THE LEGACY LIBRARY

Port City Dance Academy is honoured to care for The Legacy Library. This special page acknowledges the people and events that have created the history of dance in Eastern Canada.  These are the very same people and events who shape the future of the art of dance in our region.  

This page is a work in progress.  Thank you for reading it.  We welcome your input.

DancEast and Harriet Gratien...​

by HARRIET GRATIEN

     Prior to our introduction of the Nutcracker ballet in 1993, DancEast was known primarily as a contemporary dance school. The DancEast Young Company, Canada's original Youth Dance Ensemble, was created based on contemporary choreography but by no means was I the first. I arrived in NB in 1974, there were many outstanding contemporary dance pioneers already in the trenches. Nina Leigh in Fredericton was working with the renowned Charles Flanders from TDT with her company the Maritime Contemporary Dancers. The Island had The Island Dance Ensemble, Jeannie Robinson was creating in Nova Scotia as was Sekai and Sarah Sheldon Mann. 
     In 1977, I hosted a workshop in Contact Improvization with the young Andrew Harwood.  In the 1980's, Trish Armstrong and I developed the Grossman dance technique for Danny Grossman, which was used throughout his stellar career in workshops around the world, and resides in video form in the Laban centre in London England. The DancEast Young Company became the venue for archiving the work of Danny Grossman and performed his work internationally, including Ecce Homo, Endangered Species, and Tryptch to name a few. Through his generosity and the expertise of Trish Armstrong, the Young Company learned and performed the work of Charles Weidman (Lynchtown) and Paul Taylor (Auriole). 
     In 1992, along with Mary Jane Warner I put together the first National Youth Dance Festival based on contempory dance at York University in Toronto. In 1993, the DancEast Young Company was the first Canadian dance company to perform at the International dance festival in Abano Terme, Italy.
      One of the first graduates of the Young Company, Monique Legere. went on to open with Meredith Monk at Carnegie Hall and then went on to co-chair the Canada Council dance section. Other amazing contributors to the contemporary dance scene in Canada from DancEast are the Mendoza twins who are still actively involved in the modern dance scene in Toronto. Before them was Natalie Morin, who toured internationally with Montreal's Jeanette Lorin. 
"... Appreciate the rich contemporary dance history that exists in the Altantic region... To not learn from the past traditions is counter-intuitive to an art form based in understanding history in order to break new ground."
                                                                                                                - Harriet Gratien
THE LEGACY LIBRARY
MORE TO COME, STAY  TUNED...
Barbara Dearborn and 
   The Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts


Barbara Dearborn’s first teaching job was in high school in Hampton (NB), and her first recital was held in a field with a goat! Now, almost five decades later, as the Chair of Dance at the Maritime Conservatory of Performing Arts (MCPA) in Halifax, Barbara continues to educate, create, and build our regional and national dance communties.

From 1962-1967 Barbara was a student of Sheila Ross in Saint John. From 1975-1978 Barbara taught with Sheila, and upon Sheila’s retirement Barbara took over the school in the Sisters of Charity building across from the Cathedral on Waterloo Street. Barbara then went to Fredericton for two years, operating her Mime and Dance Company, as well as a school.  She then taught in PEI for two years before moving to Nova Scotia in 1983.

Even from her post in Halifax, Barbara has continued to promote and collaborate with New Brunswick dance schools, dance students, and dance professionals. Port City Dance Academy is honoured to be affiliated with MCPA and to have Barbara Dearborn as a collaborator, advisor, and friend. 

The following is taken from a letter from the Executive of the Atlantic Branch of the Canadian Dance Teachers' Association, outlining Barbara’s contribution to dance in Canada…

     For over 20 years, while living in Halifax with her husband, Dr. William Vitale, and their six children, Barbara's contribution at the community, Atlantic Branch, and national levels has been extensive, meaningful, and enduring.
     Barbara is a graduate of the Canadian College of Dance, Montreal, and the Ryerson UniversityTheatre Department with a Major in Dance She has been a choreographer for the Montreal Childrens' Theatre, has performed in musicals, ballet and contemporary dance, film and television, and has been the co-artistic director and choreogrpher of the "Step of Two" mime and dance company.
     In 1983 she joined the faculty of the dance department of the Maritime Conservatory of Music, now known as the Maritime Conservatory of the Performing Arts (MCPA). This Halifax based, auspicious institution, with a history that spans over a century, is renowned for its graduates who have gone on to national and international acclaim .
     As the first Dean of the Faculty of Dance at the MCPA, she has trained candidates in both the teacher training and the professional performance programs in the first eastern Canadian post secondary school of dance which she founded at the MCPA in 1997. These graduates are being recognized locally and nationally for their excellence. In addition to this, she supervises the dance faculty at the MCPA that teach the many adult and child classes using the syllabi of the C.D.T.A., both Ballet and Stage, as well as the R.A.D and Cecchetti.syllabi as appropriate. Over the years, under her direction, the school has offered Halifax audiences numerous full length ballets, most recently, "Beatrix Potter, Two Tales of Dancing" and "Alice'", which have received enthusiastic and positive reviews by both audiences and the media and which have enjoyed a number of 'sold out' performances.
     Her local contribution to the cultural life of the city and the province do not end at the door of the Conservatory, as for over a decade she served on the Board of Dance Nova Scotia as a Director and advisor on numerous province wide dance events.
      Her contribution of time and expertise for the benefit of the C.D.T.A. has been remarkably generous and of inestimable value in terms of organizational and artistic validity, as well as financial gain. Most of her work, in co-operation with the National Board, has been ongoing for over 20 years, supporting the revitalization of the national organization as a whole, and the Ballet Division in particular.
     At the Branch level, Barbara has served as Branch President, Examiners' Committee Chair, and Ballet Chair. Over the decades she has served on the National Board of the C.D.T.A. as a representative of the Branch, as President of the National Board, Chair of the National Ballet Division and Ballet Consultant to the National Board. Her strong leadership as National Board President has resulted in many progressive steps towards creating a more creative and co-operative climate in which the business of the National Board is conducted.
     Her contribution to the National Ballet Division of the C.D.T.A. is astounding. She chaired the National Ballet Syllabus Committee for 15 years and saw all projects pertaining to establishing the printed revised syllabi, both amateur and professional, through to completion; including a cross reference Ballet Dictionary produced by the leading expert in this field, Rhonda Ryman. As well, over the span of 15 years, she guided to completion, all recorded musical accompaniment for syllabus work and produced the DVDs which allow teachers across the nation to become aware of the national standard for C.D.T.A. Ballet medal and graded syllabus work.
     We at the Atlantic Branch are confident that there is no other person in the history of the C.D.T.A .who has contributed more of their professionalism or of the one thing in life they can ever recover - time - to the C.D.T.A. as has Barbara Dearborn.
     Barbara has dedicated herself to the development of ballet teaching to be performed safely and with artistry; with a respectful regard to the past, while keeping an eye on the future; gleaning what science and other learned studies can teach us about the limits and the possibilities of the human body, mind, and perhaps even the spirit, when engaged in dance. Barbara Dearborn is truly a 'one of a kind' Canadian. The Executive and members of the Atlantic Branch are blessed, honored and thankful for having Barbara Dearborn as a colleague, mentor, and friend. She is more than deserving to be named an Honorary Member of the Canadian Dance Teachers' Association.