Joan Campbell in a Carol Bateman Production, Mid-1950s

Mon, 06/26/2023 - 03:09

Carol Bateman presented a few shows at the Lee Theater in Hong Kong around the mid 1950's, performed by her students.  The above photo showed the group from one of the dance numbers, taken in 1955 or 1956 in Miss Bateman's studio at the Helena May Institute.  Joan Campbell is the person standing in the center of the photo with her arms upstretched.  Kneeling directly in front of her is Linda Wu, whose father, well-known Hong Kong photographer Francis Wu, took some of the photos from these different performances.  I was in another group dance number in this production, dressed as a leaf to the music of Rustle of Spring.  We also performed a dance to the music of The Swedish Rhapsody.

I first started ballet lessons with Miss Bateman when she taught an introductory ballet course at Maryknoll Convent School in Kowloon Tong sometime in 1952 or 1953.  When that course ended, I continued my classes with her at the Helena May Institute.  At that time a Miss Hart was teaching the ballet classes alongside Miss Bateman.  They were working on an upcoming production of Mother Goose based on the nursery rhyme characters.  The second half of that show featured different dances, in which I performed a solo dance about a Portuguese fishergirl.  Some of us who performed at this show were invited to Francis Wu's studio in Gloucester Building to have our photos taken in full costume.

Date picture taken
1950s