Helen Margaret Oakley Dance, née Oakley (February 15, 1913 – May 27, 2001) was a Canadian-American jazz journalist, record producer, and music historian. She is perhaps best known for record production (including Duke Ellington) and for her biography of T-Bone Walker. She was married to critic Stanley Dance for over 50 years.
Dance was born into a wealthy Canadian family in Toronto, Ontario. Her great-grandfather, Joseph Simpson, started Joseph Simpson Knitting Mills.[1] Dance's mother (née Mary Simpson) married John Oakley, who became the managing director of the Joseph Simpson Knitting Mills.[2] Dance capped-off her "coming out" as a debutante by attending a Duke Ellington concert. A jazz enthusiast from an early age, she made efforts to become a singer, however had more success as a journalist and producer.
Her first act of note in jazz history was in introducing Teddy Wilson to the Benny Goodman Orchestra and persuaded them to play in Chicago. It was one of the first sit-down jazz concerts in America and was also significant because it was a public performance with an interracial ensemble.[3] She later made other efforts to help interracial music collaboration, and was the host of significant parties and concerts for the jazz world.[4] She also helped coordinate Benny Goodman's January 1938 Carnegie Hall concert - the first jazz concert at the venue.[3]