Thank you Irene!

Photo of person smiling beside text, quoted on page below.

We’re very sad to announce that our much-loved dance tutor Irene Allison will be leaving us at the October break.

“Irene has been teaching at Dance For All with me since 1992, and she will be sorely missed by us all. We are devastated to see her go – Irene has been such a steady and supportive rock throughout the past three decades, but we are so very proud of her and all she has achieved since she began her teaching career with DFA. Irene will be pursuing a new career path at the Donaldson’s Institute.

The DFA family wish her every happiness in her new position – the Donaldson’s Institute are so lucky to have her!” – Tracy Hawkes, Artistic Director

From choreographing Ballet, Tap and Modern dance pieces for our school and college shows (and help backstage), to supporting pupils and full-time students through RAD Ballet, ISTD Tap and Modern coursework and exams, to theatre trips and the day-to-day dance school and college life, we have so many memories!

Thanks for everything Irene!

Irene Allison taught RAD Ballet, ISTD Tap, ISTD Modern, Jazz Dance to children and young people at our dance school; and was our ISTD Tap, ISTD Modern tutor on our full-time college course.

Originally from the west coast, Irene Allison RAD Teaching Diploma, AISTD, ASDTA, trained at the Theatre School of Dance and Drama. Following extensive touring in the USA as a Gathering of the Clans dancer, Irene returned to Scotland to teach. Irene was one of the first tutors to join Dance For All in the mid-1990’s. Providing Higher Dance tuition, special needs teaching and specialist day training for the Scottish Dance Teachers Alliance, she has been teaching Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Modern for many years, throughout the Lothians. She has also performed in a wide variety of shows, including Kiss me Kate and Brigadoon at the Edinburgh Kings Theatre and her choreography work includes Hatwalk, in collaboration with Stephen Wren.

From October 23rd, all of Irene’s Ballet classes will be taught by Lindsey Cheyne, an experienced and fully qualified RAD tutor who has often been occasionally covering classes for Irene in recent years. We are very pleased to welcome her into the DFA family and she will come in to meet her classes on Saturday 14th October. We are also pleased to announce that our DFA tutor Peter Twyman, will now teach the Friday Tap and Modern Jazz classes.