OVER the last 18 years, pupils of Jayne King, of The Dancers School in Gorleston have been entered for 4,000 exams in classical ballet, modern theatre dance, tap and jazz dance.

Now principal Jayne King is to celebrate the achievements and is planning a big reunion for former pupils.

Originally the Jo Raven School of Dance, where Jayne King herself was a pupil, the school was taken over by Karen Childs when Jo died in 1983. Jayne went away at the age of 18 to the London College of Dance and Drama, and then worked abroad before returning to the area late in 1991 when she began working at the school part-time before taking over as principal in 1992.

Since then, the school has gone from strength to strength, with many former pupils entering vocational performing arts colleges and many currently work in professional theatre and cabaret.

Jayne said: “I am still in contact with many former pupils of the school, particularly those who went on to make a career in performing arts, whether they are still living locally or have moved away, as I love to keep in touch with what they are doing and the fantastic progress that they have made.

“Even since our show last October, three pupils have gone to study dance and performing arts at university and another three have gone to full-time vocational colleges including the Italia Conti Academy in London.”

She added: “To mark this milestone though, I would really love to have as many former pupils come back as possible for this reunion, just for everyone to have a good catch-up and find out how people are and what they are doing with themselves. It will be great if we can manage to get together people from the whole span of those 18 years.”

The reunion will be held at the Cliff Hotel, Gorleston on Sunday, December 12 from 7pm.

If you are a former pupil of The Dancers School aged 18 years or over and would like to attend the reunion, email Jayne at info@thedancersschool.co.uk, or call 01493 667769. If you have friends or family who are former pupils, it would be good if these details could be passed on to them as well.