John Freeman Davis

Davis, John Freeman

John Freeman Davis. Teacher of music and dancing, b Oakville, Upper Canada (Ontario), 1835, d Toronto ca 1916. Active as a musician in Toronto after 1855, he ran a music store ca 1873-5 and later advertised himself as 'professor and teacher of dancing, deportment and calisthenics,' operating a dance studio until his death. He issued The Modern Dance Tutor (Toronto 1878) and between 1873 and 1896 wrote some 20 lancers, polkas, rockaways, two-steps, waltzes, and other dances published by Claxton, Davis, Nordheimer, and Whaley Royce. His Call to Arms Polka (1885) was inspired by the North West Rebellion; The New Premier (1896) commemorates Sir Wilfrid Laurier's election victory.