Jean Stoneham Orr was born in Edinburgh and came to Canada when she was still an infant. Her family settled in Saskatoon, which is where she started Highland dance. Her family moved to Vancouver when she was 9 years old and she began studying ballet. They moved to Ottawa during the Second World War and she continued her studies with Yolande Leduc and then Nesta Toumine. Jean was Canada’s first Giselle performing the role for the Ottawa Ballet Company in 1948 (directed by Leduc and Toumine). She danced with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet from 1951-1954. She married in 1954, which led to a hiatus with dance until she and her husband moved to Vancouver in 1971. Here, Jean became heavily involved in the Vancouver Ballet Society (VBS) as a volunteer. In the 1980s, she was the administrator for the VBS and played a substantial role in co-founding Ballet BC, for which she was also founding president of the board. Jean is still active as a volunteer in Vancouver’s ballet scene. She is a beloved member of the Vancouver dance community for her support of artists and her half-century of volunteerism.

Learn more about the DCD Hall of Fame at: https://halloffame.dcd.ca/