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Message
from the Chief Executive
As
the Centenary Year draws to a close, writing
this message gives me time to pause and
reflect on the year’s events and developments. |
The
sad news is that our Centenary Year saw the passing
of the much loved Joyce Percy, who was Chairman
of the ISTD from 1991 to 2000 and Chairman of
the Imperial Ballet Faculty for many years. Moving
tributes were paid to Joyce at a memorial service
in July at St Paul’s Church in Covent Garden,
which was packed with friends, colleagues and
students. Joyce was, sadly, too ill to attend
the ISTD Centenary Dinner Dance on 15th March
to receive her ISTD Lifetime Achievement Award,
but was presented with the award in hospital,
which apparently gave her joy in her remaining
days. She passed away later in March.
On
a brighter note, the Centenary Year has been a
roaring success. The Dinner Dance was attended
by 524 people, the best attendance in many years.
The Centenary Book and Calendar have been extremely
popular and sold in great numbers. The crowning
glory, however, was the Centenary Gala at the
Sadler’s Wells Theatre on Sunday 26th September.
Thirty four acts in total of the highest quality,
reflecting all the ISTD genres and their development
over the years, meant an evening of great entertainment
and pride, all directed by the fantastic and talented
Chris Baldock.
We
are so grateful to all the students, their teachers
and parents for all
their time and efforts, also all the organisers
and the many stars who graced the stage - David
Barrett, Anton du Beke, Ricardo Cervera, Francesca
Filpi, Lesley Garrett CBE, Alexandra Jay, Bonnie
Langford, Vanessa Palmer and Wayne Sleep OBE.
It was an evening we will never forget.
Special
thanks to Sue Passmore and Richard Marcel who
co-ordinated the whole event and to our Head of
Marketing and Publicity, Jon Singleton, and his
team.
During
the year we were pleased to welcome Peggy Spencer
MBE as the new ISTD President, replacing Mr Bill
Irvine MBE, now officially Past President, and
to welcome Mrs Murielle Ashcroft and Mrs Elizabeth
Romain as joint Vice-Presidents. The continued
loyalty and service to the ISTD of all four is
warmly appreciated.
2004
also saw the introduction of the new teaching
qualifications in the UK and Europe - Foundation
in Dance Instruction and Certificate in Dance
Education. These are now accredited by the QCA
at Level 3 and Level 4 of the National Qualifications
Framework and the ISTD is delighted with this
achievement.
We
know the introduction of the new qualifications
has meant that 2004 has not been an easy year,
as can often happen when such huge changes are
introduced. There have been some teething problems
as many of you know, but we are confident that
these will be resolved and in the years to come,
our members will be proud of these new qualifications
and the high level of recognition granted to the
dance teaching profession.
The
Faculty Committees have been fully stretched this
year writing new syllabi, training examiners and
arranging courses. Our members may not realise
that the Faculty Committees are responsible for
the development of the dance syllabi in all areas
and many of them give up their valuable time to
complete this work.
A
growing network of professionals is also being
established to write syllabi in related areas,
such as Health and Safety, train tutors and mark
assignments and examination papers, specifically
for the new teaching qualifications.
We
are particularly sorry that it has taken so long
to answer all your APL applications. You will
appreciate that this has been an enormous task
for us with so many thousands of you applying
at once, but the process is now running more smoothly
and the vast majority of the applications have
been dealt with. Thank you all for your patience
and understanding during this difficult time.
During
October I was very pleased to attend the Theatre
Faculties Irish Congress at the Grand Hotel in
Malahide, Dublin. This was a two-day event attended
by children and adults from all over Ireland and
was a huge success. Our Chairman, Mr Robert Grover
and his wife Barbara also attended the event and
we managed to have a Centenary photograph taken
with them both at the forefront surrounded by
the many very enthusiastic participants.
We
also held a dinner on the Saturday evening to
thank the retiring Irish Organiser, Clodagh Martin,
for all her valuable work over the years and a
presentation was made to her the following day.
Our
International team at ISTD HQ has expanded and
we now have an Italian and a Greek speaking organiser
in the International Examinations Department.
This has been much welcomed by our Italian and
Greek teachers and we think we are able to offer
a more personal and efficient service to them
now.
September
also saw the retirement at ISTD HQ of our long-serving
Financial Controller, John Drinkwater. John had
worked quietly and conscientiously on behalf of
the ISTD for the past 15 years and we owe him
a debt of gratitude and wish him well for the
future. We also welcome Nalini Seeromben as his
replacement. It is difficult to take over from
someone who has been in their position for such
a long period of time, but Nalini is on a fast
learning curve!
As
always at this time of year, I would like to express
my personal thanks to the ISTD Council, Faculty
committees, examiners, organisers and teachers
for all their efforts and support over the year.
I am sure that with continued co-operation and
understanding on all sides, we can move forward
from a position of strength into the future. Finally,
I would also like to thank my management team
- Nalini Seeromben, Cathy Browne, Jon Singleton,
Cynthia Pease, Claire Skelton and Claire Godfrey.
My
best wishes to everyone for Christmas and the
New Year.
Michael
J Browne
FFA FFBA FCES FIAB FRSA FInstD
Chief Executive
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