A DANCE teacher who has dedicated her life to educating youngsters all over the world has been rewarded at a ceremony in London.

Margaret Jaffe, who runs the Northern Dance School in Skipton, received the Imperial Award for Dance for her lifetime's contribution to the dance and theatre profession.

She said: "The award is like the Oscars of the dance world. It was very unexpected, it is the sort of thing you think would go to the powers that be."

Mrs Jaffe's love of dance began during the war when she worked in the Northern Command Entertainment Services whilst still at Skipton Girls' High School.

She launched her first folk dance group which travelled extensively entertaining allied servicemen.

She later studied piano and composition at the Royal Manchester College of Music and after graduating taught music to pay for her dance tuition.

Mrs Jaffe, who now lives in Threshfield, founded the Northern Dance Centre nearly 50 years ago in Grassington, with her husband Nigel Allenby-Jaffe, a musician and historian. It has honed such talents as Laura Waddington and Nigel Hunt who are now dancing in Michael Flatley's Spirit of the Dance, and Jane Tucker who is currently in the Hong Kong Ballet.

The centre now runs about 50 classes a week in Skipton and Ilkley with the help of eight staff. This gives Mrs Jaffe time to offer her services as an examiner in South Africa and Hong Hong.

She founded the first arts educational school in Bradford where students could train in dance or drama and get a full education at the same time. Ten years ago she also founded a dance summer school in Denmark.

"The school did every subject imaginable but did not do dancing. For the next seven or eight years I took a dance troupe over there and ran courses, and then our group put on a show," she said.

"Teaching dance has been my life. You get such a wonderful end product. If I had gone into a theatre school to dance professionally then my career would have over years ago."

Many of her students have gone on to be teachers or professional dancers and many have come back to help her run her classes. "It is very much like a family institution, that is the thing I like the best."

Most recently Mrs Jaffe's theatre group represented England at the World International Folk Festival in Majorca.

o Pupils from the Northern Dance School will be hot-footing it down to London's famous Albert Hall this weekend to perform in a celebration of PE and teaching.

Around 1,000 school pupils from all over the country are set to take part in the concert which includes demonstrations of other PE activities and athletic pursuits.

The performers have been busy practising their routine over the last three months for the folk dance when they take to the stage in traditional costume.

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