Xanthe Gumbert Scholarship - Donation

We are proud to announce our annual Scholarship, to be awarded to a student of the Teresa Johnson Ballet School.

The Scholarship is named in memory of Xanthe Gumbert, who loved ballet from an early age. During her short life she studied ballet and then encouraged and mentored her brothers and sisters (and anyone else who was willing!) in all things balletic, including choreography and costuming. Xanthe’s devotion to ballet became a family institution. Two of her siblings went on to the Australian Ballet School and one to the Australian Ballet Company. She also passed her skills in making balletic hairpieces to her sister Jnana, who now has two children at TTJBS and two more waiting in the wings.

Tragically, Xanthe was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer on her 30th birthday and despite world-class medical treatment, she could not be saved and died less than two years later.

Jnana has offered to follow in her sister’s footsteps by making and donating floral hairpieces to the students of TTJBS, with all proceeds to fund a scholarship to be awarded by the school. She has already provided hairpieces in uniform colours for the TTJBS examination grades from Primary to Grade 5 (both for students sitting exams and those who are not). 

The hairpieces have been provided to all students in those grades, but we would love if you would consider making a voluntary donation for your student’s hairpiece, to go to the Scholarship fund.