Anneli Robinson

ANNELI Robinson, who has died aged 75 within weeks of contracting ‘flu, was the charismatic and much-loved owner and principal of the Knaresborough and Harrogate Dance Centre in Castle Yard, Knaresborough.

News of her death spread quickly among former and present pupils, and within days the railings outside the dance centre were hung with dozens of pairs of ballet shoes with poems or messages on their soles.

Anneli was born in Finland and trained there and in Russia, becoming a Prima Ballerina. She then went to Peru where she had a ballet company, and met and married the diplomat Roy Robinson, originally from Manchester.

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When he retired in the mid 1980s, Mr Robinson suggested that Anneli purchase a dance school in the UK. Yorkshire’s reputation for dance was an attraction, and in Knaresborough the Dance Centre in Castle Yard was looking for a new owner.

She bought it, and kept on Wenda Simpson who was teaching the three to 12-year-olds. Anneli taught those who stayed on until they were 18. Many went on to study dance full-time and a number have become teachers.

Her commitment to ballet was total, and her love of it infectious.

At 75, she could still do the splits. Poised and supremely elegant, she had definite views as to what was suitable. The Centre stuck to Ballet, Modern Dance, Tap and Character, and while others bowed to the popularity of hip-hop and street dance, Anneli would have no truck with what she considered passing fads.

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Once a year she choreographed a ballet for the entire school, sticking rigidly to her rule that every pupil should be included, regardless of shape or ability.

Some were classics such as Coppelia and Sleeping Beauty, and some – notably Pocahontas – were her own original creations.

Staged in November, the ballets were originally performed in the Royal Hall, Harrogate, and when that was closed for refurbishment, she transferred them to the Conference Centre. When the Royal Hall was re-opened, they returned there.

She gave all the proceeds from tickets sales, amounting to £25,000, to the hall.

Her husband died four years ago, but Anneli’s demeanour never altered nor suggested the depth of her bereavement.

She is survived by her sister who lives in Helsinki.

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