Marguerite Porter
Monday 31st January 2005
Crown Court Church of Scotland Hall, London W.C.2

Michael Broderick, Chairman, welcomed Marguerite Porter as our first guest speaker for 2005. Marguerite is well known to us all as a beautiful ballerina with the Royal Ballet who danced a very wide range of roles, and is now the Director of the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars, taking over from David Gayle this year. Since her retirement from the stage she has been teaching part time, which she has done at the YBS and hopes to continue teaching there, even though as Director she will have many other administrative jobs to do. Marguerite comes from Yorkshire (Doncaster) so it is especially fitting for her to take over this great Yorkshire summer school.

Marguerite said that when her son started school she found she had the time to do some part time teaching and started her "Balletcise" classes, which enabled people who had never danced before to do ballet. This included people of all ages. With regard to teaching students of different standards, she said that the distinguished international guest teachers at the YBS are not only able to pass on their wisdom and experience to the children, but they can help to channel them into directions that are suitable for them.

The Yorkshire Ballet Seminars has now been established as a Charitable Trust with knowledgeable and supportive trustees, which will be of great advantage to the future work of the YBS. Over the years professional dancers from the RB and other companies have danced for the students and guests in the studios. Dancers love to perform on stage and this year Marguerite is planning a Gala with guests from the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, English National Ballet and also singers and actors. This will take place at York Grand Opera House (telephone: Box Office 0870 6063595) on Sunday 31st July 2005. She was pleased to see so many supporters of the Seminars present and looks forward to welcoming us back to York and to the Gala. Marguerite amused us with her account of the very first Gala she and Wayne Eagling organised at the London Coliseum with no experience whatsoever of such a complicated production. They succeeded in assembling a very star studded cast, which included Freddy Mercury who performed "Bohemian Rhapsody" and with Brian Rix as compere. Needless to say, it was a great success, so we all look forward to her Gala at York which should be a wonderful evening.

At this year's seminar Marguerite plans to teach a variation class for the older girls and Christopher Tudor is introducing a new "contemporary for ballet" class for the older children, as a change from Baroque dance. Marguerite explained how the teaching schedule for the two week programme is planned to build the stamina of the pupils, through the different styles and teaching methods of the guest teachers, so that they can cope with the more demanding work by the end of the course. Marguerite discovered for herself how much she loves to teach since she started her "Balletcise" classes.

Marguerite spoke of her ideas and some innovative projects she has in mind for the YBS, but the basic structure of the Seminars would remain the same. She stressed that David Gayle made the Seminars fun and rewarding for the students and teachers alike, and all benefited and enjoyed themselves. Michael Broderick noted that the teachers treat the students with respect and consideration, regardless of their technical ability. Marguerite does not wish to hold auditions for YBS and believes that if the students are willing to learn and work hard they will gain results. She would love to have more local Yorkshire children involved and participating in the YBS, as she has got the impression that they may feel overlooked and outnumbered by the foreign students who take part, and that YBS is not for them. There was general discussion about how local children could be encouraged, especially when there is such enthusiasm for ballet and many good dance schools and teachers in Yorkshire and the North. Marguerite described her own start with local teachers in Doncaster and how she went on to have classes with Louise Browne, a great Yorkshire teacher, and from then on into the Royal Ballet School and her career with the Royal Ballet. Michael and Kevin O'Hare (from Yorkshire) have stated they would not have got anywhere without the encouragement of the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars and their teacher Louise Browne, who also taught Patricia Ruanne. We look forward to more local involvement and watching the emergence of a new generation of Yorkshire dancers under the inspirational guidance of Marguerite Porter.

In answer to questions from the floor, Marguerite said she knew she wanted to dance as soon as she had her first lesson locally and stood in first position. She made up her mind immediately that was what she wanted to do, though she had no illusions of "tiaras and tutus". Since her retirement she has appeared in many guest artist roles and would like to continue to do this.

Michael thanked Marguerite for giving us such a wonderful evening and said it was our good fortune that she had made up her mind to be a dancer at her first class in Doncaster at the age of 9 years. Michael then presented our guest with Champagne to great applause.