Drina's Dancing Friends Trivia Quiz

Answer: Jenny Pilgrim

Meeting Jenny Pilgrim on her first day at a new school would change Drina's life. Drina had always felt a need to dance, but her grandparents, who had cared for her since her parents' deaths when she was very young, had always discouraged her instinct. Jenny's mother was very enthusiastic about ballet, and Jenny attended classes in a nearby dancing school, despite her reluctance to dance and expressed preference for farming.

Jenny and Drina became firm friends, and eventually Drina's grandmother was persuaded to let Drina join the class with Jenny, although she insisted that it was 'just for fun' and there 'was no question of her making a career in dancing'. Drina carried on dancing after Jenny had been allowed to drop the classes, and the girls remained best friends.

This part of Drina's story is told in "Ballet for Drina", which was first published in 1957.

Answer: Jannetta Selswick

Jannetta Selswick was 'Madame' at the ballet school. Drina had promised to work hard, despite what her grandmother had said, and she showed promise of becoming a good dancer, being picked for leading roles in the dancing school's summer shows.

Jenny and Drina wondered why Drina's grandmother was so unenthusiastic about Drina's dancing. They decided that Drina's mother must have been a dancer, and that dancing must have been responsible for her death. They assumed that she was probably a poor dancer in a third-rate company.

After a couple of years at the Elleray School, and taking the ballet classes, Drina was told that she would be leaving the small Midlands town, and moving to London with her grandparents, and that there would be no more dancing classes. Drina was devastated.

This is also included in the first half of "Ballet for Drina".

Answer: Adele Whiteway

Despite her initial reluctance, Drina learned to love London, and the flat near the Thames at Westminster where she lived with her grandparents. She could soon find her way round quite easily, and made friends with some of the girls at her new school, although they all seemed much more interested in horse-riding and ice-skating than ballet.

Drina could not give up dancing and practised, as best she could, at home, using the towel rail in the bathroom as a barre. She spent her birthday money on ballet books in a shop near her home. Going out afterwards, she found that it had become very foggy, and she couldn't find her way. A lady, whom she had seen in the bookshop, offered to help, and since the bookseller had told her about the lady's past as a ballerina, Drina accepted the offer of a warm drink and snack before continuing on her way.

Adele Whiteway had suffered an injury which meant that she had given up dancing, and now made a career of designing sets for ballet companies. She offered Drina the chance to practice at her house, and Drina accepted with alacrity, although she didn't tell her grandparents.

Drina's early months in London are covered in the second half of "Ballet for Drina".

Answer: Rose Conway

Drina was asked, at the last minute, to take over a dancing part in her new school's Christmas entertainment. Her grandparents were surprised at how well she performed and decided that she would have to be allowed dancing classes again.

Drina was thrilled, and spent her Christmas money on two tickets to see the ballet at Covent Garden. During the interval, Drina was surprised when a well-known ballet author spoke to them, and then mentioned that Drina's mother had been a very famous ballerina, known as Elizabeth Ivory, who had danced with the Igor Dominick Company.

An audition was arranged for Drina at the Dominick school. Nearly all the girls and boys were very nervous; a nice girl called Rose Conway sat next to Drina while they waited for the audition, and her mother talked to Adele Whiteway, who was escorting Drina. One boy told everybody that he just wanted to be a pilot; he wasn't accepted. Another girl, Queenie Rothington, was convinced that they would beg her on bended knees to join them, since her mother had been a dancer with the company. She was accepted, as were both Rose and Drina.

Drina vowed not to mention her own mother. If she was any good as a dancer she would make her own way. If she wasn't good enough, she didn't want people saying they expected better of Ivory's daughter.

"Drina's Dancing Year", first published in 1958, tells about Drina's audition for the Dominick school.

Answer: Emilia Riante

After a successful year at the Dominick school, Drina's grandfather had to go to Australia on business. He and her grandmother would be away for the rest of the year, because his health hadn't been good, and the sea voyages would be beneficial for him. They had arranged for Drina to attend the Dominick's residential school at Chalk Green in Buckinghamshire; she would spend her holidays with the Pilgrim family in Willerbury.

On arriving at Chalk Green, Drina found that all the dormitories were named after famous dancers, and she was to be in Ivory, with five other girls. The twins, Joan and Sue, from the north of England, Hildegarde, from southern Germany, and Emilia, from northern Italy, were all very friendly. Christine Gifford was very unfriendly, and not just to Drina; she thought everybody should like and admire her because her mother used to be a dancer.

Drina found it very hard to settle to life in the country, but eventually learned to love the Chilterns. This was made easier when Rose joined her in the summer term, and took Christine's place in Ivory. Rose had been awarded a scholarship for two years for the sake of her health. Even the winter snows didn't daunt the two Londoners, and they were thrilled to have parts in the Dominick school show just before Christmas.

This part of Drina's story is told in "Drina Dances in Exile", which was first published in 1959.

Answer: Ilonka Lorencz

Although she knew she would be back at the Dominick school in London in January, Drina expected to spend Christmas with the Pilgrims in Willerbury, and then to stay with her friend, Adele Whiteway, at the start of term. So it was a huge surprise and great pleasure to find that her grandparents had returned from Australia in time to see her in the Christmas show.

Life seemed different at the Dominick without Rose, who was still at Chalk Green. However there was a new girl, whose English wasn't very fluent. Drina found her, after the ballet class, crying in the cloakroom. When Drina asked who she was, and why she was upset, she explained that she has just escaped from Lynzonia and joined her mother and sister in London.

Drina remembered seeing Ilonka's sister, Terza, in the corps de ballet at the Dominick Theatre. Their father had planned to travel with Ilonka, but had stayed behind at the last minute, and they didn't know what had happened to him. Drina made friends with the family, especially Ilonka. Drina introduced Ilonka to London, and helped her come to terms with her new life in England.

The first part of "Drina Dances in Italy" published in 1959, tells of Drina's meeting with Ilonka.

Answer: Igor Dominick Jr

Drina's grandparents had arranged for Drina to spend her Easter holidays in Italy, first to visit her paternal grandmother in Milan, and then going to Genoa to stay with an uncle, aunt and some cousins. Drina was very nervous about going to a foreign country to stay with unknown relations, but was comforted by the fact that the Dominick Company would be there at the same time.

She enjoyed the journey, travelling by train from Victoria with some friends of her grandmother, and soon learned her way around Milan. The unknown grandmother was not as terrifying as she had feared, and spoke very good English. This was a relief to Drina who had learned some Italian from her friend, Emilia at Chalk Green, and had also had some conversation classes in the last few weeks at school, but she was by no means fluent.

When Drina went to the station to watch the ballet company arrive, she was surprised to see that Igor Dominick Jr, the son of the owner of the company, had accompanied them. He had joined the ballet school at the beginning of the year, but had been so aloof and superior that nobody had been able to make friends with him.

One day Drina was having a drink in the Piazza del Duomo, when she realised that she had left her purse at home. She was wondering how to pay the increasingly impatient waiter, when Igor came over and settled the bill for her. She thanked him, and said that she would leave the money at the theatre for him. After she realised that he was lonely, the two became friends and did some sightseeing together with Drina's grandmother.

When Drina was staying in Genoa, Igor joined her, her cousin Antonia, and also Emilia (who lived there) for several outings. The biggest surprise was when Drina, Emilia and Igor were called upon to help out when several members of the corps de ballet had food poisoning from eating shellfish, and all three appeared on the stage with the company for one performance.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Drina's Italian adventures are covered in the second part of "Drina Dances in Italy".

Answer: Grant Rossiter

School seemed more mundane after Drina's exciting trip to Italy. Then she had a chance to appear in Barrie's play, 'Dear Margaret'. Although she enjoyed the acting, she didn't want to make it her career, ballet came first. She was delighted to be chosen to play the role of Little Clara in Casse-Noisette when the Dominick would be at the Edinburgh Festival. Rose was chosen as her understudy, and the two girls enjoyed their trip to Edinburgh with Drina's grandparents.

On their return to London, Drina's grandfather found that he would have to travel to New York for some business meetings. He suggested that Drina might like to accompany him and her grandmother. She was assured that it wouldn't hurt to miss a month of school, since she had just been dancing over the summer, and all new experiences would help her dancing. So the three of them set off from Southampton on The Queen of the Atlantic.

On the first day, Drina met a young man called Grant Rossiter. The two of them enjoyed playing deck games, swimming, and occasionally dancing in the evenings. Drina realised she had fallen in love, and that it would be hopeless because she would never see him again. However her grandparents made friends with his parents, so they saw each other again a few times in New York. But when Drina set sail to return home she left a little bit of herself behind.

Drina's acting experience and her adventures in Edinburgh are told in "Drina Dances Again" first published in 1960. Her voyage to the USA and her experiences in New York are covered in "Drina Dances in New York", which was first published in 1961.

Answer: Jasper Blane

The school year was in full swing when Drina returned from New York. Then came news that she and Rose would go to Paris in the spring to take part in Casse-Noisette again. Adele Whiteway was to go with them both. Drina was amazed and elated to find that Grant Rossiter, who was in Europe working with his father, had travelled to Paris to see her perform. They enjoyed a day out at Versailles, and an evening at l'Opera before saying 'goodbye' again.

Back at the Dominick in the summer, Drina was soon working hard again. Then her grandfather was seriously ill and taken to hospital. She was pleased when he recovered, and excited by the family plans to take a sea trip in the summer to help his recovery. Asked to choose between a Mediterranean cruise and a trip to Madeira, Drina chose the latter, because she knew that there was to be a festival with ballet there.

On board the Balmoral, and studying the passenger list, Drina discovered that the small Lingeraux ballet company were travelling to the festival on the ship. She was asked to join their ballet classes on board, and made friends with some of the younger members of the company, particularly a girl called Carol Collingwood and a boy called Jasper Blane. They enjoyed trips ashore at Gibraltar and Casablanca. Even more excitingly, Drina was asked to take part in the festival with the company.

"Drina Dances in Paris", published in 1962 tells the story of Drina and Rose in Paris. Drina's trip to Madeira is covered by "Drina Dances in Madeira", first published in 1963.

Answer: Tamina Rionante

After the excitement of the trip to Madeira, Drina expected to be back working hard at the Dominick school again. She was dismayed when her grandmother said that her grandfather, now retired, had been told that he shouldn't spend the winter in England. They had made arrangements to give up their London flat, and would stay in a villa in the Ticino region of southern Switzerland. They would both be extremely unhappy about Drina staying by herself in London, so she was to come with them and go to school with her cousin, Antonia, near Lugano.

Drina was devastated over the loss of her ballet lessons, even though the school near Lugano had a very good ballet teacher who came twice a week. She was to share a room with Antonia and a girl who lived nearby, Tamina Rionante. Tamina was absent at the start of term as she recovered from measles. However Drina put a brave face on everything and tried to conform to the rules of the school, many of which she found petty and pointless. The ballet teacher was the only person in the school who seemed to understand her, until Tamina returned. As Tamina was more enthusiastic and knowledgeable about ballet than most of the others, the two girls found that they had a lot in common, and struck up an instant friendship.

Things improved for Drina when the ballet teacher realised that Drina had composed a ballet, and suggested that it should be used for the end of term entertainment. All the girls were thrilled to do something different, and set to with a will to help with costumes and scenery. The ballet was a success, and to Drina's amazement, Marianne Volonaise from the Igor Dominick company came to see it, and was impressed.

Drina's grandparents had realised that expecting Drina to carry on at the Swiss school was not good for her. Nor did it help them seeing her so unhappy, so she was allowed to return to England after Christmas and resume her place at the Dominick school.

Not surprisingly, "Drina Dances in Switzerland", first published in 1964, tells of Drina's time there. The last two books in the series are "Drina Goes on Tour", published in 1965, and "Drina Ballerina" from 1991. They cover the start of Drina's career as a dancer.