Jennie Frances Brenan (1877–1964) was an Australian dancer and dancing teacher. She was encouraged to train as a dancer by J. C. Williamson and in time she opened a dancing school which supplied his dancers and after 1910 those required by the

J. C. Williamson's J. C. Williamson's, formerly Williamson, Garner, & Musgrove and Williamson and Musgrove, was an Australian theatrical management company and theatre owner. With its beginnings in the theatrical productions of J. C. Williamson and his p ...

company.

Life

Brenan was born in 1877 in the Melbourne suburb of

Carlton, Victoria Carlton is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, three kilometres north of the Melbourne central business district within the city of Melbourne local government area. Carlton recorded a population of 16,055 at the 2021 census. ...

. Brenan's mother was Annie Bryce Cooper (born Livingston in Scotland in Edinburgh) and her father James Joseph Brenan was an estate agent born in Ireland. She was educated at a Catholic Ladies College ( the Catholic Ladies College was not founded until 1902). However her important education was in dance. She was encouraged in her ambitions by the impresario J. C. Williamson who was a friend of the family. He encouraged her to train with Mary Weir who was one of his dancers and dancing teachers (Weir became Williamson's second wife in 1899). Her wide-ranging training continued with ballet taught by Rosalie Phillipini who was another of J.C.Williamson's dancing teachers. In 1896 she danced in the

Svengali Svengali () is a character in the novel ''Trilby'' which was first published in 1894 by George du Maurier. Svengali is a Jewish man who seduces, dominates and exploits Trilby, a young half-Irish girl, and makes her into a famous singer. Defini ...

based play ''

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'' at

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

and her dancing was very well received. The performance was bound for Melbourne but Brenan refused to appear as she did not want to be seen dancing immodestly by her friends. Williamson suggested that she direct her skills to teaching and one of his daughters was an early pupil. In 1901-02 she was in London supported by the Williamson company. She was learning more dance from Alexandre Genée. In 1904 she opened a dance studio with her sister Margaret that was to supply dancers to Williamson's production for decades. The studio taught ballroom, ballet and fancy dancing. In 1906 she supplied the choreography and the trained ballet dancers for Williamson's production of ''

Mother Goose Mother Goose is a character that originated in children's fiction, as the imaginary author of a collection of French fairy tales and later of English nursery rhymes. She also appeared in a song, the first stanza of which often functions now as ...

''. She employed her sister Eileen and they also supplied dancing lessons to private girls' schools. Her own modesty was transferred to her lessons where she demanded a level of decorum and this improved the respectability of dancing per se. The British

Royal Academy of Dancing The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is a UK-based examination board specialising in dance education and training, with an emphasis on classical ballet. The RAD was founded in London, England in 1920 as the Association of Teachers of Operatic Danci ...

(RAD) organised its first examinations in Australia and it added the "Royal" in 1936. Brenan used the RAD's methods in Australia and in 1936 she became the RAD's first oversea's member of its grand council and she became the chair of RAD's Australian Advisory Committee. She died in 1964 and in the following year a Jennie Brenan named scholarship for dancing teachers was created by the local RAD.

References

External links

Biography at ADB
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brenan, Jennie Frances 1877 births 1964 deaths People from Melbourne Australian choreographers Australian female dancers