Mary Poppins on stage at city hall

GEORGE NEWS - Townsend School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance celebrates its 50th anniversary this year with the production Mary Poppins, showcased on Friday and Saturday, 11 and 12 November in the Civic Centre main hall.

Tickets cost R150 (adults) and R70 (kids under 12), with a matineé (15:00) and evening performance (19:00) on both days. Book tickets online at webticket.co.za or purchase from any Pick n Pay store countrywide.

Jennelle van Wyk and Rebekah Lahana share the lead role of Mary Poppins, and Bradley Zeelie dances the role of Bert. The production has a cast of 46 dancers, and will stretch over 90 minutes with an interval.

Two guest artists will add some magic to the show: former student Madeleine Janse van Rensburg, who currently teaches ballet in Kleinmond, will dance the role of Lead Dove, while the pianist Anna-Marie Buccholtz, who used to accompany Townsend's dancers during their exams, will dance the role of Bird Lady.

The production's timing is perfect for a night out before the start of the year-end exams. In Mary Poppins' own words: "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down".

Down memory lane

This is the ballet school's 21st production since Diana Townsend opened her studio doors in June 1972. Townsend retired from her career as a professional dancer due to injury. At the time of opening, it was the only school in the region to offer ballet classes to students of all race and colour.

In 1977 Diana mounted the school's first full-scale production, Midsummer Night's Dream. This was the starting point of many great productions to follow. Townsend's school helped to found the first George Youth Ballet for dancers in their late teens and early twenties, together with international stars such as Dudley Tomlinson and June Hattersley.

In partnership with Sheila Smith, Sheila Barwell, Merle Sepel and Ellen Bunting, the first George Eisteddfod was formed and the school won multiple awards through the years.

Rebekah Lahana, who shares the lead role of Mary Poppins, practising at the barre.

Scholarships

The school started a scholarship programme for outstanding students who could not afford to train in the classical art of ballet, providing them not only with tuition but uniform, transport, lunch as well as exam entry fees. Among the recipients is one of the school's current employees, Bradley Zeelie.

As a former student of Townsend, Zeelie made a few twirls on the international stage, whereafter he was recruited by Townsend in 2018 to start the school's contemporary programme. Zeelie meanwhile attained his classical teacher's qualification which he completed within 18 months.

The following year, 2019, Townsend School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance won gold for their performance of Mad World at a dance festival in Gqeberha. The piece also won the Adjudicators Choice Award. Zeelie was invited to perform as a guest artist for both classical and contemporary variations.

Aiming for perfection: Diana Townsend helps Jenelle van Wyk with final preparations for her role as Mary Poppins.

A scene from the production Mad World by Townsend School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, which won them gold for their performance at a dance festival in Gqeberha.