Stephaneta School of Dancing performing perhaps its last show at Prince of Wales Theatre in Cannock in Staffordshire - which is at risk of closure - video Dailymotion

Stephaneta School of Dancing at Prince of Wales Theatre in Cannock, Staffordshire

Transcript

00:00My name's Louise Kennedy, I'm part of Stephanie to School of Dancing and I have been since I was three years old.

00:06It was founded over 70 years ago by Beryl Bellingham, also known as Mrs. Charles,

00:12who sadly is no longer with us, but her daughter and granddaughter now run the dance school,

00:18helped by Miss Evie Adesed, which is one of those behind me.

00:22And it's been a family-run business for years and years, it's been a huge part of mine and many other people's lives.

00:29So we're kind of here today for our Cinderella performance.

00:34We've been performing here for over 20 years, so many shows.

00:38And obviously, as we know, the theatre is threatening closure,

00:42which is going to have a huge impact on our dance school because we've been doing it for so many years.

00:48It's such a huge part of our dance calendar, you know, along with competitions and other exams that we do.

00:55But the show is what all of the girls love to do.

00:59We've got, you know, we've got past dancers that help backstage.

01:02I mean, I'm no longer dancing in the show, but I'm helping backstage.

01:05So many other previous dancers do the same.

01:08Their children now also come to the dance school, so it's really special for us.

01:12I just think it would be a huge, huge loss.

01:15You know, it's a chance for all of the dancers to just spend time on stage performing,

01:21getting out of their comfort zone, doing things they wouldn't normally do.

01:24It's a chance for their families to come and witness all the hard work that goes into it.

01:29It's not necessarily families that come to watch.

01:31If people see it advertised, they're always more than welcome to come along.

01:35And I know that we all come and watch different shows.

01:38It's not just our dance school that, you know, we just buy tickets for.

01:42We came at Christmas to watch one of the ballet performances,

01:45and it's something for the girls and boys to aspire to.