decade

Early RNZB Touring

Poul Gnatt building a set in the back yard of the family home in Sandringham, Auckland, 1953, photograph by Keith Woods

Poul Gnatt, mid-1950s, Gnatt family collection

Many early tours by the New Zealand Ballet were undertaken under the auspices of the Community Arts Service, a national network dedicated to promoting the arts in rural areas. With links to the University of New Zealand and a commitment to adult education, CAS was a vital support to many touring artists during the 1950s and through their local volunteers including billeting, helped to make dance, drama and music a viable career. Poul Gnatt is pictured at the wheel of a CAS truck in the early 1950s, essential for transporting costumes and scenery.

This 1959 photograph captures a classic ‘on tour’ moment, poised to set off. From left: Carol Fletcher, Jacqui Oswald, Vivi James, Poul Gnatt, Leon Draper, Ernie Crisp, Gloria Young, Stuart Hall, Nerida Nichols, Stan Hoare. Front: Ean Boyd, Graeme Pickering.

Dancer Marion Newman in costume for Les Sylphides. Marion (now Marion Dent) was a founding member of the New Zealand Ballet Company, performing in the fledgling company’s first appearances at the Playhouse Theatre on Karangahape Road in Auckland in June 1953, and then a few weeks later at His Majesty’s Theatre. Her early roles included ‘the Swan Queen’, as it was then described, in excerpts from Act II of Swan Lake. Marion ceased performing in 1957 but remained part of the ballet family, organising billeting for the dancers when they came to Hawke’s Bay in the 1960s and later founding the Friends of the Ballet, which since 1983 has provided practical support and advocacy for the RNZB, with members throughout New Zealand. Marion was the first President of the Friends and in the 1990s also served as a Trustee of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Musician Dorothea Franchi and Pamela Bishop-Williams on the CAS truck. Both were involved with the Company from its very earliest days, with Dorothea Franchi providing piano accompaniment for early performances and composed the popular Do-Wack-A-Do, a one act ballet choreographed by Arthur Turnbull, in 1961. She also on occasion conducted the orchestra. Pamela Bishop-Williams danced in the very first performances by the New Zealand Ballet and later married stage manager Ken Ling, who joined the Company in 1953.

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through the decades

Early RNZB Touring

The New Zealand Ballet was founded as a touring company and dancers, crew and especially the dance educators spend many hours travelling the country.

Early photos from on the road

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