Tribute to Lady Mary David: A breathtaking classical ballet show

Save the date for a unique breathtaking ballet concert. The Tribute to Lady Mary David show is scheduled for this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Indian Culture (IGCIC), Phoenix.  Her lifelong dedication and passion for classical ballet has touched a lot of lives over the years. Lady Mary David is known for having been among the first to have introduced the beautiful art on the island. Her huge contribution to classical ballet in Mauritius was greatly applauded and has, till now, not been forgotten. Tribute to Lady Mary David is thus a classic and semi-classic ballet show, set up by her daughters Teresa and Jane to pay due tribute to her. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"18513","attributes":{"class":"media-image aligncenter wp-image-31605","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"689","height":"196","alt":"Tribute to Lady Mary David"}}]] Known for her passion for ballet and her famous full length ballet productions, such as Nutcracker, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty and Mamzelle Angot, at the Plaza Theatre as well as at the Port Louis Theatre, Lady Mary David has left a considerable legacy to the public. She worked alongside Serge Constantin, who designed beautiful decors. She also produced the first ballet on the national television station in 1965. Her art and passion still lives through the David Academy of Dancing, in Phoenix, where her daughter Teresa has been teaching promising local dancers since 2001. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"18514","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-31606 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"200","height":"261","alt":"Tribute to Lady Mary David"}}]]Fifty dancers, mostly students from the David Academy of Dancing, will perform on stage during the show which will feature excerpts from past productions such as The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, La Sonnambula and Gisele. The one hour and forty-five minutes show, organised in collaboration with Immedia, will take place at the Indira Gandhi Centre for Indian Culture (IGCIC), Phoenix on Friday 3rd June and Saturday 4th June at 8pm and on Sunday 5th June at 2pm. Tickets are available and on sale on the Rezo Ôtayo at Rs 800 and Rs 500 (half price for children under 12). For more information call on 466 9999.

Who is Lady Mary David?

Lady Mary Doreen David (born Mahoney) was born from an English mother and an Irish father on the 22 of February 1922 in London, UK. She met and married Sir Marc David in London and arrived in Mauritius in the early fifties. She gave birth to six children, (three boys & three girls), the eldest one born in the UK. Lady David taught classical ballet. She started teaching soon after her arrival in Mauritius and most especially in the late 1960’s in the lounge of the family house in Quatre Bornes with the Hillview Ballet School. The response was such that she had to rent a studio to accommodate the growing number of students. Lady David retired in 1982 and was appointed Member of the Star and Key by the government. There are now four RAD teachers in Mauritius amongst whom Jane David and Teresa David, both daughters of Lady David. The David Academy of Dancing, located in Phoenix, opened in 2001 and welcomes some 200 students. Teresa is still teaching at the David Academy of Dancing in Phoenix. Lady David passed away on the morning of her 87th birthday on the 22 of February 2009.