Former Wallace High School pupil Rebecca Leonard who shot to fame on BBC’s Saturday night show “Strictly Dance fever” revisted her old school this week to take a series of dance workshops. 22 year old Rebecca , along with her dance partner Adam enjoyed tremendous success on the show hosted by Graham Norton, relished the opportunity of teaching the taster classes to the Wallace pupils.
She said,”The end of term workshops gave the Wallace pupils the opportunity to learn some of the audition pieces from Strictly Dance Fever.I was delighted to see so many people in the school interested in dance – Wallace really encourages participation in the Arts. Boys and girls from Years 8 to 113 took part and it was lovely to be able to thank the Wallace pupils and staff form the incrediblesupport they gavve me during the Dance Fever Experience.”
Inspired by Rebecca’s success, Wallace staged its very own version of Strictly Dance Fever in May, with teachers and pupils learning a series of dance routines to raise money for the NI Children’s Hospice.
Rebecca was delighted to hear about the venture, “The amount raised by Wallace for charity was superb ,as was the fact that every phonecall made to Strictly Dance Fever raised money for Comic Relief. I’d certainly be keen to help local charities with their fundraising activities.”
Rebecca has understandably found life rather quiet since her return to Lisburn, following the enormous excitement of living in the Dance Fever House. “I’m still in close contact with several of my fellow competitors and hope to visit them in London soon. I also hope to return to the University of Ulster in September to complete my Consumer Studies degree.
Being under the close scrutiny of TV cameras for so long during filming of the show has also given me a taste for work in the media. Ideally I’d love a career which could combine my interest in performance and media. I was delighted to be invited to speak to Media Studies students in Ballymena Academy and I’ve enjoyed teaching dance classes here in Wallace and also at other schools in the area.The Arts scene is Northern Ireland is really blossoming but unfortunately most job opportunities are in London -I guess I’ll have to wait and see what the future holds!”
Last modified: August 7, 2005
