2026: there is a significant anniversary to think about. It is exactly 110 years since the Ginner-Mawer School of Dance and Drama was established. The archival records don’t specify the exact month the doors first opened in 1916, but I assume the formal first day of school was in the autumn. In the run up, though, there must have been a tremendous amount of discussion and planning – and a great deal of excitement.
This was the year Miss Mawer and Miss Ginner formalised their partnership, creating a training ground that would eventually gain an international reputation: the Ginner-Mawer School of Dance and Drama.
The School’s curriculum came to be a masterclass in collaboration. Miss Ginner’s work in Revived Greek Dance provided the structural foundation, but it was the contribution of Miss Mawer that brought a new dimension to the training. By introducing her specialized methods in mime and the spoken word, the school achieved integration of movement and speech. When you look back at the old syllabus and programmes, you see a clear intention to produce performers who were “complete” artists, skilled in the rhythmic discipline that Miss Mawer championed throughout her career.
Even though the school’s physical doors closed in the 1950s, the 110th anniversary is a reminder of the sheer volume of work Ginner-Mawer accomplished. From their early days during the First World War to the decades of teaching that followed, Miss Mawer and Miss Ginner built a legacy of artistic excellence that is still worth studying today. It is a pleasure to keep these records alive and to see that, over a century later, the principles taught at Ginner-Mawer still hold historical weight.