Images from history share a glimpse into the Ilkley ballet school that drew world famous dance stars

Co-authors of 25 Summers, Cathy Birch and Helen Bruce, are both former students of the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars in Ilkley, founded by former Royal Ballet dancer David Gayle.

Gayle, brought up in Ilkley, had dreamed about making classical dance accessible to all, said Ms Birch, no matter their finances, race or gender.

Hundreds of students, teachers and performers passed through the courses over the 1970s, 80s and 90s, and now their memories are brought together for the first time.

Ms Birch said: "He very much wanted to bring ballet to the people of Yorkshire. It was very small to start, but soon grew phenomenally because of the names he was bringing.

"I don't think he had any idea what it would become."

Growth

The first seminars were held in a church hall in 1973. It moved to Ilkley College in 1975, with an official opening by Dame Ninette de Valois, founder-director of The Royal Ballet.

World-class ballet training was brought to Ilkley for up to five weeks every summer, at a time when opportunity outside London was limited.

And among the teachers and faculty were some of the best known names in dance - stars of The Royal Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, and Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes.

With lecture-demonstrations, talks and performances, Ilkley in the summer was to become an epicentre for dance education, hosting treasures from ballet's rich history.

Stars

Ms Birch said: "There are so many students who have gone on to ballet companies, directing ballet companies, just all over the world. It was a real cultural ballet education.

"People coming from big cities, they would stand and marvel at this moors paradise. And there were people who had massive stage careers, coming to teach local students."

It wasn’t unusual for Ilkley residents, said Ms Birch, to find themselves in the company of dancers such as Dame Alicia Markova, Sir Anton Dolin, or Dame Beryl Grey.

"People would see these girls, with ballet buns, trotting in and out of Ilkley," she added.

"And the teachers, international stars, going for tea at Bettys or to the shops, and not realising the calibre, perhaps, of who they were."

Opportunity

Now, bringing together the memories of former students and teachers, the aim of the book is to ensure this history is not lost in time.

Examining the role the seminars played in encouraging more male dancers into ballet, through scholarships and opportunity, it also looks at the impact on Britain's ballet scene.

As the first residential ballet intensive of its kind in the UK, said Ms Birch, it was to change the course of dance education in Britain.

"It is a part of history that I don't think any summer school will ever see again."

Book

The book 25 Summers, a history of the Yorkshire Ballet Seminars in Ilkley, will be in bookshops from the beginning of next year to coincide with the seminar's 50th Anniversary.

The Yorkshire Ballet Seminars were later to move to Ripon, York and Harrogate where they now flourish under guidance of Iain Mackay, and soon, Cira Robinson.

The Ilkley years, however, remain a special part of the programme’s history, and authors are keen to see photographs from this time. Email [email protected].

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