The prestigious Tring Park School for the Performing Arts has appointed Antony Dowson and Lorraine Jones to the positions of joint interim directors of dance following the departure of director of dance Rachel Rist.

Rachel is taking a year’s sabbatical prior to retiring after 36 years at the school.

Antony and Lorraine are both currently part of the dance department; Antony is artistic director of the school’s Encore Dance Company and Lorraine is deputy director of dance and head of modern dance.

Antony and Lorraine both have illustrious careers in the dance industry. Antony trained at The Royal Ballet School and graduated into The Royal Ballet in 1976 before being promoted to principal in 1984 when he created roles in works by Ashton, MacMillan, Tetley and Kylian, as well as dancing lead roles in all the classical repertory.

In 1992 he retired from the stage and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dance Professional Dancers Teaching Course with distinction. For the next 14 years he was a member of faculty at English National Ballet School. He was made Head of Dance at English National Ballet School in 2005.

In 2007 he was invited by Wayne Eagling the then Director to become Ballet Master for the English National Ballet Company and remained in this position until December 2012.

He joined the Dance Department of Tring Park School in January 2014 and has been a key part of the school, becoming artistic director of the Encore Dance Company, which gives dance students in their final year at Tring Park School the chance to experience what life is like being part of a touring dance company.

Lorraine trained at Doreen Bird College and later went on to dance professionally for several years performing in musical theatre, commercial and jazz dance. She is a well-known choreographer and has worked on many productions including Moby Dick, Half a Sixpence and Sweet Charity. She joined Tring Park in 1990 and in 2006 became head of modern dance. Lorraine is a regular guest teacher at many events around the country.

Talking about these new appointments, Tring Park School principal Stefan Anderson said: “I am delighted that Antony and Lorraine will be joint interim directors of dance. They both bring many years’ experience of dance experience at the very highest level and we are very lucky to have them.

“And with Lorraine being with us since 1990 and Antony since 2014, they are very well known and popular with our students. I look forward to seeing what they can achieve in the year ahead.”

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