Ballet448 Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 (edited) We are looking for a home for a collection of over 300 vintage dance magazines (Dancing Times and Dance & Dancers) mainly from the 1950s and 1960s, with some dating back to the 1940s and a few from the 1970s. These are fascinating reading for anyone interested in the history and development of ballet in the UK and are in very good condition. There is also a collection of over 100 ballet and dance books dating from the 1930s until just a few years ago. Everything is free of charge (we just want them to go to people who'll enjoy them) although if possible we would ask you to collect the items you want (easy access location in South East England). Sadly, if we can't find anyone to take them, the magazines will end up going into the recycling, which seems an awful waste. If you are interested in taking anything, or would like more details, please PM me. Edited December 17, 2019 by Ballet448 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 I hope you find a home for these, Ballet448. Might it be worth offering them to a dance library if not? e.g. the RAD library - see https://www.royalacademyofdance.org/about-us/the-philip-richardson-library/contact-faqs/faq/ and I'm sure there are others. They may not want all of them, but they might take them on the grounds that they could sell the rest and that would raise funds for them. Or they might suggest other possible recipients. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Westminster Reference Library, perhaps, if there's anything they haven't got? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katharine kanter Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Please contact me by MP. I have friends who are VERY interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballet448 Posted December 19, 2019 Author Share Posted December 19, 2019 Many thanks to everyone for their kind suggestions. I have replied to all PMs received. Unfortunately it seems that dance libraries aren't interested, as they already have complete collections and don't need partial ones like these - at least that's what we've found so far, but we can certainly keep trying. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Hi, Ballet448. I sent you a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballet448 Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Many thanks to everyone who has replied. All the magazines are now spoken for - my apologies if anyone is disappointed. It was a pleasant surprise that so many people were interested and it's very nice to know that the magazines can be of real use. The 120 books are currently being listed. Once that's done I will send the details to all the people who have expressed interest in them and post again here in case anyone else would like the information. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopelessMummy Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 You don't happen to have the drina ballerina series by Jean estoril at all please? I read these as a child but can't find them for my DD. Many thanks x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballet448 Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 (edited) 18 hours ago, HopelessMummy said: You don't happen to have the drina ballerina series by Jean estoril at all please? I read these as a child but can't find them for my DD. Many thanks x Sorry, no - no children's books. Good luck trying to find them! Edited December 23, 2019 by Ballet448 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballet448 Posted December 23, 2019 Author Share Posted December 23, 2019 I have now sent the list of books to everyone who has already PMed me about them. The books are going fast, but if you are interested please feel free to PM me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Ballet448 said: I have now sent the list of books to everyone who has already PMed me about them. The books are going fast, but if you are interested please feel free to PM me. I'm so glad you're finding homes for the mags and books, Ballet448! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopelessMummy Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Ballet448 said: Sorry, no - no children's books. Good luck trying to find them! Thanks. Have PM'd you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 20 hours ago, HopelessMummy said: You don't happen to have the drina ballerina series by Jean estoril at all please? I read these as a child but can't find them for my DD. Many thanks x There seem to be quite a lot on AbeBooks: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&an=estoril&tn=&kn=drina&isbn= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Ooh I remember those Drina books... Drina at the Wells....that alongside pictures of Margot Fonteyn & her peers just inspired me so much to just want to dance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopelessMummy Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 10 hours ago, bridiem said: There seem to be quite a lot on AbeBooks: https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&cm_sp=SearchF-_-home-_-Results&an=estoril&tn=&kn=drina&isbn= Thank you. I'll take a look. I've been trying to find this series for years! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 1 hour ago, Peanut68 said: Ooh I remember those Drina books... Drina at the Wells....that alongside pictures of Margot Fonteyn & her peers just inspired me so much to just want to dance! I think you may be conflating two series. The Wells series was by Lorna Hill. The Drina series was by Jean Estoril (a pen-name for Mabel Esther Allen). It was the Wells books, especially the earlier ones, that mentioned real-life dancers such as Fonteyn as role-models for the heroines who aspired to join the Wells. The Drina books featured a fictional ballet company called the Dominick & as far as I recall didn't mention real-life dancers. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Oh that slightly shatters my little girl memories..... I was sure Drina got to live out my dream & joined the Wells Ballet School (I equated to RBS) then the company 😃 In the ‘Wells’ books was there one main lead character? Funny how some snippets from books remain with you...& do indeed seem part of ones own character! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 11 hours ago, Peanut68 said: Oh that slightly shatters my little girl memories..... I was sure Drina got to live out my dream & joined the Wells Ballet School (I equated to RBS) then the company 😃 In the ‘Wells’ books was there one main lead character? Funny how some snippets from books remain with you...& do indeed seem part of ones own character! I think Veronica was a lead character in the Wells books (which for some reason I never read/discovered). And I only read and enjoyed the Drina books later - maybe I was in my twenties. But you're right - bits from books do stay with you for ever, though sometimes the source/s might get confused. What matters is the power of the effect. I loved the two Ballet Family books by Mabel Esther Allan (Jean Estoril) and they influenced me very strongly - about ballet yes, but also about all sorts of other things including London and Paris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnstar Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 12 hours ago, Peanut68 said: Oh that slightly shatters my little girl memories..... I was sure Drina got to live out my dream & joined the Wells Ballet School (I equated to RBS) then the company 😃 In the ‘Wells’ books was there one main lead character? Not through the whole series. It started with Veronica then moved through Caroline (Veronica's cousin), Jane, Ella, Rosanna, Fazia, Sylvia, Vicki (Veronica's daughter), Nona, Anna & Vanessa. Some of them only feature in one book and some re-appear in several. Not all of them "make it" as dancers & the amount of dance content is fairly small in some of the later books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted December 24, 2019 Share Posted December 24, 2019 I can never walk down tree Embankment without looking up at Red brick Mansion Blocks & wondering which one Drina lived in (with her Grandpatrjrs??) & imagining terrible pea souper fogs over the Thames as described in the book! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redshoesgirl2 Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 On 22/12/2019 at 05:34, HopelessMummy said: You don't happen to have the drina ballerina series by Jean estoril at all please? I read these as a child but can't find them for my DD. Many thanks x they are on Amazon US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ballet448 Posted December 29, 2019 Author Share Posted December 29, 2019 Returning to the original topic 😊, just want to let everybody know that all the books as well as the magazines are now spoken for. It's wonderful to know that they are going to good homes where they will be enjoyed and will help with some excellent research projects. Many thanks again for all the interest and support - and Happy New Year! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopelessMummy Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 😊loved the reminiscing of the drina series. And lovely for you to offer all those books and magazines xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiz Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 @HopelessMummy I found them on ABE but they aren’t cheap plus it’s nearly £15 postage as they are in Australia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopelessMummy Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 I'll take a look . Thanks so much x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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