For many years the New Zealand Ballet ran on a shoestring. This 1953 photo shows founder Poul Gnatt making a set in his backyard in Sandringham, Auckland, for the first performances he directed in New Zealand. The dancers came from a school run by Auckland ballet teachers Bettina Edwards and Beryl Nettleton, and use of the theatres was without charge, courtesy of theatre entrepreneur Robert Kerridge. The season was funded in part by a bottle drive (a door-to-door collection of glass bottles, which could be returned to dairies for a very small amount of cash), and sponsored by the local Light Opera Club. Around this time, Gnatt was driving a taxi at night to support his young family.