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58th
Annual General Meeting
The
58th Annual Meeting of the ISTD was held at ISTD HQ on Thursday
3rd July 2003 at 3.30pm
Mister
President, Life President, Vice Presidents, Members of Council
and all members of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing,
may I welcome you all here to Headquarters for our 58th Annual
General Meeting.
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It
is our first duty on such an occasion to take a special moment
and remember those valued members of this Society who have so
sadly passed away during the past year. May I ask all attending
this meeting to stand and honour their memory.
Thank
you very much.
This
past year has been yet another resounding success for the Society
with new areas of development emerging from all corners of ISTD
activity. Whilst these new ideas will undoubtedly form the basis
of future reports the seeds of progress planted by our administrative
council just a few years ago have grown to set the challenges
for the Society of today. One such challenge has been the Qualification
and Curriculum Authority accreditation. I am very pleased to report
that the working practices of the QCA Part A accreditation has
now become firmly embedded in the everyday working life of our
membership, headquarters personnel and examiners and all should
be congratulated for playing a very important part.
The
Society has now embarked on the accreditation of the Teaching
Examinations which form part of the QCA Part B requirement. Faculty
representatives and members of the management team have constructed
new and exciting examinations that will enable the ISTD to offer
the most comprehensive teaching qualification of its kind. This
I am sure will meet the many varied needs of the 21st century
dance teacher and place that teacher at the very heart of their
chosen working community.
For
many years the plea from our membership was to have a profession
backed by a government agency. Today we are closer than ever to
reaching that goal. These indeed are very exciting times for the
membership of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. In
bringing us to this point I must thank the unquestionable loyalty
of our membership with the necessary changes that they have had
to endure. Their answer to all of this has been through the examination
system by increasing the number of examination sessions that have
been arranged.
What
a marvellous membership support base to have and this is why we
are here working on your behalf. Our management team and staff
at Headquarters under the direction of our Chief Executive, Mr
Michael Browne have worked so hard in harnessing our membership's
efforts to benefit the Society in so many ways. My sincere thanks
go to Mr Browne and his most excellent team.
Our
financial position as in recent years has continued to be very
sound. Recent concerns over the Stockmarket have taken its toll
on many companies but I am pleased to report that with sound investment
advice we have managed to contain any potential loss to a minimum
and I duly thank our Finance and General Purposes Committee under
the Chairmanship of Mr John Cook for their skill and guidance.
In continuing my thanks I must mention my Vice Chairman, Mrs Patricia
Prime who has been a tower of strength to me in her term of office.
She is always there to offer advice and her opinion is greatly
appreciated. I thank you for this.
Other
areas of Society life have continued in earnest throughout the
year. Our flagship Dinner Dance, Congresses and competitive events
have all been very well supported and enjoyed by all. Just to
highlight one event, over 4,000 competitors participated at the
Blackpool Grand Finals day in November.
In
the world of IT we do have a new website for young dancers which
has come on line with a large interactive involvement. In a slight
departure from our normal year we saw the launch of 'Chains',
the Society's joint project in association with UNICEF for Dance
and Citizenship in the secondary school curriculum.
A
very successful gala was held at Sadler's Wells to launch the
project and the ISTD was very proud to be associated with such
a worthwhile organisation as UNICEF.
Our
much travelled examiners and Faculty representatives have shown
their total dedication to our cause. Their constant quest in updating
our technical base has produced the perfect foundation for the
dancer to create the ultimate performance.
It was a great joy for me when Dame Beryl Grey accepted the unique
position of Life President of the Society. A reception was held
in her honour and our President Mr William Irvine MBE spoke of
her enormous contribution to the ISTD.
I
would like to go on record as stating my thanks to these two fine
people who worked so tirelessly in the more difficult days of
the Society's history. We owe a debt of gratitude for their vision
and commitment in sowing the seeds of success that we all reap
today.
As
to the future we at the ISTD hear very clearly the voices of our
predecessors and take up the mantel of challenge and lead from
the front introducing new and exciting ideas that can only benefit
our membership in the wonderful world of dance that we find ourselves
part of today.
Thank
you ladies and gentlemen.
Robert
Grover
Chairman, ISTD
The
ISTD are pleased to announce that Robert Grover has been re-elected
by Council as Chairman, a position he will hold for a further
three years. Following the election, Patricia Prime will also
continue to serve as the ISTD's Vice Chairman.
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