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Catherine "Bunny" Lang's 1936 Olympic Jacket
The Artifact of the Month, August 2012

When Canadian Olympians marched in the opening ceremonies of the 1936 games in Berlin, Germany, there was a group of dancers among their ranks - members of Boris Volkoff's ballet company from Toronto. Thanks to P.J. Mulqueen, the Canadian Olympic team organizer, Volkoff was invited to bring his dancers to Berlin for the cultural activities that accompanied the Olympic games. The Internationale Tanzwettspiele, or dance festival, was organized by well-known German choreographer, educator and movement theorist Rudolf von Laban and featured theatrical and folk dance troupes from around the world including the famous German Expressionist artists Mary Wigman and Harald Kreutzberg. (Click the "Play" arrow below to listen to the podcast and scroll down to view more images.) To view a film of the 1936 Opening Ceremonies, click here.

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1936 Canadian Olympic team jacket worn by Catherine “Bunny” Lang. [Catherine “Bunny” Lang Portfolio] Photo: Andreah Barker
1936 Canadian Olympic team jacket worn by Catherine “Bunny” Lang. [Catherine “Bunny” Lang Portfolio] Photo: Andreah Barker
  • 1936 Canadian Olympic team jacket worn by Catherine “Bunny” Lang. [Catherine “Bunny” Lang Portfolio] Photo: Andreah Barker
  • Detail of label inside Lang’s jacket. [Catherine “Bunny” Lang Portfolio] Photo: Andreah Barker
  • Detail of label inside Lang’s jacket. Note that her name has been typed onto the Deacon Sport Wear label. [Catherine “Bunny” Lang Portfolio] Photo: Andreah Barker
  • Detail of embroidered pocket. [Catherine “Bunny” Lang Portfolio] Photo: Andreah Barker
  • The Canadian Olympic Dancing Group: Boris Volkoff, Jack Lemen, Helen Pritchett, Margaret Clemens, Pauline Sullivan, Janet Baldwin Volkoff, Mildred Wickson, Clara Ord, Mary Wilder, Marsden Hall, Billy Cochrane, Joan Hutchinson and James Pape, Berlin, Germany, July 1936, XI Olympiad. [Helen Pritchett Electronic Archives]
  • Postcard of the Empress of Britain, the ship that took Volkoff’s company to Germany in 1936. The dancers also performed on the ship. [Helen Pritchett Electronic Archives]
  • Clara Ord, Helen Pritchett and Pauline Sullivan of Volkoff's company, 1936. [Helen Pritchett Electronic Archives]
  • Postcard of the Olympic Gates leading out of the stadium, Berlin, 1936. [Helen Pritchett Electronic Archives]
  • Dancer Mary Wilder’s Olympic participant identity card. [Mary Wilder Portfolio]
  • Dancer Mary Wilder’s Olympic participant identity card stamped with Canadian Olympic team organizer P.J. Mulqueen’s signature. [Mary Wilder Portfolio]
  • Mary Wilder’s Internationale Tanzwettspiele participant identity card. Note the inclusion of famous German choreographer, educator and movement theorist Rudolf von Laban’s signature at the bottom. [Mary Wilder Portfolio]
  • Excerpted page from the Internationale Tanzwettspiele souvenir program, Berlin, 1936. [Mary Wilder Portfolio]
  • Excerpted page from the Internationale Tanzwettspiele souvenir program, Berlin, 1936. [Mary Wilder Portfolio]
  • Members of Boris Volkoff’s company in his work "Ecstase", 1936. [Helen Pritchett Electronic Archives]
  • Boris Volkoff performing his "Peasant Dance", 1936. [Helen Pritchett Electronic Archives]
  • Janet Baldwin, Jim Pape, Mary Wilder, Joan Hutchison, Helen Pritchettt, Florence Smeaton, Bunny Lang (standing), Billy Cochrane, Jack Lemen, Marsden Hall, Pauline Sullivan, unknown in Boris Volkoff’s "Mon-Ka-Ta", 1936. [Mary Wilder Portfolio]
  • Olympic memorabilia collected by Mary Wilder in 1936. [Mary Wilder Portfolio]
  • Mary Wilder’s Internationale Tanzwettspiele participant pin, 1936. [Mary Wilder Portfolio]

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