Beverley Graham Interview: Early Memories of Dance Schools
Title
Beverley Graham Interview: Early Memories of Dance Schools
Date
26 July 2018
Description
Oral history interview with Beverley Graham, a keen amateur dancer, and also a long-time supporter, valued audience member and active participant of the Theatre Royal.
What's the story?
Beverley Graham was born in 1953 in Kirkby-in Ashfield in Nottinghamshire.
From having attended dance schools from an early age, Beverley has always had a passion for theatre and performing. This has developed into a genuine love for the Theatre Royal, which shines through in her interview.
She has attended numerous shows over the years, more so since becoming a Premium Member of the Theatre Royal in 2013. She is also a regular participant in the venue’s dance classes and has even performed on the stage.
In this interview Beverley recounts some of her childhood memories from performing in local dance schools, such as The Edna Foster School of Dancing and the Christine March School of Dance.
Beverley also reveals how many of her costumes from this time, from when she was aged seven onwards, are still in her loft at home:
Edna Foster School of Dancing when I first started and when I was about 15, one of the pupils from Edna Foster’s took over the dancing school, she was only 16 at the time, but it was Christine March School of Dance and her dancing school is still going now at Kirkby in Ashfield and it’s being run by her daughter, now that Christine has retired. So I’ve kept in touch with Christine quite a number of times over the years. I went to see her dance shows and I’ve always been told by the choreographer of the amateur theatre group that we give musicals with, she had been a dancer and she always said that I had obviously been trained properly because the technique was still there from being younger. We didn’t have the chance to do a lot out of the dance school on stage like they are today. I still really enjoyed it and still carry it on because it was ingrained in me.
Looking back, I was actually very, very lucky because my brothers and sister didn’t have any hobbies that cost money like the dancing school one did. Because you not only got your dance lessons, you’d got your medal tests, your exams, your costumes and then when it came to the annual show, you’d got quite a number of costumes that all had to be paid for by your parents, so I was really very lucky that I was able to carry on. Dance shoes started off being at the Sign of Four, which obviously was a Nottingham shop, very close to the Theatre Royal. We always used to get shoes properly from there or Hardings Dancewear, again in Nottingham. The costumes were either made by our parents. My mother was a dressmaker, but she found it difficult to make a dancing costume because she was a perfectionist. It had to be done perfectly, which took more time than it needed to and for Dance Show you don’t have to have things finished off quite so much. For group numbers, we had ladies at the dance school that would make the costumes for the group.
I’ve got all my costumes up in my loft from when I was seven onwards. I haven’t looked at them for a while, but I can remember a little shorts and top and a coolie hat because we did Slow Boat to China. I can remember doing Me and My Teddy Bear, which is a little nightie. Of course our teddy bears had to go on stage with us. I did Painting the Sky with Sunshine and I had a little smock top and a little palette that my father made for me with his brush, showing the paints and the different colours. So many! I can’t remember any more at the moment.
From having attended dance schools from an early age, Beverley has always had a passion for theatre and performing. This has developed into a genuine love for the Theatre Royal, which shines through in her interview.
She has attended numerous shows over the years, more so since becoming a Premium Member of the Theatre Royal in 2013. She is also a regular participant in the venue’s dance classes and has even performed on the stage.
In this interview Beverley recounts some of her childhood memories from performing in local dance schools, such as The Edna Foster School of Dancing and the Christine March School of Dance.
Beverley also reveals how many of her costumes from this time, from when she was aged seven onwards, are still in her loft at home:
Edna Foster School of Dancing when I first started and when I was about 15, one of the pupils from Edna Foster’s took over the dancing school, she was only 16 at the time, but it was Christine March School of Dance and her dancing school is still going now at Kirkby in Ashfield and it’s being run by her daughter, now that Christine has retired. So I’ve kept in touch with Christine quite a number of times over the years. I went to see her dance shows and I’ve always been told by the choreographer of the amateur theatre group that we give musicals with, she had been a dancer and she always said that I had obviously been trained properly because the technique was still there from being younger. We didn’t have the chance to do a lot out of the dance school on stage like they are today. I still really enjoyed it and still carry it on because it was ingrained in me.
Looking back, I was actually very, very lucky because my brothers and sister didn’t have any hobbies that cost money like the dancing school one did. Because you not only got your dance lessons, you’d got your medal tests, your exams, your costumes and then when it came to the annual show, you’d got quite a number of costumes that all had to be paid for by your parents, so I was really very lucky that I was able to carry on. Dance shoes started off being at the Sign of Four, which obviously was a Nottingham shop, very close to the Theatre Royal. We always used to get shoes properly from there or Hardings Dancewear, again in Nottingham. The costumes were either made by our parents. My mother was a dressmaker, but she found it difficult to make a dancing costume because she was a perfectionist. It had to be done perfectly, which took more time than it needed to and for Dance Show you don’t have to have things finished off quite so much. For group numbers, we had ladies at the dance school that would make the costumes for the group.
I’ve got all my costumes up in my loft from when I was seven onwards. I haven’t looked at them for a while, but I can remember a little shorts and top and a coolie hat because we did Slow Boat to China. I can remember doing Me and My Teddy Bear, which is a little nightie. Of course our teddy bears had to go on stage with us. I did Painting the Sky with Sunshine and I had a little smock top and a little palette that my father made for me with his brush, showing the paints and the different colours. So many! I can’t remember any more at the moment.
Type
Oral interview
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall Nottingham
Contributor
Interviewers: Sue Threakall & Julia Holmes
Transcriber: David Chilton
Transcriber: David Chilton
