| After
starting her dancing career with Tap and Ballet she swapped
her point shoes for her ballroom courts when she was 12,
enrolling at her local dance school. During this time
she took her ISTD medals in all dance sport genres as
well as regularly competing at ISTD events.
At the age of 17 and after completing three A-Levels
she took her Student Teacher Disco Freestyle examination
and began teaching at the school where she trained.
It wasn't long before her natural teaching ability and
love of dance led her to taking her Associate in Disco
Freestyle.
Having gained Highly Commended she decided to enter
for the coveted Phyllis Haylor Scholarship which she
was awarded in 2000.
In 2002 she was asked to become a member of the Club
Dance Faculty and was quickly given the role of Faculty
Secretary. Mary is an active member of this committee,
most recently with the job of creating a syllabus for
the Lindy Hop. This work is now coming to an end with
the production of a DVD and syllabus notes however the
work won’t stop here as the committee plans to
continue to re-write the Salsa syllabus as well as the
Argentine Tango.
The Deville School was opened in January 2005 with just
a handful of pupils, and has grown into a thriving business
with over 200 students and 2 teaching staff. Mary acknowledges
that the last two years have been the hardest work but
the most fun and exciting possible and she now enjoys
taking her school to all the ISTD events including the
Disco Freestyle and Dance Sport Grand Finals where this
year pupils gained three national winners. With the
success of the last 2 years Mary is highly motivated
and optimistic about what the future has to offer and
is committed to working hard to move the school forward.
Along with this she is expecting her first child in
March 2007 and hopes that he/she will follow in her
footsteps and love to dance. |
