60th Annual General Meeting

The 60th Annual Meeting of the ISTD was held at ISTD2 on Wednesday 5th October 2005 at 10.30am.

Madam President, Life President, Presidential officers, Members of Council and all members of the Imperial Society. May I welcome you all here for our 60th Annual General Meeting

Sadly over recent months we have seen the passing of some very dedicated members of the Society. Dame Alicia Markova one of our most distinguished members of Grand Council and three of our highly respected examiners from the Dance Sport Faculty. Mrs Pat Goode, Mr Anthony Goodyear and Mr Peter Varley, to those members and others sadly departed I would ask you to stand in a moment of silence to honour their memory.

Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen.

The AGM this year is taking place in ISTD2, our new building. Members who have already visited here have commented that this facility is very well suited to the requirements of a modern day membership. On the 22nd September our President Peggy Spencer MBE, officially opened our state of the art building. She spoke of the enormous contribution made by our membership and the skills of the management team in channelling our resources to accommodate such a huge project.

Since our last AGM in July of 2004, many events continued to commemorate our centenary year. In September a wonderful and very colourful Gala evening was held at the Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London. In October I had a great opportunity to visit Ireland and attend our Theatre Faculties Congress, which was a most stimulating dance experience.

As we moved into 2005 our QCA government accreditation continued to keep our management team and membership on its toes.

Through my own Accredited Prior Learning requirement I have attended two courses, one in Health and Safety and one in Lifespan Development, both were thoroughly enjoyable experiences, plus, more importantly, it helped me widen my knowledge of my chosen profession. At this moment in time I am also preparing my written paper to complete unit 8 of the Certificate in Dance Education.

Our Imperial Society examination sessions in the United Kingdom and Overseas continue to increase substantially. Our monthly figures show that in July of this year a record high was established and in excess of 1000 examination sessions were held throughout the world. What a wonderful achievement for the Society at the start of our new century and congratulations are richly deserved to everyone involved.

As was previously stated by our President Peggy Spencer, the management team and staff at headquarters have worked so hard to enhance the reputation of this very fine organisation.

My personal thanks must go to our Chief Executive Mr Michael Browne whose direction and energy has been a source of inspiration to us all.

Our Financial Controller for so many years Mr John Drinkwater has retired and my grateful thanks go to him for his contribution to the Society’s well being. Mrs Jenny French has filled the position of Financial Director and I wish her and her team well.

The Departments of Education and Training and Customer Services have made great strides since their inception. International, Marketing and the Examinations Department are all expanding and playing a very important role.

Our loyal and very dedicated membership continues to show great support for our government initiatives and all the other interesting activities that the Society has been involved with. Our committees, examiners and members of Council have all worked extremely hard, not just over the past year but for so many years and my sincere thanks go to each and every one of them.

Dancing is going through a wonderful period of popularity at this moment in time, from the successful stage and film production of Billy Elliot to the worldwide popular ity of Strictly Come Dancing, the publics’ attention is very much focused on our world.

Whilst members of the ISTD and like-minded organisation pursue their individual and collective goals, the demands of outside agencies on the Dance World continue to grow. We must, as a responsible organisation always be prepared to address any such challenge that is proposed with our customary vigour and determination.

Let us the Imperial Society Of Teachers Of Dancing continue to provide the highest level of training, qualifications and working practises that the general public increasingly demand and constantly pursue the government of the day to give its’ complete and unquestionable support for our efforts. This will surely establish our dance teachers continued prosperity and recognition in a modern day society.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you very much

Robert Grover
Chairman ISTD