Betty Laine OBE , is an English dance teacher and former professional dancer.
Born Betty Chamberlain in Cardiff, Wales in the United Kingdom, Betty Laine was educated at the Ursuline Convent School in Brentwood, Essex, and received her vocational training in dance and theatre at the Romford branch of the Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts, receiving tuition from Marjorie Davies, Joyce Percy and Daphne Peterson. She would go on to work extensively as a dancer in the theatre and television industry. After retiring from the professional world, she transitioned into teaching as a director of the Frecker-Laine School of Dancing in Epsom, Surrey. She ultimately developed the school into a full-time dance and musical theatre college, today's Laine Theatre Arts, established in 1974. [1] The college is now recognised amongst the leading performing arts institutions in the UK, with former students working worldwide in dance and theatre, including West End and Broadway musicals, dance companies, television, film and pop music. In recognition of her work, Laine was awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2002, for services to the Performing Arts. [2]
In 2022, she retired as the principal of Laine Theatre Arts. [3]
Laine is a senior member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, a dance teaching and examination board. She received her certification as a dance teacher with the organisation, and would eventually be appointed as an examiner for the Classical Ballet and Modern Theatre faculties. She is now a member of the Grand Council, the main administrative body of the organisation, and also works as a lecturer and adjudicator. [1]
Doreen Bird MA FISTD ARAD was a British dance teacher and founder of the Doreen Bird College of Performing Arts in Sidcup, Kent. She was a fellow, examiner, lecturer, committee and council member of the ISTD, life member of the RAD, and Honorary MA. Prior to her death from Leukaemia in 2004, she had been studying towards a Ph.D. As well as being a respected dance figure in the United Kingdom, Bird also travelled the World as a lecturer and adjudicator specialising in dance and musical theatre. The college which Bird founded is now recognised Internationally as a centre of excellence for dance and performing arts, with its students working worldwide in high-profile areas of the performing industry including West End and Broadway theatre.
The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) is an international dance teaching and examination board based in London, England. The registered educational charity, which was established on 25 July 1904 as the Imperial Society of Dance Teachers, provides training and examinations in a range of dance styles and certified dance teacher courses. The ISTD is recognised by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority and the Council for Dance Education and Training and is also a member of the British Dance Council. It hosts various competitions in many different formats including Modern Ballroom, Latin American, Classical Ballet and Tap Dance as well as contemporary styles like Disco Freestyle.
The International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) is a dance teaching and examination board based in Brighton, England. Operating internationally, the IDTA currently has over 7,000 members in 55 countries. The IDTA is recognised by the national qualifications regulators in England and Wales, Ofqual and the Council for Dance Education and Training, and is also affiliated to the British Dance Council, the Central Council of Physical Recreation and the Theatre Dance Council International. The IDTA works in partnership with the Royal Academy of Dance. The IDTA publishes a print and online magazine for members titled Dance International four times a year.
Dame Arlene Phillips is an English choreographer, talent scout, television judge and presenter, theatre director, and former dancer, who has worked in many fields of entertainment.
Tring Park School or Tring Park School for the Performing Arts is a co-educational, independent day and boarding school in Tring, Hertfordshire, England. The school combines academia with vocational courses in the performing arts for pupils aged 8–19. All prospective pupils are required to attend an audition to determine admission, with the exception of those in the Prep School. Around 1 in every 7 applicants are successful.
Laine Theatre Arts, sometimes referred to as Laines, is an independent performing arts college, based in the town of Epsom in Surrey, England. The college was founded in 1974 by former professional dancer and dance teacher Betty Laine OBE, and developed from an earlier school, the Frecker-Laine School of Dancing. It provides specialist vocational training in dance and musical theatre.
Performing arts education in Australia refers to the teaching of different styles of creative activity that are performed publicly. The performing arts in Australia encompasses many disciplines including music, dance, theatre, musical theatre, circus arts and more. Performing arts education in Australia occurs both formally and informally at all levels of education, including in schools, tertiary institutions and other specialist institutions. There is also a growing body of evidence, from the Australian Council for the Arts and the Parliament of Australia, showing that First Nation's participation in the arts and culture has significant economic, social and cultural benefits to Australia and further supports the outcomes of the Australian governments ‘Closing the Gap’ campaign. There has been an increasing number of scholarships opening up in educational institutions for Indigenous Australians aimed at encouraging this participation in the arts.
Virginia Tanner was an American dance instructor and founder of the University of Utah Children's Dance Theatre. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, she began her formal dance training at the University of Utah. She studied with Doris Humphrey in New York City before returning to Salt Lake City in the early 1940s to establish her school for creative dance for children.
Bird College – Conservatoire for Dance and Musical Theatre is an independent performing arts school and college, located in Sidcup, South East London, in the London Borough of Bexley.
Beryl Eugenia McBurnie OBE was a Trinidadian dancer. She established the Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook, Port of Spain, and promoted the culture and arts of Trinidad and Tobago as her life's work. She helped to promote the cultural legitimacy of Trinidad and Tobago that would shift the country into the age independence. McBurnie dedicated her life to dance, becoming one of the greatest influences on modern Trinidadian pop culture.
The Joyce Mason School of Dance is an independent dance school based on Ashby High Street in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England.
Stella Mann College of Performing Arts is an independent, co-educational performing arts school and college specialising in dance and musical theatre. The college is located in the Harpur area of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England.
Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts was a dance and performing arts school in the United Kingdom. Founded by the dance teacher Pauline Bush in Nottingham in 1914, and later with branches in Romford, Essex and London; it was bombed out during the Second World War and then moved to a former boys' school East Grinstead. The Romford branch closed in 1974 and the East Grinstead branch in 1989. After Pauline Bush's death, the school was run by her daughter Noreen and her husband Victor Leopold. Later their son Paul Kimm joined them, and he remained Principal until the school closed.
The Hammond School is a specialist performing arts school in Chester, England.
Vanessa Hooper, FIDTA, ARAD, is an English retired ballerina and theatre dancer who now works as a dance teacher, freelance choreographer, lecturer and examiner. She is the principal of the Skelton-Hooper School of Dance, which was founded by her mother, Vera Skelton.
The Council for Dance, Drama and Musical Theatre (CDMT), formerly known as the Council for Dance Education and Training (CDET), is the quality assurance and membership body for the professional dance, drama and musical theatre industries in the United Kingdom. CDMT was founded in 1979.
Egglescliffe School & Sixth Form College is a large Coeducational secondary school and sixth form located between Egglescliffe and Urlay Nook in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England.
Elizabeth Anne Gough is a British dancer, television judge, and dance presenter who came in third during the first series of So You Think You Can Dance. In 2010, she made her first appearance as a judge for the BBC / CBBC television series Alesha's Street Dance Stars. Gough trained in dance at Fitzell Roberts School of Dance in Southampton, and both dance and musical theatre at Laine Theatre Arts, a performing arts college in Epsom, Surrey.
Gweneth Lloyd, OC was a co-founder of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, a ballet teacher and choreographer.
Goh Lay Kuan is an Indonesian-born Singaporean dancer, choreographer, educator, and pioneer of dance in Singapore. Together with her husband, Kuo Pao Kun, she co-founded the Singapore Performing Arts School, a seminal institution in Singaporean modern theater and dance.