Pupils from the Reigate School of Ballet & Commercial Dance took part in a television documentary for a production company in Panama, who came over to the UK to make a programme documenting Margot Fonteyn's life.
Numerous children from the UK's 'Dance School of the Year' rehearsed some balletic exercises in front of the cameras - the footage shown here is our own recorded version of the events. The actual footage will be aired in Panama, and we hope to get a copy of the programme next year when completed. The film crew had already been to the Royal Ballet School where Margot Fonteyn trained at the Vic-Wells Ballet School (now known as the Royal Ballet School in Richmond). She later went on to dance around the world and started dancing Principal roles at the age of 20 in Giselle, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.
The children, who regularly attend several dance and ballet classes a week at the Reigate School of Ballet, went in front of the cameras for an hour, in which the film crew then went on to film the statue of Margot Fonteyn outside Reigate station and moving on to Birmingham.
Ballet is a big part of the school, and has a long history of providing quality training to local children. Two teachers at the school both trained at the Royal Ballet School and carry on the long tradition laid out by the founder Shirley Knight, who herself trained at the prestigious ballet school and danced professionally with Margot Fonteyn.
We await eagerly for the finished programme !!