Reigate School of Ballet Show History

After a lovely Reunion, the team at Reigate School of Ballet & Commercial Dance & Reigate Dance Centre reminisced while they looked at the history of the school, and the sheer amount of shows they have produced over the years.

Firstly, the Reigate School of Ballet & Commercial Dance started in 1963 by Shirley Knight, who was trained at the Royal Ballet School in Richmond and danced as a professional ballerina for many years, including Margot Fonteyn (whose statue stands proud in Reigate). The Reigate School of Modern Theatre Dance was started by Penny Lambert and the 2 schools worked in conjunction with each other. In the late 80s, Nikki Owen started to teach at the Reigate School of Modern Theatre Dance (the theatre and popular sister school of RSB), while Jo Evans joined the Ballet School in 1993.

When Miss Nikki Owen eventually retired, Jo Evans took over the 2 schools to become The Reigate School of Ballet & Commercial Dance. Reigate Dance Centre (formerly RSB Dance), brings a more commercial side to dance and between the 2 schools, they cover nearly all commercial and theatre dance and performing arts styles.

SOME OF OUR PAST SHOW PROGRAMMES.....

SHOWS

Looking back over the shows, it was great to see all the dance school show programmes each year, with Starlight Performing Arts also having their own show during some years. We have all the programmes from 1993 to present day and it was great to see all the names of children (many of whom are now adults with children coming to us) printed. Remarkably, many of the people who came to the reunion could remember not only the shows they did, but also the dance name and the costumes they wore!!

It was obvious to see that dance brought much joy to those who who attended our school over the years - one grown up told us that the dance school was her one place where she could escape the pressures of school and kept her focused.

If you were part of the school before 1993, and have a programme of the show you did, we would love to hear from you - please email Jo