Rosemary James has inspired countless generations of Canadian dancers
February 10, 2023
At age 12, Rosemary James saw the renowned Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre company perform at the O’Keefe Centre (now Meridian Hall).
Witnessing Ailey’s muse, Judith Jamison, doing ‘Cry’ that he choreographed as a present to his mother and other Black women brought tears to the Torontonian eyes.
“That was the first time I had seen an all-Black dance company on stage and the performances were so powerful,” James pointed out. “I said that is what I want to do.”
Nearly five decades later, she has been recognized for her outstanding work as a performer, educator and entrepreneur in Canada with the Charles Augins Inspirational Artist Award.
Presented on January 27 during the 33rd International Association of Blacks in Dance (IABD) conference & festival in Toronto, the award honours an artist who has deepened and extended dances’ value, including their ability to foster new connections and exemplify creativity and innovation.
James admitted not knowing of Augins before the announcement.
“He has done incredible things artistically and I am honoured to be receiving an honour bearing his name,” she said. “The Inspirational part means a lot because it is something I have always thought of myself as a teacher. To know that I have inspired countless generations of dancers is gratifying.”
Starting tap dancing at age nine, Augins began ballet training six years later and was the Duke Ellington School of the Arts Dance Director for four years in the 1970s. He is currently the school’s dance department Chair.
The American dancer/choreographer/actor has also performed backup vocals for several artists and released a solo single on the cover of the Holland-Dozier-Holland composition, ‘Baby I Need Your Loving’, in 1982.
Vivine Scarlett, who founded dance Immersion that partnered with the IABD to stage the yearly conference, nominated James for the award.
“There are a lot of people working quietly in the background to help create these dances that we see and are very important to the process,” said the 2016 Dance Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. “Rosemary has been there for a long time and is an unsung hero. I wanted to let the community know that we are in different positions in different places contributing to who we are.”
Patricia Fraser, who was The School of Toronto Dance Artistic Director for 28 years before retiring in 2021, presented the award to James, the first for her distinguished contribution to dance in Canada.
“Rosemary is an established dance artiste who has had a significant professional career as a dancer, rehearsal director and teacher and is highly regarded in our dance community,” she said. “She is an extremely intelligent, hardworking and committed woman. Since 1992, she has guided the professional development of the company dancers and supported the creative processes of an array of choreographers, working in a variety of styles, forms and experimental practices from across the diverse spectrum of dance that is in this city. She has a keen eye for detail and is a gifted coach for interpretation and performance.”
Former School of Toronto Dance Artistic Director Patricia Fraser (r) presented the award to Rosemary James (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
James is the Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) longest serving member.
After dancing with the company for six years, she became Rehearsal Director in 1992, a role she still proudly holds.
When James became pregnant with her only child in 1991, she continued performing while coaching her replacement for the roles she could no longer do.
Little did she know that TDT Founders David Earle, Peter Randazzo and Patricia Beatty along with then Resident Choreographer Christopher House were paying rapt attention.
They also noticed that other dancers in the studio gravitated to James as she helped them interpret movement, music and spacing.
“I was often left in the studio with the dancers and we took several days to reconstruct a piece of choreography,” she said. “Sometimes, I had original cast members and sometimes I did not. That was the time when a lot more work, patience and time were required for new artists. I also took many notes because I was responsible for restaging and remounting a lot of the works, particularly Christopher’s repertoire. It has been and still is an interesting job, delving into what the choreographer is thinking, their images, their musicality and their physicality. Sometimes, there may be props in it and all those things have to be articulated to the dancers.
“As a Rehearsal Director, you have to be there from the beginning of a creative process so that you can get a sense of what is been asked of everyone. There is a lot of preparation at my end, even before I enter the studio. It is one of those unsung hero jobs because people don’t really realize how much time I spend in the studio with dancers and choreographers.”
After staying put in the same role for over three decades, why hasn’t James sought out other opportunities?
“I get asked that question a lot and I always bring up the name ‘Christopher House’,” she said.
The 2017 Order of Canada appointee was the TDC Resident Choreographer from 1994 to 2020.
“With Christopher, we always had different programming every year,” she pointed out. “Very curious, he has an interest in many subjects and themes and would always be pushing himself to do the next thing that sparks his interest. I always knew that each season was going to be very different, whether it was with him or working with new choreographers. I have also had so many opportunities to tour with the Company.”
James also has a passion for teaching.
Since 1987, she has taught in the TDT School core Professional Training Program, sharing the Martha Graham Technique with future generations of dancers.
The late American dancer created the modern dance movement style and pedagogy.
Based on contraction and release, the technique involves using different parts of the body in opposition to one another to create spirals for dramatic tension. It also incorporates formal exaggerations of natural movements.
James was exposed to the technique after seeing the company perform while attending the TDT School from 1983 to 1986.
Billyann Balay, who was the Principal for a decade until 1992, encouraged her to join the school founded in 1968.
“I was just stunned by the level of physicality, strength and power and I asked myself, ‘Where is this coming from?’ James said. “While at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) for a year, Billyann was my teacher and she had a mish mash style of movements that I was used to. She told me to come and join the TDT School which I did and she asked me to bring my dance wear to take a class. I was like, ‘Wow, are you kidding me’.”
Extremely shy at the time, she did not take up the initial request.
Balay, however, insisted.
“I gave in and went there the following week only to find myself in a class with Earle who was teaching it,” she said. “Billyann was taking the class and company dancers and some students from the school were also there. I was shocked and asked myself, ‘What have I done here?’ It turned out that I did very well because Billyann had been teaching some of the movement style in her TMU class and it felt good on my body. It was then that I realized it was the Martha Graham technique taught by the TDT founders who brought it from New York to train dancers in Toronto.”
James had several reasons for falling in love with the technique.
“Graham had this beautiful kind of storytelling that starts on the floor through the bounces as you enter into it,” she said. “You use your breath, you shift your weight, you move for space, you fall and recover and you go sideways with your body. It has all of these foundational movements. I love teaching and sharing this technique and am very passionate about it.”
Last semester, James – who obtained her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Dance from York University after six years of study that ended in 2006 -- returned to TMU to teach the Graham technique and modern dance.
With Jessica Whitford assuming the role of TDT Managing Director in 2018, the technique is being phased out.
Still interested in teaching it, James reached out to TMU School of Performance Associate Chair and Dance Program Director Vicki St. Denys, inquiring if there were teaching possibilities.
“She said there was an opening,” she noted. “I am thrilled I am still able to teach this technique that a lot of different teachers taught me. There is no one way of doing it or teaching it. One of the things however is that it is a codified syllabus like ballet. It trains you from the beginning and you progress all the way through to the more complex material that you can teach dancers.”
When James entered TDT School in 1983, the plan was to graduate and go to the United States for further training.
She was born prematurely in Niagara Falls, New York while her mom – she was married to an American -- was there for the Labour Day holiday.
“When TDT gave me an apprenticeship and I started to work with the company, I chose to stay in Toronto,” said James who in 2021 collaborated with Mary Jane Warner to produce ‘Celebrating Patricia Beatty: Artist, Choreographer, Teacher’. “At the time, they were ripe with Black dancers and I was only too thrilled to be surrounded by this diversity. The TDT has always had a diverse group of dancers that made me feel comfortable working in such a space.”
Asked who are some of the dancers who influenced her, she points to American-born Merle Holloman who was with the company from 1980 to 1988 before relocating to the United States and Hamilton-based Learie McNicolls who spent three years until 1987.
The duo were among former TDT dancers she interviewed for an audio series, ‘Reconnecting with Black Dancers from the 80s and early 90s’.
“They were like the stars with TDT at the time and I just wanted to be around them and learn from them,” she said. “Merle took me under her wings and guided me. I am forever grateful for that.”
James and her husband, musician/educator Meirion Kelly, met in high school and have been married for 33 years.
Her mother, Ottley Ash, is a former theatre director.
