Three Royal Academy of Dance teachers from the North East receive President’s Award at Awards Day event

Kathleen Burdon (South Shields), Harriett Croft (Liverpool) and Irene Hand (Darlington) are all recipients of President’s Award at the annual Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Awards Day, which took place on Wednesday 11 July at St Mary’s Church, Battersea on the banks of the river Thames.

The three dance teachers received the President’s Award from the RAD Chairman, Kerry Rubie, in acknowledgement of their dedication to the service of the Royal Academy of Dance over and above the call of duty.

Kathleen Burdon has been a dedicated member of the RAD for over 60 years; she opened her own school, Kathleen Burdon School of Ballet in South Shields, where she continues to teach to this day. During her long career, Miss Burdon has entered hundreds of students for their Graded and Vocational examinations. Many of her students have gained places at vocational schools, such as the Royal Ballet School, Bush Davis, English National Ballet and the Central and Northern Ballet Schools.

Harriett Croft, an inspirational dance teacher and a lifelong supporter of the RAD founded the Knowsley School of Dance in Merseyside in 1953, and she has taught there ever since. She still enters over 200 students a year for RAD examinations - the fact that over 50% of her pupils are teenagers who have been with her since a very young age, is a testament to her inspirational qualities as a teacher.

Irene Hand has been teaching dance since the age of 15, where she took up a professional post in Darlington and took part in many performances with the Darlington Operatic Society. She has introduced the RAD’s work to hundreds of students in countries across the world, including: Mexico and the USA, where she taught all the Grades and choreographed countless shows. Today, Mrs Hand continues to teach and inspire students across the Northern region.


The graduation ceremony was an international celebration with 179 students and guests travelling from 32 countries to collect their certificates, from as far and wide as Australia, Canada, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Mexico and USA. The students, who were graduating from one of the seven Faculty of Education dance teacher training programmes, will now go on to start their professional careers as dance teachers all over the world.

The event was also attended by a host of VIPs including the Mayor of Wandsworth, Wayne Sleep OBE, Vice President of Royal Academy of Dance and Sean Williams, Director of Council for Dance Education and Training.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editors

The RAD through its Faculty of Education offers a unique portfolio of postgraduate, undergraduate and professional programmes of study delivered at London headquarters or by distance learning. Degrees, diplomas and certificates offered by the Faculty of Education are validated through the University of Surrey or by the Royal Academy of Dance as a recognised Chartered Body. We deliver programmes in German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Portugese and Spanish to enable students to study in their first language.

Royal Academy of Dance is an international dance teacher education and training organisation with over 13,000 members in 79 countries. The Academy promotes the knowledge, practice and understanding of dance internationally through the education and training of teachers. The Academy is also the largest international ballet Examinations Board. The RAD is a Registered Charity in England and Wales No. 312826.

For further information and to receive images please contact the RAD press office:
Joanna Savage - T: +44 (0)20 7326 8030 Email: jsavage@rad.org.uk

Photo credits: Tempest Photography