Dance

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Mary (McMillan) Prower, after graduating high school in Port Hope, continued her ballet training in Toronto at the Boris Volkoff School of Dance and joined the corps de ballet of the Volkoff Canadian Ballet, about 1946-1949. She returned to Port Hope and taught ballet from 1950 to c1961. In 1950, the Bluestone house was converted into a ballet school. Mary directed the Bluestone School of Ballet from 1951 to 1954 and later in 1954/55 opened and operated a studio, the Mary McMillan School of Ballet, located at 24 Smith Street.

Boris Vladimirovich Baskakoff 1900-1974 (here and here) was born and raised in Russia and trained at the state ballet school in Moscow.

After working with a range of dance companies in Asian-Pacific countries and then the United States, he made his way to Toronto in 1929. During his first year in Canada, he was the choreographer and ballet master at the Loew's Uptown Theatre. He soon opened his own ballet school and formed a performing group. He ran his school until his death in 1974. His performing group contributed significantly to making dance more professional in Canada and he is cited by many as the father of Canadian ballet. He used his mother's maiden name, Volkoff, as his stage name. Boris Volkoff collaborated with Mary McMillan at her school of ballet in Port Hope.

A dance class c1950
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Anne Helm took ballet with Mary McMillan. Born in 1938 in Toronto, the daughter of John Forrest Helm and Isobel Lightburne, she moved with her mother and brother to New York at the age of 14. She and brother Peter have appeared in movies and TV in the US. She's written and illustrated children's books under the name Annie Helm.
Now living in Pasadena, California.

Marilyn (Isaac) Chapman, 1945-1973, began her ballet under Mary McMillan in Port Hope. At the age of 15 she transferred to Peterborough to study further under Mrs Townsend, and began a modelling career. She was selected to continue training at the National Ballet of Canada under the guidance of Mrs Betty Oliphant.
Photo from Carol (Isaac) Stevenson dates from 1961.

A Mary McMillan dance class

Diana Brown & Pat Smith

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Jennifer's Jazz It Up recital dance pictures 2007 and 2009
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