Western Association of Ballet Schools History

The above organisation is based in the United Kingdom’s seaside resort of Bournemouth, on the south coast in the county of Dorset.

A company limited by guarantee and its registered number as a Charity is 278406. The objects of the Association are “to educate children in the art of dance and to give them the opportunity and experience of performing in public”.

The brain-child of Bournemouth musician Christopher Shiner, and with the support of Secretary Brenda Pitts and eight local dance school teachers The Western Association of Ballet Schools was founded in 1975.

The late Sir Charles Groves CBE magnanimously agreed to become President in that year, with Lady Groves succeeding him on his death in 1992.

Wayne Sleep OBE is now the Association’s illustrious President following the retirement of Lady Groves at the end of 1998.