1952-1957

Earliest Picture
0001p ashley davidoff early days pram Bradley DAvidoff 1 athalie avenue linksfield north Johannesburg South Africa copyright 2009

Earliest memories

My earliest memory is of my brother Ravin being held up by my mother when a few days old from the second floor window of the nursing home in which he was born.  He is 2 and a half years younger than I, so that I was of that age.

After that there are some memories of a maid named Sophie who was the meanest person, strict with us ? but actions and experiences are a mere blur other than fear of this person remains, who had such an awful temper.

I have a brief memory of getting this photo taken in our lounge as we called it with a table set up against the wall, opposite our stoep.  I have a very strong memory of the position of the table for some odd reason.

About 3-4 years old
0010pb02 ashley davidoff 1 Athalie avenue Linksfield north Johannesburg South Africa copyright 2009
Freckles on the Nose
Ashley (left) and Bradley (right)
0013p ashley davidoff Bradley Davidoff 1 athalie avenue linksfield north Johannesburg South Africa copyright 2009

 

The Nursery School

Site of the Previous Old House which was Our Grade 1 Classroom

57895a nursery school club street linksfield johannesbrg king david school South Africa Davidoff

 So this is the nursery school of King David where a lot of stuff happened and faint memories remain.

I remember we had kept ducks in an enclosure in the playground.

I remember riding tricycles on a tarmac in the middle of the playground and pretending that I was a traffic cop and gave a ticket to some kid who failed to stop at my command ? the kid had the gaul to report me. I remember clearly  defending my actions since this was the rule in the real world.

I remember with some embarassment not allowing the girls to go on the jungle gym until they pulled down their pants to show me their hidden jewels ? this behaviour was promptly and severely reprimanded, and I was embarassed to the hilt, The fear of God was imposed on me ? I have not fully recovered.

I do not remeber much else but do remember Elana Nafte, (talk about naughty and freckles she had both) Choni and perhaps George Subotzky.

There was a teacher who observed at that age that I had music and dance in my blood which ws an asteute observation.  To this day the right music will induce a visceral response in me, bring me to tears, and I often almost involuntarily willburst into spontaneous dance with uninhibited passion.  this started the ball rolling on the roller coaster ambivalence with dance music and led to the story described in ?confessions?.

I must have started dancing at this time since I remember being 5 when that started .

1957-1958
First tap competition
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