Angela Byles (UK)

Angela Byles (UK)

I did RAD ballet from the age of three, all the way to my late twenties when I stopped to concentrate on my daughter’s dance lessons.

As a shy child, the only time I felt confident was in my ballet classes. When I was eleven we moved from Scotland to the south of England, and once again finding a ballet class helped me fit in. This lea to me joining amateur theatre companies where my confidence grew. Over the years I have done all types of dance but I always come back to ballet as this is where I feel I can really express myself.

I discovered Silver Swans last May after reading an article in Woman & Home magazine. I went to the Royal Academy of Dance website and found Sonia’s class which I signed up for straight away. I have never looked back.

As someone who had just retired and had been looking for an adult ballet class for many years, this has been a dream come true, and I don’t even mind the half-hour drive each way twice a week.

Ballet is amazing both for the body and the spirit and I’ve found so many new like-minded friends through these classes.

Silver Swans has been the saving grace during lockdown. My fabulous teacher has provided Zoom classes three times a week which has meant we have all been able to keep fit, and as importantly keep in touch with all our other Swans.

During this time we have also completed a challenge to video ourselves doing an everyday chore with ballet movements, and then this was collated into an amazing video of us all which went viral and was picked up by our local TV station.

All this has proved that dance truly is inclusive and fun, even in lockdown.

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