I studied with the late Gordon Little (Examiner of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing), a gentleman and person held in high regard by his peers. I qualified as an Associate in both the Ballroom and Latin American Faculties in 1997/8. I was fortunate to study with Gordon who allowed me to gain the firm grounding I needed for my future teaching work. I went on to gain valuable teaching experience and further study for my Licentiate certificate. It was through the teaching and study that I realised how I had developed from the time I undertook my Associate level. I gained my Licentiate certificate in the Ballroom Faculty in July 2000.
Personal development should always be on-going and with further study I was awarded my Latin American Licentiate certificate in August 2004. I studied under the guidance of Julie Tomkins, who is an Examiner with the ISTD and former Vice Chairman of the Latin American Faculty. Julie was in the front line when the Syllabi was being developed and I consider myself very fortunate to have gained first hand knowledge during my studies. Unfortunately, due to the many changes made to the syllabi I have had to ‘unlearn’ the knowledge gained in the Associate level, and re-train, using a different line of thought. Not easy to teach an old dog new tricks but I did it!!
I continue to develop my dance education by attending the Spring and Summer Congresses held by the ISTD giving me the chance to keep up-to-date with teaching ideas/methods and in particular the technical development of the Latin Faculty Syllabi. (The ISTD are further developing their education system by becoming the leaders in dance by introducing the following certificates for their teachers to undertake: Foundation in Dance Instruction (FDI) and Certificate in Dance Education (CDE)).
I constantly use my knowledge through my Dance School in Brentwood Jenny's Dancing Jems and when running social dance evenings also held in Brentwood on the first Saturday of the month. Click on What's on to find out the date of the next Saturday dance.
Richard North (Jenny’s former partner)
Qualifying as an Associate in both the Ballroom and Latin American Faculties with the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in 1969 his teaching experience has gone from strength to strength gained through class work and private lessons.
During the late 70’s and early 80’s he had his own school which was particularly successful in building up children classes into an established school. Alas, his own family commitments and change of full time job pushed for the decision to pass on the school to another teacher.
Further personal development was achieved by studying with the late Gordon Little. Studying with Gordon consolidated his knowledge and stretched him further allowing him to gain his Licentiate certificate in both Ballroom and Latin American Faculties in 1997/98.
Richard constantly uses his knowledge in his Dance School in Brentwood Two Left Feet and during private lessons.
Life should be a constant learning curve!!
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