Tuesday 14 April 2015

more memories

The delight of facebook for me is that I have been able to get back in touch with friends from years ago, one of whom is my dear school friend Pam. We went through senior school in the same class but I had seen her before when we were both in Girl's Life Brigade (yes I'm that old! it became Girl's Brigade some time later) but in different companies and met up for huge church parades and competitions. On seeing my last post Pam mentioned a photo of me as the Angel Gabriel. Thank you for the memory. 
Our school regularly put on Shakespearian plays but one year one of the English teachers wrote a version of the Nativity.
The story was told by Mary to a twelve year old Jesus sitting on the steps going up to the stage while the action was mimed on stage. I thought it was all very beautiful.
My dress was the one made for Olivia for her wedding in Twelfth Night, performed the term before. It was off-white with a gold pattern, trimmed with gold braid. The wings were the best angel wings I have ever seen; they were multi coloured, painted by our lovely art teacher who died too young. I was shown a medieval picture of Gabriel with very curly hair and asked to make mine like that but mine is only wavy and I wasn't going to get a perm - they came in many years later. The only way to make my hair as curly as possible was to wear rollers throughout the day! 
Again you will have to use your imagination. Life was very colourful but the photos were black and white and going sepia!


Saturday 11 April 2015

memories...

Radio 3 is often heard playing in our house although it is not my station of choice, mine is Radio 4. Recently a piece of music was playing to which I responded "I know this" not "I like this" or "this is one of my favourites". As soon as I had said it, I knew it was a strange thing to say. I waited until it was finished to hear the title; 'Autumn' by Cecile Chaminade.
Of course I knew the music, although I don't think I had heard it for over fifty years when it was my solo dance. I danced as Autumn at all the shows our dancing school performed in from Old People's Homes to the Lewisham Town Hall where this photo was taken at the dress rehearsal. In those days only a few photos were in colour, so you will have to imagine the bodice in rust brown with a net skirt of brown, orange and green net. Mum made the dress and I spent a long time making paper leaves to be sewn on the dress, made into a head-dress and for me to have a bunch in my hands to slowly let go while dancing.
When the photos were printed and on display my dancing teacher told me off for not pulling up my knees - hence the baggy tights! but in my defence, I had stood there a long time and was rather tired having performed the dance
.