09

Sep

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DFA Wins Its 2nd Vocational Dance School of the Year Award

Dance For All did it again!

DFA was again named “Vocational Dance School of the Year – Gold” in the recent Anne Walker MBE Dance School of The Year (DSOTY) Award.

This is the second DSOTY award for DFA. Last year DFA also won the 2014 Dance School of the Year Award Vocational Category Winner in the same category during the awarding ceremony last July 2015.

The award, open to UK and international dance schools, recognises a school’s business health and growth over the previous year, as well as their contribution to the dance industry and to their local community. It celebrates the achievements of dance schools and teachers’ dedication to their pupils and students.

DFA Principal Tracy Hawkes, who was in Paris for her third Genesis Research Fundraising cycling challenge when the announcement was made, was thrilled to learn the news:

“We are so proud to receive this recognition for our professional dance college, for the second year in a row, especially as we were up against schools from all over the UK! The judges were again impressed with the breadth of training we give our students and the high success rate of our graduates in winning professional dance contracts, not just across the dance spectrum, but around the world.”

“I am exceptionally proud of the DFA family—our weekly pupils and parents, incredible students and dedicated faculty and staff.” ~ Tracy Hawkes

This year’s DSOTY judging panel was broadcaster, writer and lifelong dance supporter Anne Rippon OBE; Liz Dale, who is the head of education and training at the Council for Dance Education and Training (CDET); and Jonathan Gray, curator, theatre designer editor of Dancing Times magazine.

Now on its 4th year, the Dance School of the Year Awards was founded by Anne Walker MBE. Walker is a dance teacher, business mentor and founder of International Dance Supplies Ltd. She was awarded an MBE for Services to Business in 2010, and several business awards, including an Everywomen Award and a Stevie Entrepreneur Award.

“So many of the schools [who entered the DSOTY Awards] did all the things you would expect from a really good dance or theatre school – it is those that have gone that extra mile in their attitude or social care policies that have got the judges vote with one judge saying, ‘I am really impressed by the way so many schools are instilling a sense of community responsibility in their pupils’” ~ Anne Walker MBE.

Dance For All shares the prestigious award with other winners, including: The Island Dance & Theatre Company in the Isle of Wight (Overall Winner), London Boys Ballet School (Award for Innovation) and Debut Arts Academy in Stockport (Vocational School Silver Winner).

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