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Profile
of Maisie Harrison
a remarkable lady |
Maisie
Harrison might have come straight off the catwalk –
tall, slim and elegant with hair, clothes and make-up a picture
of perfection; a powerful presence, looking twenty years younger
than her official age and as active as ever.
Through the past months I have had the privilege and honour
of getting to know Maisie. I first met her when she came to
one of the Society’s Faculty meetings, and listened
in awe to some of the extraordinary stories of her dancing
life – she completed 70 years service to the ISTD in
2003!
Maisie
was four when she had her first dance lesson, and the bug
bit! She studied at the Raybury School of Dancing, covering
Ballet, Stage and Greek dancing; and also went to Miss Constance
Kerridge for ballroom. This wide participation in many forms
of dance was to be of enormous assistance in gaining a very
wide understanding of dance.
She
moved to London to boarding school where her dance training
continued in Stage, Ballet and Greek, in all of which her
willingness to learn was strongly evident. In parallel, she
achieved high examination successes in both music and singing.
She had found her true vocation and her ambition was to forge
a career on the stage. Asked what advice she would give new
dancers and teachers, she said, “Get a good technical
basis; put it into practice and DANCE!”
Unfortunately,
the tremendous effort and challenge – perhaps the strain
of trying to do too much – produced illness, and it
was a year before she had fully recovered. Even while recuperating,
she managed to perform in cabaret, and her enthusiasm to dance
never diminished. She returned to Folkestone where she continued
her training, and where she began her lifelong quest for technical
excellence, constantly questioning ‘why?’ as she
consolidated her knowledge. The technical star of the future
was taking shape. Her undoubted technical brilliance was to
take form later in her book, ‘General Description of
the Revised Latin American Technique’, for many years
the standard work in that field.
The
Maisie Harrison School of Dance was opened when she was only
seventeen, but such was her knowledge in a multitude of fields
of dance that success was assured. In fact she immediately
began to train professionals as well as amateurs!
Just prior to the Second World War, she moved to Bournemouth.
Through the war years, she worked as a telephonist at ARP
HQ night duty, and taught dance during the day, at the late
Ronald Timmins School, which afterwards became the Norman
and Saxon Studio. In 1945 she reopened her own studio. All
branches of dance were taught, and her stage class has had
some famous names, including an ice skating champion who used
Latin style routines in winning world titles. Her school blossomed,
and moved from Linden Hall to Avon Hall. After leaving Avon
Hall, Maisie moved to the Judah Curtis studios, Adeline Road
in Bournemouth, where she continued to teach sixty years on.
She left Adeline Studios in June 2004 (it is now a block of
flats) and she is now with Lynette Boyce, at Nice’n’Easy
Studios.
A
young man called Desmond Ellison became a pupil. Maisie recognized
his potential and trained him to become her partner. A dedicated
pair, they went on to win the All England Latin Championships
3 years undefeated, and the Mecca Festival Latin Professional
Championship – among many others. They also had phenomenal
success in Exhibition events and trophies.
One
night at the Albert Hall, they were Runners Up in the Star
Professional Exhibition section, and were also in the finals
of both the Ballroom and Latin sections. The organisers provided
them with, a special changing room to enable them to achieve
quick changes between events! They made several appearances
on television with Victor Sylvester, and competed, representing
Great Britain, across Europe.
Maisie
became the first teacher to win the Imperial Society School
Trophy at the Medallist competitions, and also trained the
first winner of an Imperial Gold Star (Junior). Three times
she trained the winners of the coveted Professional Gentleman’s
Section of
the Imperial Basics and Standards competition at Grosvenor
House, and also won the All Ladies Foxtrot there three years
running.
Maisie
retired from competitions in 1955, an astonishing 50 years
ago, and was appointed an Examiner at the famous Star Championships.
In a recent interview with her I was surprised to hear that
Maisie had experienced
hardly any change in Ballroom over the years except that she
found the approach more casual now and the dancing more energetic.
I
asked her how she found that modern competitions compared
with those she danced in, and she replied, ‘Figures
used were less complicated. Great emphasis was put on style
and quality of movement.’ I also asked her why she changed
from the Latin Faculty to the Ballroom Faculty and she said,
‘Because Ballroom is my first love and never ceases
to interest me - I’m still learning.’
A Member of the Royal Academy of Dancing; a Fellow of the
Ballroom, Latin, Stage and Greek Branches of the Imperial
Society; and later examiner of Ballroom, Latin American and
Sequence Branches, Maisie had already contributed enormously
to the development of dance and of the Imperial. The accolades
have continued to flow, as she became a long standing Committee
Faculty Member having served on the Theatre, Latin and Ballroom
Faculties.
Today,
she is a Life Member of the ISTD and holds five Fellowships,
as well as membership of the RAD. She was appointed a four
branch Examiner, and has coached, examined and demonstrated
in ten countries. She is the holder of the Imperial Award
for 1993 for services to Ballroom Dancing, and, as mentioned
above, has completed over seventy years of service to the
Imperial Society.
Finally, I asked her, ‘You have done so much, is there
anything you would like to do?’ to which she replied,
‘Yes - start all over again!’
The teachers who moulded and trained this gifted lady were:
Ballet – Kathleen Oliver; Stage – Doreen Austin;
Greek – Helen Wingrave; Ballroom – Constance Kerridge;
Latin – Pierre and Lavell; Sequence – Martin Simmonds.
A salute when Maisie had completed just fifty years said,
‘Within the ranks of dance professionals there may occasionally
shine a star that every one accepts as a true owner of the
attributes necessary for a top professional. Maisie possesses
those attributes and we salute her and her achievements’.
A further twenty plus years on, Maisie continues to contribute
and to excel. Once again, we salute her, and thank her.
Theresa Jordan
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