Page 27 - RSCDS Toronto Golden Jubilee Book

Music Makers
Jean Day Anderson
respect for the music and form of the dance. Many in her class went on to become certified teachers; some were inspired to form active social groups of their own.
The Jean Anderson Dancers, created from the Lakeshore Group, performed their first professional show, "A Breath of Scotland," at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in 1964. As a demonstration team, they became widely respected for their expertise in all areas of dance and performed all over Ontario.
In the early 1970s, when the first Scottish World Festival was organized at the Canadian National Exhibition Bandshell, Jean was asked to choreo- graph the entire show, which included the Jean Anderson Dancers (adult
and children) and highland dancers.
In later Festivals, Jean, along with her dancers, were joined by her brother, Bobby Brown and The Scottish Accent, the Cape Breton Symphony Fiddlers (Bobby’s famous fiddle group), and sister Christine Scott singing Scottish favourites. They all played promi-
nent roles in both the Bandshell and Grandstand shows.
Sadly, Jean died, much too young, of a heart attack at age forty-nine, in Toronto, in 1985, two days after her thirtieth wedding anniversary. Her pre- mature death was a shock to her fam- ily and the dance community. Jean is missed by many.
Don Bartlett
I was born in Toronto in 1947, and grew up in suburban Scarborough. My great-grandparents came to Canada from England, Scotland and Ireland. My father was musi- cal but the strongest musical legacy is on my mother’s side where my grandmother was one of thirteen siblings, every one of whom was a church organist.
As a youngster I took piano les- sons for a few painful years. I rarely practised between lessons, and my progress was slow. It was a relief when my parents allowed me to stop.
When I was eleven, my mother enrolled me in Hughina Wilson’s
dance class on Saturday mornings at Fallingbrook Presbyterian Church. I dropped out but returned several years later and this time enjoyed the dancing,
music, and sociability.
Dancing was great; but I wanted to play the music, too. Hughina gave me a copy of
the Graded Book with music, and I set out to learn some tunes on the piano. I was struggling to learn my first tune (a jig, Lord Cathcart) when
Jean Anderson, Bobby Brown's sister, came along to the class. Jean told me to ignore the music written in the bass clef, and she showed me what to do with my left hand. You could say that Jean got my left hand started on the right foot. Alex Jappy heard me play at Fallingbrook Church and introduced me to Angus MacKinnon, who had a dance band, the Scots-Canadians. Angus’s piano player suffered a heart attack during a performance in Hamilton. Shortly thereafter Angus recruited me
– I was still in high school.
Meanwhile (a good dance term), I progressed with SCD music. I learned many tunes by ear while dancing, and gradually acquired a small library of music, much of which is rare and no longer published. I started playing for dance weekends, workshops, and spe- cial classes.
I was one of the founding mem- bers of the Fallingbrook group, at Fallingbrook Church under the direc- tion of Ken Inglis. I also danced with the Scarborough group, where Tom
Jean Anderson was one of RSCDS Toronto’s best-loved and valued teach- ers. She was born Jean Brown in Dennyloanhead, Stirlingshire, Scotland, July 8, 1935. On February 5, 1955, she married her childhood sweetheart, John Anderson. They immigrated to Canada in 1956, first settling in Hamilton.
To say Jean came from a musical fam- ily is an understatement. Her brother
is none other than Bobby Brown and her sister, Christine Scott, was a gifted singer, actress and entertainer. Jean began piano lessons at age four, and later attended the Royal Conservatory of Music in Glasgow. In Canada, Jean played piano for many Children’s Festivals in Hamilton and Toronto, at TAC summer schools, and at many weekend workshops. Often at parties, Stan Hamilton and Jean would play four hands at the piano! And at dances, Stan would comment to Bobby, "Here son, that sister of yours is a beautiful dancer".
Besides being an accomplished musi- cian, Jean was a lovely dancer with beautiful footwork and an excellent teacher of dance technique. She took over teaching of the Lakeshore SCD Group from Sandy Bain in 1961, and taught there until 1978. Dancers from her classes contributed to the dance community in Toronto by producing a high standard of dancing, and deep
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