Mothers to Perform & Erica Doughty. 14 January 1936

Derby Evening Telegraph
14 January 1936

Mothers to Perform & Miss Erica Doughty

The newspaper clipping for today’s blog post is a very strange one indeed, written in a very chatty style – presumably the gossip column or something similar.

The first paragraph talks about a forthcoming dancing display by members of Miss Vera Smart and Miss Constance Gray’s “keep fit” class at the Central Hall (presumably in Derby). The women are taking part – even though many of them are mothers! The person writing the column is looking forward to the Greek dancing as it promised to be ‘very lovely’. Miss Smart ‘is the only associate teacher of (Ruby Ginner’s) revived Greek dances in Derby’.

Miss Smart’s niece, Erica Doughty, was also due to take part in the dance performance. It seems that she was very young, but even so, was the principal of the Rainer Doughty School of Dancing of Ipswich and Norwich. She was also an examiner of the Institute of Mime.

So far, in my research, I have not come across any of the women mentioned in this article, but with the Greek and mime connections, I would guess that they were Ginner-Mawer students.