59, Anne of Green Gables at Charlottetown Festival 1976; house programs for Royal Winnipeg Ballet 1974, 1976, 1978, 1981; flyer announcing Royal Winnipeg Ballet's The Nutcracker; house program for Ballets de Marseille Roland Petit, Edmonton 1975 (dancers include Karen Kain and Serge Bennathan); house and souvenir programs for Bolshoi Ballet 1974; house programs for Rainbow Stage productions of Peter Pan 1971, Irene 1977, Fiddler on the Roof 1977, Hello Dolly 1978; souvenir programs for Stratford Festival productions of The Mikado 1984, Iolanthe 1984, The Gondoliers 1984; Stratford Festival magazine on The Pirates of Penzance (1985)
Zaré, Sade (VF)
Born: 1911, Baku, Azerbaijan; Died: 1980, San Diego, California
Dancer; teacher
Correspondence; photographs/postcards
Zinck, Ione (VF)
Born: 1916, Russia
Teacher in Winnipeg c. 1916; opened studio in Vancouver 1920s
Correspondence with biographical history; text (via email) from school advertisement c. 1920
See also Fleurette McCuaig
Zissoff, Karen (VF)
Born: Canada
Dancer with Canadian Junior Ballet 1969-1971
CV; programs; poster; newsletters
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