Ballet & Dance School About Us || Welland School of Dancing

The current school principal, Victoria Fallow-Norton began as the Head of Performing Arts in 2018 and stepped up to Principla in September 2024. Previous to this Maggie Purr ARAD RAD RTS and her husband James Skinner took over the running of the school in 2010 from previous principal Anne Desbruslais FISTD CDE and her husband David Walker who ran the school from 1985 to August 2010. Miss Purr is now our Head of Ballet and Anne Desbruslais continues to be involved with the Welland School of Dancing in her new capacity as Patron.

The school caters for both the serious student (many will go on to professional training and careers in the theatre), and the recreational pupil. Children are accepted from age 2 for Ballet, age 4 for Tap & Modern Theatre, Acro and Performing Arts and Age 7 for Hip Hop and Contemporary. The school had its main full time dance studio in Stamford, based in the Ballroom complex of the former Stamford Hotel (circa 1820) until August 2017, with pianists, ballet barres, mirrors and sprung floors; all essential for long term dance training. The school also holds adult classes in ballet, tap & jazz with beginners welcome. Welland school of Dancing moved premises to the former Stamford Museum on Broad Street in September 2017 where we have added a further smaller studio and continue to provide a positive and thriving environment for all our pupils.

Maggie Purr,Principal of WSD 2010 – present

Maggie is a former pupil of Welland School of Dancing. Under the tutelage of Miss Desbruslais, Maggie gained a place at the Royal Ballet School as a senior associate, and then at Central School of Ballet in 1996, trained by Christopher and Carole Gable.

Nicole Ryan

Film and Television – Lead Role

Gemma Jackson

Gemma left the Welland School of Dance in 2005 to pursue her career as a professional dancer. She was offered a full time scholarship at Cambridge performing Arts on the musical theatre course, where she studied for four years.

Alexandra Smith

Tiffany Theatre College, Company Manager P&O and princess cruises

Emily Griffiths

Hammond School, P&O and costa cruises

Poppy Brewell

Bird College

Lavinia Kastamoniti

Lavinia, originally from Greece, began her dancing from an early age in Corfu with her mother Tina Chandley (training: Northern Ballet School) as her teacher.

Charley May

Pirouette Scchool – Leicester, Teacher WSD, TuDance and Inspire.

Emily Boswall

Ballet Theatre UK school

Alice Cade

Trinity Laban, Founder of Abalinodance theatre

Jenny Richardson

I started at Welland when i was 3 years old doing ballet classes every Tuesday, then at 7 I joined tap and modern classes.

Chloe Jackson

Royal Ballet school, Arts Educational Tring Park

Chloe Hebden

Billy Elliott, Hebden School of Dancing

Marina Fraser

Royal Ballet School

Katie Green

WSD Pupil 1984-2000

Kizze Burkitt

Since joining at the age of four, Welland has instilled in me an absolute passion for dance that has fundamentally shaped the course of my life.

Harriet Britten

What The Welland did for me?
I will forever be grateful for what my time at The Welland taught me, I have always loved dance and always will, as well as this, throughout my 9 years there, I learnt how to be disciplined; in a way that I now pass on to my pupils.