Parties and first date
4th November, 2007
My dear Jeremy,
I have not been doing very well with my memories of late - have been overwhelmed by apples and pears. God has been over-generous with his bounty this year. I have been watching the television programme called 'Strictly Come Dancing' and this reminded me of how I loved to dance.
Parties at my Smith Grandparent's house would often see the large dining room table moved to one side and everyone would dance while Uncle Ellie would play on his little concertina or an aunt would play the piano. My Father was a good dancer he was very light on his feet and he taught me to dance.
When I was little I would just dance on my own round and round the room twisting and turning and waving my arms about quite oblivious of my audience.
I always longed to have ballet lessons but when eventually Iverna went to ballroom dancing classes she said she would pay for me to have dancing lessons too. The teacher said I was too old to do ballet so I did tap dancing instead. The dancing school was in the same building where my Grandfather has his tailoring business called Fitwell Tailors. I would catch the bus from Orange Grove where the bus stopped outside my door to pick me up and take me to the Market Square from where I walked up Oxford Street to my class. I always popped in to greet Grandpa Young. This was before I went to High School so it must have been 1938 / 39.
I once danced in a concert in the Town Hall with a troupe. We were dressed as soldiers. This was after the second World War had begun so probably 1940.
While at high School I attended ballroom dancing classes for girls and boys given by a married couple in the town. That was a very happy time. The boys came from Selborne College, our brother school across the way from Girls High. Once a year they gave a Ball which was special as we all dressed in long evening dresses and the boys all smart in their ties and school blazers. These were special times.
While I attended these classes my Father would wait for me by going to the Capital Bioscope where coffee and tea were served. At other times I stayed with the Trennery family, who had then moved to live in town having given up farming.Their daughter Zelda also attended the dance classes.
At Girls' High two Balls were given every year, one for those writing Junior Certificate and one was a Farewell for those writing matriculation which was the school leaving certificate. My Mother made me a new evening dress for each occasion. For JC, a blue spotted dimity and for Matric, a white taffeta with a pink artificial flower pinned down one side of the neckline. I have that dress but not the flower. I can't remember who my first partner was but the second one was a blonde rugby player from Selborne on whom I had a bit of a crush at the time. The dances were formal and we each had a programme with a little tasselled pencil attached. We filled in the names of the boys who had asked for a dance with us.
Once a very serious boy from Selborne College invited me to their dance. He did not have much conversation but he gave me a copper heart he had made with my initial on it. I still have that copper heart.
At Rhodes there were Balls in the Great Hall, a large very old building. Chalk was sprinkled on the floor to make it smooth and slippery by the end of the night it would be rising in clouds and our hair and clothes were covered by a fine layer of white dust. These were also formal dances. Your Father and I had happy times dancing there. It was great fun.