Ballet Twins by Jean Estoril
aka They danced in Bloomsbury Square by Mabel Esther Allan
published 1967
How have I missed this book? I would have enjoyed it so
much when I was young, but am still loving it now.
It was recommended in the comments on our recent post on
fictional schools
A New
Favourite Schoolboy: not called MacKenzie Bly
Louloureads wrote this: 'my very favourite fictional school is from a book no-one ever seems to have read, Jean Estoril's Ballet Twins. It's about two working class girls from Birkenhead who win scholarships to the prestigious Lingeraux Ballet Academy in London. They stay at a boarding house, another setting I have apparently always loved! I reread Ballet Twins a few years ago after finding a second-hand copy and the magic more or less held up, which is not the case for all my childhood favourites...'
And then CLM answered her:
'I also love that Mabel Esther
Allan/Jean Estoril Ballet Twins book, LouLou. In the US, it was
published as We Danced in Bloomsbury Square. I borrowed it frequently from the
library and finally got my own copy as an adult. MEA's The Ballet Family and
The Ballet Family Again (aka The Dancing Garlands, I think) are also excellent
(my other favorites of hers are Time to Go Back, Romansgrove, and Lost
Lorrenden). I took one year of ballet but it was not as transformative as in
books, so I retired to my books'
Back to me. So obviously I ordered it immediately, and absolutely loved
it. It had so much going for it – including being set initially near where I
grew up. The twins live in Birkenhead and go to dancing class in Liverpool, and
the journey is real, with proper street names and very exact details of the
journey (ferry in summer, train in winter). It was delightfully familiar.
The family is warm and loving and not well-off. The two
talented twins, Debby and Dorrie, will need scholarships to attend a
prestigious school in London. Given the nature of the book, its obvious this is
going to be sorted out, but the author still manages to create considerable
jeopardy in the process.
They set off to London – they are very young, just around
13 when the story gets going, so stay with an aunt who has a boarding house. Their
attic room is cold, and a bit dismal, but: ‘then I saw the top of a bus and
caught another glimpse of Bedford Square. It was a room in London and suddenly
– though I was cold, homesick and rather frightened – it had a kind of
romance.’ I guarantee that would have been me if I’d ever got the chance to do
something so outlandish as move to London to pursue ballet.
So we have stage school, AND boarding house – I agree with
Louloureads, a great combo. The twins are far from identical and have different
personalities and dancing styles, which does cause problems. I thought the
conversations and the feelings were very realistic, convincing, and the life of
the girls was absorbing. I loved the moment where something has gone wrong, and
Dorrie (who narrates) says she felt terrible for Debbie… but then ‘after a time
I didn’t care so much about Debbie, but only about my own shame and
disappointment.’ As I say: realistic.
A situation arises which resembles one in Antonia
Forest’s End of Term, in regard to twins (both books) and their casting.
There is a rather splendid older cousin living with them,
Linda, who is off enjoying life, not very worried about dancing or studying. Or
the state of the world:
“All this talk about atom bombs and world troubles… I can’t do anything. Can you see me sitting down in Trafalgar Square, or taking part in one of those protest marches?”
“No I can’t, Miss” said Aunt Eileen. “Not in those shoes, or in your lack of sensible underclothes. You’d get your death if you sat down for five minutes.”
This is Trafalgar Square a few years later, and some of
these young people definitely might catch their death:
The book does break a golden rule of stage books mind you: one of the girls trips over and ricks her ankle. And she just – recovers. No-one says ‘will she ever dance again?’ No-one worries that she will miss out on dancing her big moment. She doesn’t have to have a dangerous operation to fix it. It’s just like she banged her elbow. Has Jean Estoril/MEA not READ any other ballet books? But I forgive her, as it’s the only lack in the story.
Stories about ballet schools were very popular in girls’ comics of the era – this is from Diana in 1965
I always loved the Pamela Brown Swish of the Curtain
books, and particularly Golden Pavements: also dealing with young people
heading off to their uncertain stage future (acting rather than dancing) and coping
with life.
And of course Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes is an
ur-text here, along with Wintle’s Wonders, which triggered the original
discussion.
And there are a LOT more stage school stories on the blog… there’s
a few under this link
The author is, as CLM says, actually Mabel Esther Allan,
who has featured on the blog with other books.
The attic is almost like the one inhabited by The Little
Princess in Frances Hodgson Burnett’s important book.
All books mentioned here can be found on the blog via the
search box.
I am sure I will reread this book, and I am very grateful to Loulou and Costance for putting me on to it.
Top picture is weirdly modern (around 2000) but most certainly had the look
2023-100-4-2-2-Quinte ballet | Six ballet dancers. One of a … | Flickr
Audition picture is from a Noel Streatfeild annual.
Rachel Cameron adjusting ballet shoes | Title devised by cat… | Flickr
Protest from a few years later
GLF
Youth Group demonstration against age of consent at 21… | Flickr
This sounds fabulous - but no career-ending injury, as you say Moira, is odd! Partly it sounds a little like Veronica at the Wells living in a boarding-house where there's a couple of older lodgers. I think it's run by someone she knows, rather than a relative.
ReplyDeleteChristine
Someone else online has mentioned those Wells books - I must revisit!
DeleteBallet wasn't one of my dreams but the general ambience here sounds interesting. Were ballet books mostly a British interest? I don't remember any from my younger days, but maybe I was too wrapped up in horsey books. In the top pic: I admit to knowing next to nothing about ballet, but the dancer's arms look strange to me. (Is that the Praying Mantis Position?)
ReplyDeleteThe ports de bras are usually numbered. This looks a bit like third, but ballet is of course not static but fluid. The picture gives me the impression of being of the corps de ballet of Fokine's Les Sylphides.
DeleteClare
I couldn't' have done ballet to save my life, but still loved the books. Interesting thing if they were just Brit.
Deleteas I say, the pic is surprisingly modern - perhaps things have changed? they have a faint look of the showgirls we were recently discussing: just the arms, looking as if they might be moving one after another
It looks very classical to me, the scraped-back hair and the Romantic tutus. Les Sylphides dates from the first decade of the 20th century, but it's still in the repertoire. It's a lovely ballet blanc set to music by Chopin. Go and see it when you get a chance. It's only a short ballet, about 30 minutes, so it's usually on a mixed bill with other short ballets.
DeleteClare
I just realized that I referred to the wrong picture. I meant the drawing with the caption. The girls in the top photo look natural, the girl in the drawing has the strange-looking arms,
DeleteClare: https://clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2013/09/clothes-in-books-louis-macneice.html
DeleteMarty: Oh dear, she's not going to pass her audition if she doesn't meet your standards 😉😉😉
Lovely! Now I've seen this picture, I understand why you consider the one above modern. The thirties hairdos are very distinctive, but the dancers who premiered the ballet thirty years earlier will have had different coiffures again. Every time has its own version of timeless, and we can only see what dates it when fashion has moved on.
DeleteIngrid
That's me, Clare. I usually use my second name on the net. My first name is Ingrid.
DeleteExactly - I'm sure those dancers at 20/30 year intervals all thought they had undatable classic style, whereas they are very much of their own time to us. Historical films the same....
DeleteMake-up must be a good indicator of period as well as hairstyles.
DeleteSovay
Yes very true. The pale lipsticks of the 1960s feature in a lot of historical films and series....
DeleteHonestly, Moira, as soon as I saw this takes place in a ballet school, I got interested. What a great setting! The characters sound interesting, too. I do wonder about that injury trope, though. I actually sort of like that it isn't career-ending. It's a different sort of thing, if that makes sense.
ReplyDeleteYes Margot - any stage school does it for me. And it is a refreshing change for a ricked ankle not to be life-changing
DeleteOh, I'm so glad you enjoyed this one! Linda is a lot of fun and I really enjoyed her relationship with her mum when I reread it. I also liked the fact there is a boy in Dorrie's friendship group whose family thinks it's a bit weird that he wants to be a ballet dancer, yet they still support him and he isn't riddled with angst about it. It struck a very realistic note for me. And I loved watching the twins discover London and make their home there. I think it might be time for me to revisit Ballet Shoes next...
ReplyDeleteYes, there was so much to enjoy in this book, I am very grateful to you. And Ballet Shoes always works too.
DeleteWhen a dancer twists her ankle... You're going to go out there a youngster, but you'll come back a star!
ReplyDeleteVery good point, that's the extra trope!
DeleteI liked a book called Ballet for Laura by Linda Blake when I was young. I searched for it, and it appears that Linda Blake was another of Jean Estoril/Mabel Esther Allan’s pen names. I did enjoy ballet class while having no illusions about my level of talent, and I enjoyed this book and its sequel.
ReplyDeleteNerys
My goodness she was a busy lady. I ought to read more of her ballet books for comparison purposes.
DeleteSo glad you enjoyed this, Moira! Ballet, boarding house, London, twins (one selfish, one kind), a uniform (the Lingeraux colours were grey and royal blue and there was a coat, grey with a vivid blue lining, a grey pleated skirt and a neat little jacket, several royal blue blouses and a sweater in the same colour. There was also a dark blue raincoat, a royal blue beret with a silver badge, a big fluffy scarf and also, of course, our dancing tunics, two each.) I am sure I have read in multiple books about girls being forced to turn down scholarships because the clothes were not included. (with boys, the family seems to scrape the funds together or am I being unfair?). The Lingeraux School turns up in some of MAE's other books, including, I think, the Drina series.
ReplyDeleteIn these older books, the boys do always seem to need a "good" education, I suppose because of the contacts they can make at school. (The subjects taught there don't seem to be very practical, anyway--how many of these boys will ever have to write Greek in their adult lives?) I remember that in the Provincial Lady and the Mrs Tim books, there seemed to be more concern and care for the boys than for the girls. Maybe just my impression, though!
DeleteConstance, I am so grateful to both of you for bringing this book to my attention, I loved it. I love a list of clothes someone needs for school, they are so enthralling to read. I have passed this on - when I started the blog many years ago, I asked my daughter for ideas, and the first thing she said was 'the list of school clothes for the Fossil girls in Ballet Shoes'.
DeleteMarty - I think undoubtedly many families thought boys' education more important than girls. And if you looked at in a purely pragmatic way, that is quite logical. Girls will get married, and it might even be that men don't want over-educated women...
Yes, there are certainly lots of nasty remarks about "clever women"in GA mysteries--not ot mention the down That Angela Thirkell had on women who'd been to university! But some kind of preparation for life could have been made for girls, considering that not all of them would be married. Think of the dearth of young men after WW1. How could there have been enough husbands to go around?!
DeleteThere was always teaching, nursing and being a secretary - the classic choices back in the day
DeleteGreat uniform list - the royal blue blouses are a bit out of the ordinary!
DeleteThere was the prejudice against “clever” women, and also the idea that women who managed to get jobs outside the usual teaching/nursing/typing roles - not forgetting domestic service as well - were taking those jobs away from men who had a better right to them, and who needed the higher wages because they had families to support. No recognition of the fact that plenty of women had financial dependents too …
Sovay
Indeed, many of the considerations were ridiculous
DeleteAnd even nursing and being a secretary were partly approved of as good ways to meet a man who could provide for you if you were a lower-middle-class or striving working-class woman.
DeleteI went to school and started work as things were changing. Certainly, my female contemporaries learnt early on to dress so that they were not automatically assumed to be the secretary.
What shocks me is the number of stories from women just a decade or so older than me about schools which didn't tell their female pupils about the importance of getting Maths O level for university or getting jobs.
The headmistress of my (all girls) school strongly discouraged us from learning to type, on the grounds that any woman who admitted being able to do so could expect to be relegated to a role consisting principally of typing up the far more interesting work of her male colleagues.
DeleteSovay
Girls schools varied a lot in my day.
DeleteI do remember discussions among girls doing secretarial - try to get a job somewhere like an engineering office, where there would be a lot of men around, rather than in say a dept store office.
I learned to touchtype but didn't tell people - but then it became incredibly useful when computer keyboards came in
I was also a huge fan of ballet school stories and would have loved ballet lessons (I would have been terrible - I was a stocky child and can't tell left from right). I never came across this book but I did read all the Jean Estoril Drina series. The early books were great (the uniform! The cloaks with red lining for the London school and green lining for the "exiles" at the branch in the Chilterns) but I went off the later books when Drina decided to marry a very dull American, and went on tour to the north and was scathing about places like Rochdale. I also liked the Lorna Hill series (Veronica at the Wells etc) though I read them all out of order from the library.
ReplyDeleteSusanna
Yep, for me: can't dance or sing - loved a stage school story. Can't swim well, would hate sailing and camping - bring on those Swallows and Amazons books. I still dont really understand it.
DeleteI guess we liked the structured nature of those books?
I never got into ballet, in literature or real life - read and quite enjoyed one of the Lorna Hill books, but wasn’t hooked and headed back to the pony books. I wouldn’t count Ballet Shoes as a ballet book per se, despite the title - Posy’s the only Fossil who really focused on ballet, and she’s the one whose career we hear least about.
DeleteSovay
Rather touchingly, Madame Fidolia, who owned and ran the school, really wanted it to be a traditional classic ballet academy, but there wasn't the call for it, so they spread into other types of stage activity
DeleteThis has prompted me to do a little Mabel Esther Allan research. I didn't realise she was Jean Estoril , whose ballet books I loved. I have by no means read all her books but my favourite was Catrin in Wales, written as MEA.
ReplyDeleteIt is set round Llangollen in a mixed school where the students have a real say in the running of the school - so different from the girl's school I attended. But there a fair bit about the Eistedffod, too. I had been to Llangollen and I sang in the school choir so , despite not speaking or being Welsh , I harboured dreams of going to a democratically run mixed school and singing in the Eistedffod . It helped me accept that my dreams of being a ballerina were not to be....obvs my singing career didn't take off, either. JanW
This a bit niche ,I know. I was also fascinated by the Bardic robes, easily (!) recreated from sheets and towels at home. Well, easier than trying to create a convincing ballet tutu. Llangollen is the site of the musucal festival but there are other Eistedffod festival celebrating poetry and other aspects of Welsh culture and history. MEA range was wide and sge her liberal education ideas in Catrin in Wales were based on the radical Summerhill school experiment in England. JanW
Deletethat's fascinating, Jan, she really ranged widely didn't she? I think if I'd read that one I'd have chosen that school too.
DeleteThough I'm not sure Summerhill was all it was cracked out to be. This is a memoir by someone who attended
https://clothesinbooks.blogspot.com/2014/07/a-conversation-about-happiness-by-mikey.html
I would have loved these books as a child and am delighted to discover them now, especially the Ballet Family. I did take ballet, and loved it, but I grew too tall in one massive growth spurt at 13, besides not having a good sense of rhythm. Ever since the growth spurt I have been clumsy, not knowing where my elbows are--you'd think that in all the time since, I would have got used to the new shape & size of me! As a child I would have loved trying to recreate the uniforms for my dolls.
DeleteIt's impressive how enjoyable they can be for adults.
DeleteI loved doing things with my cutout paper dolls