Toby Dancer (1953 – 9 July 2004,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

) was a Canadian pianist and music producer, best known for her work on

Ian Tyson Ian Dawson Tyson (25 September 1933 – 29 December 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who wrote several folk songs, including " Four Strong Winds" and " Someday Soon", and performed with partner Sylvia Tyson as the duo Ian & Sylvia. Ea ...

's albums ''Cowboyography'' and ''I Outgrew The Wagon''.

Life

Dancer was born as Adrian Chornowol to

Ukrainian-Canadian Ukrainian Canadians are Canadian citizens of Ukrainian descent or Ukrainian-born people who immigrated to Canada. In the late 19th century, the first Ukrainian immigrants arrived in the east coast of Canada. They were primarily farmers and l ...

Edmonton Symphony Orchestra The Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (ESO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Edmonton, Alberta. As the professional orchestra of Alberta's creative capital city it presents over 85 concerts a year of symphonic music in all genres, from classical to co ...

musician Walter Chornowol. Dancer was a musical

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

. Dancer was the music director of local country music show Sun Country; she was also a music arranger and played piano in her sister's jazz band. She became a member of

's touring band The Chinook Arch Riders, and later produced two of his albums. Dancer was the victim of a stabbing in her Rossdale home by two people in 1989; the same year, she received ''Cowboyography'''s gold record certification with knife scars still visible under sunglasses. Some time later she moved to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, where she started socially transitioning, using a new name (she apparently rejected the idea of

gender-affirming surgery Gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is a surgical procedure, or series of procedures, that alters a person's physical appearance and sexual characteristics to resemble those associated with their gender identity. The phrase is most often associated ...

). During that time her

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

and

morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...

addictions started. Around six years before her death, Dancer was sober and homeless; she moved to

, attending the Parkdale Activities and Recreational Centre, where she performed with the centre's social worker and drummer Zepheniah James. She also became the music director and choir leader of Emmanuel Howard Park United Church, led by reverend

Cheri DiNovo Cheri DiNovo (born ) is a United Church of Canada minister and former politician in Ontario, Canada. She served at the Emmanuel-Howard Park congregation in Toronto before entering politics and, since January 2018, is the minister for the Tri ...

. She died aged 51 of an accidental

drug overdose A drug overdose (overdose or OD) is the ingestion or application of a drug or other substance in quantities much greater than are recommended. Retrieved on September 20, 2014.

. A 2012 bill (proposed by then- MPP DiNovo) which amended the

Ontario Human Rights Code The Human Rights Code is a statute in the Canadian province of Ontario that guarantees equality before the law and prohibits discrimination in specific social areas such as housing or employment. The code's goal specifically prohibits discrimina ...

to include

gender identity Gender identity is the personal sense of one's own gender. Gender identity can correlate with a person's assigned sex or can differ from it. In most individuals, the various biological determinants of sex are congruent and consistent with the in ...

in its protected categories was dubbed Toby's Act in her honour. She is also commemorated by a

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

window in Roncesvalles United Church.

Discography

All of Dancer's discography was made before her transition and she is credited under her deadname. *

Liam Clancy Liam Clancy (; 2 September 1935 – 4 December 2009) was an Irish folk singer from Carrick-on-Suir, County Tipperary. He was the youngest member of the influential folk group the Clancy Brothers, regarded as Ireland's first pop stars. They achi ...

– ''Farewell To Tarwaithie'', 1975 (instruments) *

Tim Feehan Tim Feehan (born April 27, 1957 in Edmonton, Alberta) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, producer, mix master and Los Angeles area studio owner. Career Tim Feehan graduated from the University of Alberta in 1980 and began his recording/songwriting ...

– ''Sneak Preview'', 1981 (instruments) *

– ''Old Corrals & Sagebrush'', 1983 (writing and arrangement) * Ian Tyson – ''Ian Tyson'', 1984 (writing and arrangement) * Stewart MacDougall – ''Clean Slate / Up To Me'', 1985 (production) * Ian Tyson – ''Cowboyography'', 1986 (instruments, production, writing and arrangement) * Gabrielle Bujold – ''C'est Bien Toi'', 1987 (production) * Gabrielle Bujold – ''Seule à rêver'', 1988 (instruments, production, writing and arrangement) * Gabrielle Bujold – ''Private & Confidential'', 1988 (production) * Gabrielle Bujold – ''Après Lui'', 1988 (production) * Bob E. Lee West and The Mainstreet Band – ''This Old Freight Train / You're Just A Call Away'', 1988 (production) *

Gordon Cormier Gordon Cormier (born October 8, 2009) is a Canadian actor. He played Joe in ''The Stand'' (2020) and portrayed Aang in the Netflix live-action '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' series. Life and career Cormier was born and grew up in Vancouver. ...

& Loretta Cormier – ''Headin' Home'', 1988 (instruments) * Ian Tyson – ''Old Corrals And Sagebrush & Other Cowboy Culture Classics'', 1988 (writing and arrangement) * Ian Tyson – ''I Outgrew The Wagon'', 1989 (instruments, additional vocals) * Ian Tyson – ''Irving Berlin (is 100 yrs old today)'', 1989 (production) *

Big Miller Big or BIG may refer to: * Big, of great size or degree Film and television * ''Big'' (film), a 1988 fantasy-comedy film starring Tom Hanks * ''Big'', a 2023 Taiwanese children's film starring Van Fan and Chie Tanaka * ''Big!'', a Discovery ...

And The Blues Machine – ''Live At Athabaska University'', 1990 (instruments)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dancer, Toby 1953 births 2004 deaths Canadian classical pianists Canadian jazz pianists Canadian country musicians Canadian people of Ukrainian descent Canadian women record producers Canadian transgender women Canadian transgender musicians Transgender women musicians LGBTQ record producers Canadian homeless people Accidental deaths in Canada Drug-related deaths in Canada 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people