MS DAFOE (Frances Helen) Papers Coll. 00049B Gift of Frances Helen Dafoe, 2016 Dates of creation: ca. 1860s-2013 [predominantly 1950-2013] Extent: 77 boxes (9.5 metres) Biographical note: Frances Helen Dafoe (1929-2016) was a costume designer and former Olympic figure skater. A former World Figure Staking champion, she won a silver medal (for pairs with partner Norris Bowden) at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. She was awarded the Order of Ontario in 1990 and the Order of Canada in 1991 in recognition of her contributions to costume design and sport in Canada. She is also a recipient of the Confederation medal and the Golden Jubilee medal. Dafoe was a graduate of Branksome Hall and Central Technical High School in Toronto, where one of her teachers was artist Doris McCarthy. She also attended Parsons School of Design in New York. After her retirement from professional figure skating, Dafoe worked a costume designer for the CBC, where she contributed to such television series and specials as "The Wayne and Shuster Show", "The Royal Canadian Air Farce", The NHL Awards, and various dance or figure-skating specials. She also designed the costumes for the closing ceremonies of the Olympic Winter Games in Calgary in 1988. A long-time collaborator with choreographer Alan Lund, Dafoe worked on stage productions at the Charlottetown Festival, as well as performances by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and numerous figure skating productions featuring Kurt Browning, Elizabeth Manley, Brian Orser and Toller Cranston. Also a freelance designer, Dafoe has created costumes for many professional performers, dancers and figure skaters, including Karen Kain, Michael Burgess, Alan Thicke, Al Waxman, Sharon, Lois & Bram, Kristi Yamaguchi, Scott Hamilton, Elvis Stojko, Isabelle Brasseur and Lloyd Lloyd Eisler, Katarina Witt, Elizabeth Manley and Kurt Browning. Dafoe was nominated for a Gemini Award for costume design for such works as "Return to the beanstalk", ‘The True gift of Christmas’, ‘I'll never go to heaven’ and ‘You must remember this’. She received an Ace award for costume design for her work on ‘Rich Little's Robin Hood’, a Golden Gate award at the San Francisco International Film Festival for her work on ‘Strawberry Ice’ and a Prix Anik Award for her costume designs in the television productions of ‘Strawberry Ice’ and ‘Return to the Beanstalk’. In 2011 Dafoe published a book, Figure skating: eight centuries of sport and inspiration. Scope and content: This accession contains drafts of manuscripts; costume design sketches; design booklets; figure skating files; photographs; skating memorabilia; family records; skating-related tapes and CDs; and other materials relating to the life and work of Frances Dafoe. 1 MS DAFOE (Frances Helen) Papers Coll. 00049B Contains series: 1. Manuscript: Figure Skating and the Arts: Eight Centuries of Sport and Inspiration 2. Exhibition: Art Forms of Skating 3. Other Writing 4. Costume Design Files 5. Design Booklets 6. Figure Skating Files 7. Figure Skating Associations and Judges 8. Awards Photographs 9. Personal and work-related files 10. Press clippings 11. Skating images and memorabilia 12. Family records 13. Other files 14. Audiovisual materials Custodial history: Papers were donated to the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library in 2016. Notes: Folder descriptions, where necessary, are taken directly from titles given by Frances Dafoe to her own folders. 2 MS DAFOE (Frances Helen) Papers Coll. 00049B SERIES 1: Manuscripts [published writing] BOX/ CONTENTS: DATES: FOLDER #: Box 1 Figure Skating and the Arts: Eight Centuries of Sport and Inspiration (2011) By: Frances Dafoe. Introduction by: Dick Button. 1:1 Dust jacket/front matter for book. 2009 1:2-1:6 Draft of the books [including some fragmented versions] 2009-2010 1:7-1:8 WP draft [with WP track-changes] [2009-2011] 1:9-1:10 Partial book draft and other information. [2009-2011] 1:11-1:17 Corrections. [2010-2011] 1:18-1:24, Drafts/proposed mock-ups of book. 2010 2:1-2:6 2:7-2:23 Proofs [multiple copies]. Includes a possible eBook draft? [2010-2011] 3:1-3:4 Text/notes for book [includes odds and ends] 3:5 Book development proposal. 2008 3:6-3:13 Book proposal [multiple copies] 2009 3:14-3:15 Correspondence re: book outline and proposal. 2009-2010 3:16-3:18 Conceptual layout for book. 2009-2011 3:19-3:20 Correspondence re: permissions for book. 2010 4:1-4:2 Captions for book. 2010 4:3 Early appraisal for book 2010 4:4-4:15 Images for book. Includes reproduction rights and 2010 permissions, as well as information about the collection. General files. 4:16-4:40, Images for book. Includes reproduction rights and [2009-2010] 5:1-5:17 permissions. Arranged alphabetically by name of where images came from. 5:18 CDs (2) of images. 2010 5:19-5:26 Purchases for book and exhibition [including purchases made [2000s] on eBay] 6:1-6:18, Research for book. [2000s] 7:1-7:14 Arranged alphabetically (by subject or name). 7:15-7:20, Research for book [general]. [2000s] 8:1-8:16 Correspondence regarding book 3 MS DAFOE (Frances Helen) Papers Coll. 00049B 9:1-9:14 Correspondence regarding book with individuals and [2009-2011] organizations such as: Bates, Ann Hudovernik, Bob Garbato, Sonia Gebler, Taylor Mitchell, Michael Museum of Manitoba Pieck, Anton Skate Canada Spadoni, Carl Taub, Stan 9:15-9:30 General correspondence re: book [2009-2011] Vollmer Cultural Consultants Incorporated files and other files regarding the publishing of the book. 10:1-10:5 Book development proposal. Includes: specifications, 2006-2009 estimated costs, additional images, design, printing, distribution. 10:6-10:11 Book launch and publicity. Includes correspondence. 2011 10:12-10:13 Book launch speech 2011 10:14-10:15 Publicity 2010-2011 10:16-10:17 Book contract 2009-2011 10:18 Sponsor for book: Skate Canada 10:19-10:20 Schiffer Publishing Ltd. Includes information and correspondence regarding the publishing the book. 10:21 Announcement of book to ISU members. 10:22-10:23 Clearances for book. [2010-2011] 10:24 Miscellaneous files re: book. [2000s] SERIES 2: Exhibition – Art Forms of Skating BOX/ CONTENTS: DATES: FOLDER #: Proposal and overview of exhibition. Includes information 2001-2003 regarding the exhibition. Exhibition, book and website prepared by Frances Dafoe and John E. Vollmer. 11:1 Conceptual plan. 2002 11:2-11:11 Proposal, correspondence, conceptual plan and other files re: 2000-2003 exhibition. 11:12 Exhibition objectives and overview. 2002 4 MS DAFOE (Frances Helen) Papers Coll. 00049B 11:13-11:17 Art Forms of Skating booklet and drafts. [2001-2002] 11:18-11:19 Exhibition, book and website prospectus. Prepared by Frances 2006 Dafoe and John E. Vollmer. 11:20 Fact sheets and other information. [2001-2006] 11:21 Exhibition planning notes – submitted by John E. Vollmer. 2001 11:22 Early budget and ideas for exhibition. 2001 12:1-12:14 Correspondence and other information regarding the 2001-2003 exhibition. 12:15-12:16 Invoices and inventory for exhibition. [1990s] 12:17-12:21 Research: ‘A Social and Aesthetic History’. 2002 12:22-12:23, Research and materials for exhibition. 2001-2002 13:1-13:15 14:1-14:3 Exhibition planning proposal (for Frances Dafoe) submitted 2001 by John E. Vollmer. 14:4-14:6 Exhibition recommendations and other information. 2001 14:7 Correspondence and financial statements 2002 14:8 Draft budget 14:9-14:10 Request for design services: Reich and Petch Design 2002 International. SERIES 3: Other writing BOX/ CONTENTS: DATES: FOLDER #: 13:16-13:20, Drafts of an untitled memoir Frances wrote for her children n.d. 15:1-15:6 and grandchildren. 15:7-15:16 Book proposal and drafts: ’50 Years at the Confederation 2012 Centre of the Arts’. Includes information, contracts, and correspondence regarding the Confederation Centre of the Arts and the Charlottetown Festival (Frances Dafoe worked as a costume designer for them). 15:17-15:18 Proposed coffee table book – mock-ups of ‘Art Forms of 2010 Skating: 1,200 Seasons on the Ice. Celebrating the Winter Olympics.’ 15:19 Miscellaneous drafts and articles. n.d. SERIES 4: Costume Design files Contains costume designs, consisting of drawings and photographs, as well as contracts and correspondence for the various productions Frances Dafoe has worked on. BOX/ CONTENTS: DATES: FOLDER #: CBC Files 16:1-16:3 Air Farce costume design photographs (31) [1970s-1980s] 16:4-16:5 Back to the Beanstalk (24) 1990 5 MS DAFOE (Frances Helen) Papers Coll. 00049B 16:6-16:14 Strawberry Ice photographs (145) [1981-1983] 16:15 Strawberry Ice sketches 1980s 16:16-16:28 The Magic Planet photographs (238) 1982 16:28 The Magic Planet – special photographs from the tape. 1982 16:29-16:31 The Snow Queen files. Includes a play draft, invoices, a 1975-1976 storyboard [including photographs of the costumes] and other information. 17:1-17:2 This Heart’s a Wonder files. Includes a contract, information, 1971 press clippings, and reviews. 17:3 Tom Jones (14) n.d. 17:4 Miscellaneous – Actra CBC TV (6) n.d. 17:5 Miscellaneous – Return to the Beanstalk (CBC TV) 1996 17:6-17:8 Other CBC files and correspondence regarding work. [1967-1998] Charlottetown Festival files 17:9-17:11 Contains contracts and other information forcostumes Frances 1967-1973 Dafoe designed for various Charlottetown Festival productions, including Les Feux Follets, Jane Eyre, Mary, Paradise Hill, Private Turvey’s War. 17:12 Photographs: costumes displayed in the lobby of the 1989 Confederation Centre. 17:13 Information from the Charlottetown Summer Festival 2006 Archives. XV Winter Olympics in Calgary, Alberta (1988) 17:14-17:24 Contains contracts, correspondence, research, photographs of 1987-1988 costume sketches and costumes, and photographs of the closing ceremonies that Frances Dafoe designed costumes for.