Wells School of Dancing
© The Wells School of Dancing
Principal
Miss Sarah Wells FISTD
ISTD Cecchetti Classical Ballet Examiner
Holder of the Enrico Cecchetti Diploma
AISTD Modern Theatre, AISTD National Dance
3 Year Dance Diploma, Arts Educational Schools, London
‘Miss
Sarah’
trained
at
the
Arts
Educational
Schools
in
London
for
four
years.
There
she
gained
her
teaching
qualifications
in
Cecchetti
Ballet,
ISTD
Modern
and
National
Dance.
After
leaving
college
she
went
to
teach
at
her
old
school
in
Surrey
when
her
former
teacher,
Felicity
Jaffe
(who
was
an
ISTD
Examiner),
retired.
She
also
taught
Ballet,
Modern,
Tap
and
National
Dance
at
the
Weston
School
of
Dancing
in
Chelmsford,
between
1986
and
1996.
To
keep
up
her
dancing
Sarah
joined
The
Chelmsford
Ballet
Company,
a
local
amateur
dance
company,
and
has
performed
roles
such
as
the
Lilac
Fairy
in
‘The
Sleeping
Beauty’,
Teresina
in
‘Napoli’,
Lise
in
‘La
Fille
mal
Gardée’,
and
the
Black
Berkshire
Pig
in
‘Tales
from
Beatrix
Potter’.
She
finished
her
performing
as
Carabosse
in
the
Chelmsford
Ballet
Company’s
1995
revival
of
‘The
Sleeping
Beauty’.
In
1989
Sarah
became
a
fully
registered
member
of
the
ISTD
when
she
passed
her
Licentiate
Cecchetti
examination
with
distinction
and
in
August
1995
gained
the
prestigious
Enrico
Cecchetti
Diploma,
the
highest
ballet
examination
bestowed
by
the
Cecchetti
Society.
Since
1986
Sarah
has
been
choreographing
dances
and
competition
set
work
for
the
Cecchetti
Society,
primarily
for
the
Mabel
Ryan
Awards.
She
enters
pupils
for
the
Awards
nearly
every
year,
as
the
opportunity
to
compete
with
children
with
similar
abilities
is
invaluable
for
dancers
wishing for, and thinking of, careers in the theatre.
August
2001
saw
the
ending
to
Sarah’s
Ballet
Exams,
when
after
a
week
long
intensive
Cecchetti
Summer
School
in
Chichester,
she
took,
and
passed
with
over
90%,
her
Fellowship teaching exam.
Sarah
was
a
member
of
the
Cecchetti
Group,
who
met
in
London
to
organise
events
for
the
Cecchetti
Society
such
as
the
Mabel
Ryan
Awards.
She
created
a
booklet
that
outlines
all
the
Cecchetti
Society’s
events
and
competitions
which
is
given
out
to
the
members
of
the
Society
across
the
country.
In
June
2007
she
was
appointed
a
Cecchetti
Society
Children’s
Ballet
Examiner
by
the
ISTD
Grand
Council.
Sarah
has
been
a
member
of
the
ISTD
Cecchetti
Classical
Ballet
Faculty
Committee
since
September
2008
and
continues
to
work
on
behalf
of
the
ISTD
to
organise
and
promote
the
Cecchetti
Classical
Ballet faculty.
The
Wells
School
of
Dancing
has
been
running
in
Laindon
for
over
30
years,
formally
at
the
Laindon
Community
Centre
and
continues
from
April
2021
at
the
Langdon
Hills
Methodist
Church
Hall.
Sarah
hopes
it
will
continue
for
many
more
years,
possibly
with
more
children
reaching
for the stars!
Miss
Sarah
is
married
to
David
Marley,
they
have
two
children,
Abigail
(now
teaches
Dance
in
secondary
school)
and
Timothy
(studying
for
a
Phd
at
Imperial
College,
London
and
RAL).
Both
children
performed
at
the
schools’
25th
and
30th
anniversary
shows
at
the
Towngate
Theatre,
Basildon
as
a
special
thank
you
to
David
for
his
endless
love,
help
and
support,
to
Patricia
Lambert
(Miss
Sarah’s
mum)
for
the
years
of
making
the
dancers
costumes
for
every
school
show
and
in
memory
of
Eric
Wells
(Miss
Sarah’s
father)
who
always
wished
that
dance
would
be
a
career path for her.