The statues are called caryatids, and these two are the real deal, in the Acropolis Museum in Athens. Their copies are on the Acropolis, where the original six sisters originated. They are not part of the Parthenon, rather they are part of the temple called the Erechtheion, which is near
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Helga Bejach was a little girl who was forced to leave Germany at the start of the Second World War. Her mother had died sometime previously, so it was her father who made the difficult decision to send Helga and her sister, Irene, away, hopefully to keep them safe. Helga’s
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At last, a day came to which I had been looking forward to for a year. The ancient ruins at Delphi. I had been looking forward to this day in particular, as Delphi is closely connected with Irene Mawer. In 1930, the Ginner-Mawer School were invited to perform in the
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Next year (2026) wll be the 110th anniversary of the birth of the Ginner-Mawer School of Dance and Drama.I am looking for suggestions of how to celebrate it – any ideas, please, anyone? At the moment I am undertaking my mini-pilgrimage to Greece, so I won’t be repeating that in
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In 1930, Miss Mawer went to Athens! About 40 people, all connected with the Ginner-Mawer School of Dance and Drama, went with her. The school gave performances at two theatres, one of which was (and still is) an open-air theatre on the Acropolis, next to the Parthenon. My husband, Andy,
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In a few days time, I will visit the grave of Robert Jacomb Norris Dale, Irene Mawer’s first husband. Robert was killed in action very close to the end of World War One. He died in Italy and is buried near Venice. I don’t know if Irene ever visited, perhaps
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Christchurch Press, 1 September 1922 Irene Mawer’s influence reached right over to the other side of the world. In New Zealand, Mildred Peters (later, Mildred Robley-Browne) opened her own school of dancing, dramatic art, and mime. Having trained at Ginner-Mawer, Mildred knew the importance of mime as the underpinning of
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The Stage and Television Today, 20 December 1962 Shortly before Christmas 1962, Irene Mawer died of a stroke. The obituary describes Irene as having been one of the most remarkable English mimes of her day. It also points out her other great passion in life – teaching, and acknowledges that
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Milton Keynes, 3 November 2024 I was extremely pleased and honoured to be invited to the Ruby Ginner Awards. I had never been before and it was an extremely interesting day. The event is held by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) Classical Greek Faculty. The ISTD is
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It would have been a huge event for anyone to appear on the television in 1936. The Ginner-Mawer School would have, without a doubt, been thrilled to have appaeared on the BBC. You may wonder why I have included a performance of Classical Greek Dance in an article about Irene
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