Every week we receive some wonderful emails quizzing us on The Australian Ballet dancers’ feet, training regimes, lifestyles, diets, tutus, pointe shoes, and their life after ballet. Recently, one email in particular caught our eye. Blog reader Azura wrote to us about her great grandmother, a young vaudeville performer who was known as Babs St Clair the Musical Mascot …
Hello Mr Peasley,
My name is Azura (I know, I have the same name as that ship ). I am 13 and a ballet student. I don’t have a question for you, but I do want to share some pictures and some press clippings with you of my great grandmother, Josie Melville. My great grandmother spent most of her childhood on stage as a small vaudeville performer and in J. C. Williamson’s productions. Her first name was Elsie but her stage name was Babs St Clair the Musical Mascot. Babs was one of three girls chosen to be supernumeraries for Anna Pavlova‘s Adelaide tour in 1929. I have inherited my great grandmother’s press clippings book and a thesis written about her, which was going to be turned into a book. I will one day donate it to The Performing Arts Collection in Adelaide as we have been told that there is not another press clipping book like it. Babs’ dance teacher was Louise Larson and this is what she had to say about my great grandmother in 1923 in a journal called Pam:
“Another of my pupils, Bobby Helpmann, is in my opinion the future premier Australian dancer, and his sister Shelia is also far ahead of what one would expect from a child of her age, although her forte seems to be the speaking part of the stage.”
Further on in the same article:
“Miss Larson is training another brilliant child in Elsie St Clair for work abroad and is very enthusiastic concerning her.”
Louise Larson had started her dancing with J. C. Williamson when she was five years old. She had been taught dancing by Minnie Hooper and stage work by Jenny Brennan. In addition to Miss Larson’s teaching activities in Adelaide, her previous association with J. C. Williamson meant that she also appeared in their productions, such as Sally, in her own right as a dancer, and she also trained and provided dancers for the chorus line.
Babs St Clair only ever performed as a child and never did make it overseas.
Azura
Very whimsical pictures…and an amazing story
What a beautiful written piece by a 13 year old! Such a lovely history, and what a lucky child to receive such a valuable piece of dance history!
Wonderful to find some information on Babs St Clair, who is my g/g/g uncle Henry’s daughter. I would like to love to get in touch with Isabe
would like more info
Amazing story… well written and it’s great to know that a 13 year old can have such obvious passion for dance. Thank you for posting.
Thankyou for all your comments. Maureen Weston-Babs father’s name was Henry but he was mostly called Harry he was a barber and Babs mother’s name was Florence,Florence made stage makeup and was well known for it.