Letter from Marie Rambert to my mother

My mother studied ballet with Marie Rambert for many years. Unfortunately for mum, Grandad refused to let his daughters go on stage, so she was never to realise her dream of becoming a professional ballerina. 

Here, Marie Rambert commiserates with her that she must give up ballet because of a ‘breakdown’. In reality, my mother had discovered she was pregnant with my oldest brother, but was too afraid to admit it to Rambert despite being respectably married! 

Transcript

Dear Hazel,

I am so distressed to hear you have had a breakdown and that it lasted so long. I do hope you are really well now.

It is an awful pity you have to give up ballet after having worked so hard at it and improved so well. But I daresay, an hour of ballet – a hard, private lesson on top of all your work – was more than you should have done.

When you are really well again perhaps you could just come in to the Saturday class once a fortnight so as just to keep up what you have learned. But then I am sure it would induce you to practise on your own every night, and that would be bad for you. 

Look after yourself and come to see us sometime. I hope you have good news of your husband. 

love to you

M Rambert