Lives Remembered
significant impact on all those he came into contact with. Ultimately his dance studio was made up of 90% of non-white pupils and he has seen his students enjoy considerable success in the dance world. “We taught one
Eddie and Margaret are pictured during a visit to Sibford back in 2012.
of the local South African Dance Teachers’ Association, he managed to get a permit to run a multi- racial dancing competition. “We called it ‘normal’ but the Association was horrified,” said Eddie. “I was castigated and voted out of the chair. But I wasn’t going to give up the permit and so we went ahead and ran the competition anyway which set a precedent for future events to be open to all race groups.” Eddie’s ‘strictly no limits’
approach to life was to make a
brother and sister (black couple) who went on to become South African Dance Champions and subsequently represented their country in the World African Dance Championships,” he said. “That was something that would never have been allowed to happen when we first moved to the country. There have been times when I
have literally been the only white face in a room full of five or six hundred people, but I was a firm believer that all races should be allowed to mix together. The only way to change attitudes is to start at grassroots level and so that’s what we did. I didn’t consider what I was doing as brave. To me it was just natural.” Many tributes have been made
to Eddie, whose funeral took place on 30th March at Mossel Bay in South Africa. Lee-ann Rayners
said: “I have a very special place in my heart for Eddie. He was an amazing man with so much life till the end.” Lesley Van Onselen said: “Still find it hard to believe he’s not with us anymore. Such a loss to the dancing world.” Caryn Bredenkamp said: “I learnt my very first ballroom dancing steps, a basic rhythm foxtrot, from Eddie in the inaugural year of Stellenbosch University’s ballroom dancing club. His gift of partner dancing is something that has stayed with me always, and inspired me to go on from ballroom dancing to years of loving other dance forms too. Perhaps more importantly, his instruction gave me access to a worldwide family of friends who share the passion of dancing so that no matter where I have lived, I have been able to find a place and a people to belong to through dance.”
Rainer Guillery 28 August 1929 ~ 7 April 2017 At Sibford 1950 ~ 1946
was 87. Ray had a long, productive, and impactful career as a neuroscientist. He held professorships in England and the US, including at University
R The Sibford Rocket / 27
ainer (Ray) W. Guillery died in Oxford after a short illness. He
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