Dance Studios of Thunder Bay

The Dance Studios of Thunder Bay have been run by pioneering dance teachers from both Port Arthur and Fort William, teaching in several styles, including Ukrainian and Finnish folk dance.

The First Teacher

The first serious ballet teacher in the Lakehead was Grace Ensworth.

Turn-of-the-century Port Arthur was a small, ethnically diverse town focussed on the primary resource-based industries of forestry and mining, with secondary industries in manufacturing. The local diversity, including immigrants from Ukraine, Finland, and Denmark, meant that a variety of cultural dance forms was part of the community, though training in ballet was not available. It was not until World War I that classical ballet classes were offered by Grace Ensworth, a ballet teacher who moved from England to the Lakehead.

— Sylvia Horn: Inspiring Generations by Jane Nicholas

Grace Dorothy Ensworth and Charles Joseph Boyle Married on Wednesday, July 6, 1927 in Thunder Bay, Ontario. [1]

Students of Grace Ensworth:

• Maxine Lecky [2] taught with Grace and then had her own studio until she moved to Edmonton with her husband in 1956. Lecky's Dance Studio in Edmonton has been running for at least 61 years up to 2020 now. [3]. "Maxine McKinnon was born in the city of Port Arthur (now called Thunder Bay), Ontario in July of 1923. At an early age she began studies in ballet, tap, highland dancing and figure skating. She became a very accomplished dancer with a great enthusiasm for her craft. In 1947 Maxine married Harry Lecky. In the mid 1950’s Maxing began teaching part time with her old instructor, Grace Ensworth and in 1954 she started her own studio! She rented the Finnish Hall in Port Arthur and began teaching classes on Saturdays. By the second year of operation she had over fifty students. In 1956, her husband Harry, a salesman for the Carnation Milk Company, was promoted to Sales Manager and was offered a transfer to Edmonton, Alberta. They were unhappy to close down their new studio and also sad to move away from their family and friends."
• Cecilia Parker was a Hollywood actress with over 60 film credits. "Born in Fort William in 1914, Cecilia Parker showed early promise as a “star pupil” of dance instructor Grace Ensworth. Newspapers called her the “child darling of Fort William entertainment.”" [4]
• Sylvia Horn

Grace ran the Chapples Santa Claus show in 1943. Sylvia ran it from 1959 to 1971. Sponsored by Chapples Department Store (1915 - 1981)

"Chapples founded in 1915 as a family dry goods and ladies fashion store soon expanded to becoming Fort William's(now Thunder Bay) premier department store with branches throughout NW Ontario communities. They later built the "home store" shown above. Sadly Chapples closed for business in 1981 after an incredible run of business for almost 70 years." [5] [6]

SOURCES: (The Port Arthur Daily News and Port Arthur News-Chronicle 1915 - 1942)

• Ensworth, Grace M 6 Jul 1927 6 Jul 1927 p.3 To Chas. Boyle
• Ensworth, Grace NEWS n/a 4 Apr 1929 p.2 Revue Review
• Ensworth, Grace NEWS n/a 30 Mar 1929 p.2 pic New 1929 revue
• Ensworth, Grace NEWS n/a 12 Sep 1928 p.5 Back-dance course in NY
• Ensworth, Grace PIC n/a 9 Apr 1928 p.2 Annual revue
• Ensworth, Grace PIC n/a 9 Apr 1927 p.3 To give concert
• Parker, Cecilia NEWS n/a 8 Sep 1937 p.6 Entertains Grace Ensworth

• Horn, Sylvia BIO n/a 31 May 1948 p.8 Dance recital
• Horn, Sylvia BIO n/a 1 Jun 1948 p.5 Packed house for recital
• Horn, Sylvia BIO 28 May 1949 30 May 1949 p.2 Annual recital
• Horn, Sylvia PIC n/a 31 May 1949 p.11 Dance recital
• Horn, Sylvia BIO n/a 29 May 1950 p.5 Show review
• Horne, Sylvia BIO n/a 15 Jan 1943 p.5 Dance troupe a hit

Gladys also taught Fay Gleeson!

(https://cloud.3dissue.com/38441/39018/49079/May2016/)

http://news.ourontario.ca/2181065/data?n=24

Gladys Hartley still kicking at 81[ Where are They Now? ] Chronicle-Journal, 17 Dec 2002, A2 Gladys Hartley ; gymnastics ; dance

Gladys M. Hartley (nee Crow) (1920 - 2009) born in Winnipeg, married Vic Hartley, moved to Fort William in 1941 and then moved to Vancouver in 1952 (both times following Vic's moves with Dun and Bradstreet). [7]

ice skating at the Fort William Skating Club in the 1940's. From 1953 into the 1980's, her dance classes in North Vancouver prepared hundreds more children in ballet, tap and acrobatics. "Mrs. Flicka"

Born in Sturgeon in 1910, and Winnipeg in 1920, Victor Hartley and Gladys Crow met at the Winnipeg Y Tumbling and Hand Balancing classes in the late 1930's. At the time, Gladys was in training with the Winnipeg Ballet School, but Vic and Gladys were quick to realize their winning performance combination as adagio performers. Turning to even more challenge, they joined the Winnipeg Roller Skating Club, and their artistry, aerial stunts and balletic strength soon made them very popular entertainers in the Winnipeg area. In 1941 they married and followed Vic's work with Dun and Bradstreet to Fort William. There was no roller rink, so another new sport entered their lives - figure skating at the Thunder Bay Figure Skating Club (see their photo archives). Vic and Gladys married in 1941, kept refining their adagio act, and soon were simply called "The Hartley's." In Fort William, Gladys and Vic teamed up with Bob Cotton of Vickers Heights, and did some amazing performances as "The Acrobatic Trio." The photo incclosed is but one of many showing the risky and beautiful aerial throws of the three athletes. Acrosport did not exist back then, so while never entering competition, the pictoral records of their skills shows extremely skilled pioneer advancements in performance, likely based on their years of passion and training. In 1952, Vic was promoted again and this time to Vancouver. Joning the Vancouver Figure Skating Club, they thrilled crowds alongside Sonia Henie and Dick Button iin Stars on Ice in 1953, who were single skaters and not doing aerial lifts of the pair skaters called "The Hartleys." The archives of the Winnipeg YMCA, the Thunder Bay Llibrary, the Thunder Bay Figure Skating Club, and the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame have obtained archival materials on the legacy that began in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. The B.C. Obituary in the Vancouver Sun also carries information on Gladys Hartley. The Hartleys are buried in Capilano Cemetary in West Vancouver.

[8]

• Berringer, Betty BIO n/a 1 Jun 1946 p.7 Gladys M. Hartley dance recital
• Bloom, Marlene BIO n/a 1 Jun 1946 p.7 Gladys M. Hartley dance recital (also with Sylvia Horn)
• Bloom, Marjorie PIC n/a 28 Jan 1946 p.3 Annual Ice Carnival
• Bloom, Marlene BIO n/a 1 Jun 1946 p.7 Gladys M. Hartley dance recital
• Bloom, Marlene PIC n/a 20 Feb 1950 p.3 Oliver Road Carnival
• Bloom, Marlene PIC 27 May 1950 26 May 1950 p.8 In Sylvia Horn dance show

• Donati, Peter (s/o Hilda) PIC n/a 8 Jun 1948 p.2 To dance school in New York

• Gibb, Eleanor BIO n/a 1 Jun 1946 p.7 Gladys M. Hartley dance recital

84 people in the show!!!

Labbe, Cecile BIO 31 Jan 1943 1 Feb 1943 p.3 Russia fundraising concert Labbe, Cecile BIO n/a 1 Jun 1946 p.7 Gladys M. Hartley dance recital L'Abbe, Cecile PIC n/a 22 Feb 1947 p.5 Ballet dancer at PACI show L'Abbe, Cecile PIC n/a 25 Feb 1948 p.11 In PACI variety show Slip Ahoy L'Abbe, Cecile PIC 6 Sep 1948 7 Sep 1948 p.10 Labor Day sports meet

The Port Arthur News-Chronicle Chapples Santa Claus show NEWS 4 Dec 1943 6 Dec 1943 p.5 At Orpheum/Grace Ensworth [9]

Chapples (the original anchor tenant of the doomed Victoriaville Mall project, which cut off Victoria avenue and killed Chapples Department Store unintentionally), was founded by Clement Edward Chapple [10]

He may also have put his daughters or grandaughters in the show:

• Chapple, Barbara PIC 27 May 1950 26 May 1950 p.8 In Sylvia Horn dance show
• Chapple, Cynthia PIC 27 May 1950 26 May 1950 p.8 In Sylvia Horn dance show

List of Studios

Name	Start	End	Founder(s)	Address	Link(s)	Notes
?	Sometime in World War I	1950s?	Grace Ensworth	?		"training in ballet was not available... until World War I [when] classical ballet classes were offered by Grace Ensworth, a ballet teacher who moved from England to the Lakehead." She taught Sylvia Horn.
?	1954	1959	Maxine Lecky (nee McKinnon)	Port Arthur		Maxine McKinnon (after 1947, Lecky) from 1950s, and from 1954 to 1959 had her own studio at the Finnish Hall, teaching classes on Saturdays. She moved to Edmonton in 1959 and her studio is still running as of 2020.
?	1941	1952	Grace M. Hartley	Fort William	[11]	Passed her studio to [[AGladys M. Hartley (nee Crow) (1920 - 2009) born in Winnipeg, married Vic Hartley, moved to Fort William in 1941 and then moved to Vancouver in 1952. Ice skating at the Fort William Skating Club in the 1940's. From 1953 into the 1980's, her dance classes in North Vancouver prepared hundreds more children in ballet, tap and acrobatics. "Mrs. Flicka"
Dance Centre of Northwestern Ontario	~1935	~2001	Amelia Jackson			Run by Leslie and/or Gina Almgren in the 1990s after Amelia died in 1989
Sylvia Horn School of Dancing	Before 1958	Before 2005	Sylvia Horn	Fort William and Port Arthur	[12]	(taught Laura Pascolo-McRury and Lisa Fedoruk and others)
Betty Goodings Ballet	?	On or before 1975	Betty Goodings	?		Betty moved to BC in about 1975 [2]
?	Before 1957	After 1958	Sandra Purdy		4 articles in Port-Arthur News-Chronicle from 1957-58
?	Before 1958	After 1958	Lillian McGuire (1919 - 2008)		Article in Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 24 June 1958 page 3. [13]
?	1954	1954	Walter Marks		Article in Port Arthur News-Chronicle, 15 February 1954, page 3	Walter Marks "manager of dance studio"
Dolores Niskanen School of Dance	1950s	mid-2000s	Dolores Niskanen
Markall's School of Dance	?	2000	Edith Markall			Later owned by her son and granddaughter Wendy Homquist, until 2000 when Wendy started Dance Dynamics
?	1952	1959	Rhodella Achtenberg (1936 - 2018)		[14]	Rhodella was a student at Sylvia Horn's dance school, entertaining locally in the 1950s as a dancer and acrobat, and in 1952 inheriting a school from Gladys M. Hartley, running her own dance school. Many women still share fond memories of dancing with Rhodella or being a pupil. When she married and moved to Toronto, she left the school in the hands of her talented sister-in-law Fay Gleeson (Steadwell). Epoynm of a memorial scholarship at Lakehead Festival of Music and the Arts.
Fay Gleeson Dance Centre	1941 (or as the website says, 1959)	present	Gladys M. Hartley (1941 - 1952), Rhodella Achtenberg (1952 - 1959), Fay Gleeson (circa 1943 - )		[15] [16]	Founded by acrobat and skater Gladys M. Hartley who lived in Thunder Bay from 1941 to 1952, then run from 1952 by Sylvia Horn student Rhodella Achtenberg. Since 1959 run by Rhodella's sister-in-law Fay Gleeson and later, by Rhodella's daughter Cindy Kennedy.
Morgan's School of Highland Dance	1979	Open as of 2016	Wendy Morgan	135 Glendale Crescent, and from 2019: 117 Cumberland Street	[17] [18]	Wendy (B.A.T.D. Member Highland & National) received her training in Winnipeg and Toronto through teacher Mary Pitche… moved to former Dream Dance facilities in the former Cumberland Cinema [19] 117 Cumberland Street North. “As soon as I walked in I just fell in love with it,” said Morgan. “It’s beyond my dreams. I’ve always dreamed of having . . . a real studio. For the first 37 years we were in church basements and eventually my mom’s basement had quite a nice studio, but it was small and had low ceilings.”
Chaban Ukranian Dance	circa 1980	present	Cathy Paroschy Harris	211 Robertson Street	[20]	over a hundred dancers as of 2020
International Dance Academy	1982	present	Laura Pascolo-McRury		[21] [22]	Laura was taught by Betty Goodings and Sylvia Horn.
Le Stelle Alpine Dancers	1982	present	Laura Pascolo-McRury	Likely colocated with International Dance Academy	[23]	Established in 1982 by founder Laura Pascolo McRury (also founder of International Dance Academy) to represent and share Italian culture within Thunder Bay. Le Steele has a board of directors as of 2000.
Zorya Ukranian Dance	1997	present	14 founders		[24]	The Zorya Ukrainian dance Ensemble was established in 1997, by the initiative of 14 passionate individuals who built the foundation for our organization. The name “Zorya” was chosen because, when translated, it means “Stars”
Spirit of Dance	1999	present	Lori Ann Nelson and her sister [25]; her sister since left the business	179 South Algoma Street, 2nd Floor	[26] [27]	The studio hosts 4 spacious studios, a private party room for birthdays, a waiting room for parents and students, a kitchen and tuck shop. As of 2016, 13 staff members.
Dance Dynamics	2000	present	Wendy Holmquist	936 Tungsten Street	[28] [29]	In its 12th season as of July 2011, Dance Dynamics Studio is full of local talent that spans back through generations. Owner/Director Wendy Holmquist trained under the direction of her grandmother Ethel Markall before co-owning Markall’s School of Dance with her uncle. Upon the closure of Markall’s, Wendy opened Dance Dynamics hoping to become as respected and successful as her grandmother was.
Studio One Dance	2001	present	Lisa Fedoruk	38 Court Street South	[30]
Legacy Dance Co	April 2012	present	Alex Scerba [31]	263 Park Avenue	[32]
Dream Dance Company	Sep-06	Jun-19	Heather Appell	117 Cumberland Street North, The former Cumberland Cineplex [33]		Heather died of cancer in 2016; the studio was carried on by Heather's daughter Harmony (born ~1997) from 2016 to 2019
Art in Motion	?	present	Rachel Elgie	115 Johnson Avenue	[34] [35] [36]
Applauze Productions	?	Open as of 2016	Denise Krawczuk
World Dance Centre	Open in 2016	closed as of 2020		178 Algoma Street South (or 96 High St N?)
Slightly Off Broadway Performance Arts Studio	?	2018	Jacqueline McMahon and Connie		[37]
Body Barre	Open as of 2016	Before 2020	?			No online presence as of 2020
Stephanie's Performance Company	Aug-14	present	Stephanie DePiero		[38]
Army of Sass	Jun-15	present	Stephanie DePiero	320 Bay Street	[39]	Aimed at adults; A franchise studio (dozens in Canada)
The Dance Room	Jul-15	present	Stephanie DePiero	320 Bay Street	[40]	A dance studio for rent and instruction space
Experience Dance	?	Open as of 2016	?	179 Algoma Street South		No website [41]. Actually in the same address as Spirit of Dance
Vibe Dance Centre	?	?	?	?	[1]	no evidence this exists except the article [1]
Panama-based Latin Dance School	?	?	?	?	Walleye 2016 article
Hip Hop school	?	?	?	?	Walleye 2016 article
Dance Basics	?	?	?	[42]	only teaches to age 7
Thunder & Thistle Highland Dance Company	July 2018	present	Victoria Richard	Jumbo Gardens area	[43] [44]	founded by Victoria Richard in July 2018

Ranking

Walleye Magazine ranked the best studios in 2020: [45]

1. Army of Sass
2. Art in Motion
3. Legacy Dance Co.

Organizations

• Thunder Bay Society of Ballet and Dance (members: Sylvia Horn, President in 2016, Shannon Young; award scholarships at the Lakehead Festival of Music and Arts) [46]
• CDTA (Canadian Dance Teachers' Association)
• Imperial Society
• British Association of Teachers of Dancing (members: Sylvia Horn)
• Lakehead Ballet Guild (active in 1967 with Betty Goodings)
• Thunder Bay Highland Dance Association (president: Wendy Morgan as of 2020)
• Scottish Dance Teacher Alliance

Festivals

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• Lakehead Festival of Music and Arts (LFMA) [47]
• Folklore Festival (run partly by Herman Hanschke) (each May)

Memorial Scholarships

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• Sylvia Horn at LFMA as of 2019
• Eva Sacchetti (1945 - 2018) at LFMA as of 2019 [48]
• Rhodella Zweep (1936 - 2018) at LFMA as of 2019

Dance Clothing Stores

• Flair dance (in the basement of the old Northwestern Ontario School of Dance building as of 2019)

Source

[1] Shannon Young of TBSBD in an interview with Karen Christie of Bayview Magazine Sep 2016 [http://www.bayviewmagazine.com/article/2016/09/dancing-bay

[2] Laura Pascolo-McRury, private telephone conversation, 13 March 2020.