Elizabeth Romain - Obituaries

Elizabeth Romain, Vice President and long standing member of the ISTD, passed away on 27th January 2007. Below are just some of the tributes to this much loved and respected lady that the ISTD has received.

 

By Peggy Spencer MBE

Liz, what are we going to do without you?

You have been the person we have all turned to in our moment of panic with technical ballroom problems – you are the one who has helped so many of us through those dreaded exams, but you made them seem easier – your gentle but positive approach to all those problems made study seem more reasonable and logical and that made it easier – you did your best to bring out the best in so many of us.

We have worked together on so many Committee meetings, revising techniques and finding logical ways to express things that at times seemed almost insurmountable.You have helped to write so many technical articles and books which will be of great value to generations of dance students. We can only say thank you, which is never enough, but we owe you such a lot.

Elizabeth worked alongside the other great technician Alex Moore, and together they set the foundations that hundreds and hundreds of students and dancers have used to become teachers or great dancers themselves. Those foundations will continue to be used and highly respected by generations of dancers to come. Elizabeth was so easy to work with and although I saw her disappointed sometimes, I never, never saw her in a temper. She was able to use her ladylike manner to smooth many a heated argument over technique, and calm down a situation where people had strongly held views, particularly when writing books on technique.

Liz is irreplaceable!

In her younger days, Liz danced for a while in competitions. Later in life she was a member of Grand Council and had been a member of the Latin American Faculty Committee from around 1968. In 2000, two years into her role as Chairman of the committee, she reluctantly resigned due to ill health. Elizabeth was recipient of the Carl Alan Teachers Award 1973, the Imperial Award 1990 and the USISTD Lifetime Achievement Award 2000.

Liz’s loss will be felt all over the world, wherever ‘Dance’ takes place and many, many students and dancers who came to study with her and who benefited from her endless knowledge and kindness will mourn her passing.

We will all miss you so much Liz. None more than me!

 

By Robert and Barbara Grover

It was a very sad day for Barbara and I to hear of the passing of a wonderful lady and our special friend Miss Elizabeth Romain.

We first came into contact with ‘Lizzie’ some 30 years ago as young professionals, striving for our qualifications. Our coaches of the day always said that we should go to the best and Liz was the best technical teacher in the world and the ISTD route of examinations was our goal. Her ability to teach was outstanding, always encouraging, sometimes entertaining and when necessary her firm approach would be employed.

All our technical lessons were with her at the Kingston studio where she taught so many professionals from all over the world. During our many visits there, the iconic figure of Alex Moore would often appear from the office to experiment a step pattern with Barbara or myself for a future edition of his world famous Letter Service.

In the early days of our association with Liz, she invited us to be her demonstrators at the Spring Congress of the ISTD. As you can imagine, this was a great honour for any young couple, with all the greats of the profession sitting behind, watching your every move – Josephine Bradley, Phyllis Haylor, Peggy Spencer, Maisie Harrison, Bill Irvine, Peter Eggleton, Anthony Hurley and Alex Moore! But as Lizzie always said “Eyes front and listen to my every word”.

She was also an innovator and embarked on a ground breaking idea of ‘Technique on Video’ and Barbara and I were delighted to be asked to demonstrate the figures on camera for the Associate to Fellowship levels in the Ballroom dances. This was a wonderful opportunity, not only to advance our technical knowledge, but a unique experience to work with a true expert in her field.

In later years Liz gave me outstanding support in my role as Chairman of the ISTD, always sending a little note or verbal reminder not to overlook the smallest detail which could later affect the bigger picture in hand. In recent years it gave me the greatest pleasure as Chairman of the ISTD to appoint her to the role of Vice President of our Society, a position that she held with pride until her sad passing.

Barbara and I have many wonderful memories of our time spent with such a remarkable lady, which we will treasure forever. She will be sadly missed by so many.

 

By Lorna Lee

It was with extreme sadness that I heard the news of the passing of Elizabeth Romain. The dance world should be grateful to have been blessed with a lady so gracious and kind.

Her extensive knowledge of dance has benefited the ISTD together with hundreds of individuals who owe their technical knowledge to this wonderful lady. She was a lady in the true sense of the word.

I personally became close to 'Liz' during the re-writing of the ISTD Latin American Technique. During this time I realised how lucky I was to have had the opportunity to work with her. I will treasure and be ever thankful for her friendship.

She has left her mark on the dance profession and Michael and I, like many others, will never forget her.

 

By Yvonne Taylor-Hill

Cynics sometimes say: ‘Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach’. A truly inspired teacher, however, is someone who can, and does, use their talent with skill and commitment for themselves, as well as being able to transmit to others the essence of those techniques, and the root of their own inspiration.

Very rarely indeed is found the greatest teaching skill of all, in an individual, who, having buoyed their students up like balloons with knowledge and enthusiasm, knows when to let go, so that the students themselves can soar like eagles.

When dear Liz Romain, known to me affectionately as ‘my dancing Mum’ won the Imperial Dance Sport Award, I framed and sent her the prose above. The words describe so eloquently all the attributes and more that Liz had as a leading exponent and technician in the theory of Ballroom and Latin American Dance.

Champions and dancers throughout the world are all richer for her wealth of knowledge, patience and professionalism. I was very lucky to have Liz as my mentor, teacher and very close friend for many years.

I feel honoured to have assisted her in many, many lectures. I know, when the hurt of losing her fades, I’ll be able to look back at these and remember the memories and fun we had together. She was the person in dance that I truly admired and aspired to and I will miss her so much.

 

By Graham Oswick

It was with great sadness that I learnt of the passing of Elizabeth Romain.

Our dear Liz had been unwell for quite some time with many hospital stays and treatments, but always with a positive outlook and more concerned with discussing the welfare of her friends and family than of herself.

Elizabeth Romain is a name that is synonymous with all that is pure and excellent in our wonderful world of Ballroom Dancing all around the globe. There can be few who have dedicated more time to their profession than Liz. Having had her own stage school in her very early teens, she later teamed up with the late Alex Moore to become one of the world’s greatest technicians for Ballroom and Latin American professional training.

Her skills and professionalism were responsible for the professional training of so many World Champions and today’s household names.

I personally came across Liz when I became a member of the ISTD, where she was already a leading light. She was the type to take you under her wing and give sound advice whenever needed. The skill in imparting information whilst training for my Fellowships, with her many ‘little rules to remember’ was a complete revelation, and made learning an absolute pleasure.

When she became the Chairperson of the Latin American Faculty I also joined the Faculty and once again sat in awe of the information at her fingertips and her absolute concern for the welfare of the members whose interests she insisted we served. As I live nearby Liz’s home we became very close friends over the years, a friendship very dear to my heart.

As a professional Liz’s expertise will be sorely missed. As a person she was beautiful inside and out and totally irreplaceable! So happy you are now free of pain and totally at peace. My sincere condolences go to her sister Janet.