Jo Dean's blog

This is the first week of the school holidays and so children and families are out in force at local parks and attractions, making it the perfect time to let people know about Ugly Duckling, our new ballet for children.

Although it may not seem like it with this weather, the summer is here and so our regular classes are drawing to a close for the summer holidays.

To mark the end of term and to celebrate a couple of significant birthdays (I obviously can’t give their ages away, but you wouldn’t believe me anyway as their youthful looks belie their years), our Dancing for the Over 55s class held a picnic lunch after their class this week.

We are about to fling open our doors to the public for our Open House 2012.

I'm having a good day today – not only because the sun is shining but because I have just been to a lovely Japanese tea morning at John Jamieson School which is a school for pupils with learning difficulties in East Leeds.

Friday was a day of recovery for the Learning team as the START project came to an end for another year.

On Thursday we had 550 young people (plus their teachers) watching the performance of Madame Butterfly at Leeds Grand Theatre and the atmosphere in the theatre was electric.

Our Dancing for the Over 55s class has been running for almost a year now and is becoming increasingly popular as word spreads of the fun and fitness people get from it. Participants not only improve their dance skills but also form friendships and social groups, so much so that it’s difficult to stop them all chatting at the start of each class!

Submitted by Jo Dean on Wed 30 March