27 July 2026
Abby Daniels joined The Estelle School of Dance in Swindon in Sept 2001, when she was just 2 years old; she was 2 on 30th Aug 1999. The Principal Pat Bennett accepted pupils from the age of 2, and Abby was keen to join. She ran in on her 1st lesson, holding hands with the "big girls" without looking back. She joined in happily with the good toes, naughty toes, and listened to every instruction.
Taking to the stage
Abby performed in her 1st show in June 2002 and had her first taste of the big stage at The Wyvern Theatre in Swindon. Abby was a little blue fairy, a role she took very seriously, learning all the words to "When you wish upon a star" and singing everywhere she went, practising the dance and all the movements. She did every show and stayed for the finale every night. She had found her love of performing and went on to appear in The Slipper and the Rose 2004, Alice in Wonderland 2006 where she got her first speaking part, Peter Pan 2008 as Michael, Pinocchio as Pinocchio in 2010, Glinda in Wizard of Oz in 2012, Hans Andersen in 2014 and the Peter Pan in Peter Pan The British Musical, which was her dream role, being able to fly and getting people to believe in Fairies every night!
Abby took RAD ballet and pointe, and ISTD tap and modern, and loved dancing, taking all her exams, learning new skills, making lasting friendships and performing on stage. Abby was a loyal student of The Estelle School of Dance and took part in a documentary about the School's 60 years of dance, and it was the last time she was ever able to dance en Pointe. Abby supported The Estelle School of Dance in all its fundraising events and helped with the little ones in lessons and coming back from University to be backstage with costume changes.
University life at Chichester
In 2017, Abby went to Chichester University to study Music and Musical Theatre and enjoyed it very much. However, when a new course in Musical Theatre Performance was offered, she jumped at the chance to audition and was very pleased to be given a place. Abby was in her element, joining the Musical Theatre Society, becoming workshop coordinator and performing in many shows as well as choreographing a couple. Unfortunately Covid happened, and they didn't have their normal showcase, and they had to do all their modules in singing, dancing and drama at home and film it. Abby spent hours and hours practising all her ballet, tap and modern dances, trying to get them as technically perfect as she could. She was so proud when she learnt she had achieved a 1st class honours degree in Musical Theatre Performance.
Diagnosis
Sadly, in July 2020, Abby was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her leg (a rare bone and soft tissue cancer) just before her 21st birthday and her online graduation. The surgeons said she would require 3 months of in-hospital chemotherapy followed by surgery to remove the tumour, which would result in knee and femur bone reconstruction (a metal knee and thigh bone) and then a further 4 months of in-hospital chemotherapy. Abby asked whether she would be able to dance again, and they said can you dance with your hands. Abby was devastated. However, being the determined young lady that she was, she went through chemotherapy and then choreographed a dance and recorded herself so she could track her progress. At every stage, Abby recorded the same dance, whether she was in a hospital bed with staples and bandages to wheelchair, with a full leg brace to crutches, until she was able to do it as well as before the operation, even putting a pirouette for good measure.
When she had completed all treatment, which had taken a year. Abby then decided to go down to Portsmouth and complete her DDE in tap with ISTD to enable her to be able to teach dance. She decided to do all the written modules first so she could fully recover and build up her strength. She joined The Giselle Academy of Dance and began her DDE. She also joined the Portsmouth Players and regained her confidence and her passion for performing, appearing in her first show, Spring Awakening, with them in 2022. She was so happy to be back on stage again doing what she loved. She also helped start Stagecoach Performing Arts Portsmouth and became their manager, loving being part of Stagecoach again (as she'd been a student at Oxford Stagecoach for over 10 years).
Unfortunately, the May 2022 scan showed that the cancer had come back in her leg and required a further major operation; in the 5 years that followed, Abby had multiple leg operations, including 2 vein grafts and vein removal, which resulted in loss of movement in her ankle and foot called drop foot, more muscle tissue removal and multiple lung surgeries and ablations.
Despite all this, Abby continued dancing and performing, appearing in shows with The Portsmouth Players such as Shrek, Fame, Legally Blonde, School of Rock, dancing in big ensemble numbers, and choreographing Little Shop of Horrors and Miscast, for which they were proudly awarded the NODA award for excellence. Abby carried on with her DDE and took her practical exams in tap, passing with a high merit, something she was so proud, happy and relieved to do.
Abby was travelling from Portsmouth to Swindon to The Estelle School of Dance to take the lessons she needed to assist at and teach, meaning travelling there and back every week for an hour lesson. Despite having all these surgeries and having more chemotherapy, Abby was told in September 2025 that her condition was terminal, but determined to live as long as possible, she underwent another 6 months of palliative chemotherapy and had decided to organise her own concert along with some of her performing friends to tell her life story through music and dance from songs she had sung and shows she had appeared in.
The concert was going to be held in May in Portsmouth in aid of Sarcoma UK. She organised it, choreographed it, compered it and performed in it. However, in March, she suffered a heart attack and was blue-lighted to the hospital, and they didn't think she was going to make it. She spent a week in the hospital, then a week in a hospice. In the hospice in true Abby style she recorded all her songs, all her compering notes as she was absolutely determined that concert would go ahead with or without her, her only wish then was "to live long enough to do her concert"; luckily she did and the concert was performed to a sold-out audience of friends and people from all walks and eras of Abby's life including all her dance teachers and even the medical professionals treating her. There was not a dry eye in the house, especially when Abby sang the song she had written, "The Puzzle", about her diagnosis and choreographed the dance to go with it. The concert was uplifting, funny, reflective, poignant and joyous. To date, we have raised nearly £10,000.
Abby's legacy
Sadly, after 6 years of fighting and defying all the odds, Abby passed away on 9th July at the age of 26; she is and always will be greatly missed by all who knew her. She touched so many people's lives in so many ways without even knowing it. Her only wish was to promote awareness of sarcoma and to raise funds to hopefully get better treatments and ultimately a cure for this unforgiving and cruel disease, and to save more young people's lives.
