AN EVENT to remember a popular dancing teacher and raise funds for Barnsley Hospice will take place this weekend.

Rosalyn Wicks, of Mapplewell, died on October 18, 1994 at the age of 51 after a long illness.

She was renowned for dedicating her life to the world of dance and was an examiner, lecturer and adjudicator for dance, as well as teaching both children and professionals at the Rosalyn Wicks Theatre School in studios at the Civic Hall. The school then moved to Doncaster Road.

A Life Remembered event will be held to celebrate Rosalyn, with all funds going to Barnsley Hospice. Her daughter Eleanor Hill, who followed in her mum’s footsteps and opened her own dance school called The Dance Depot, said her mum was very well-known in Barnsley and was ‘loved by many’.

“I am still in contact with people who were taught by her and they all remember her,” said Eleanor.
“My mum was so well-known in the community. She taught the boy who inspired the film Billy Elliot Philip Mosley. When you watch the film and there’s the dance teacher, well, she’s inspired by my mum.

“She was one of those women who had a cigarette in one hand and a black coffee in the other, that’s how she did things. She was a very hard-worker and did it all really, working from 9am to 9pm; she really was a brilliant dance teacher.”

As well as running the dance school, Rosalyn helped to co-ordinate the Miss Dance of Great Britain ceremony at the City Hall in Sheffield for many years. And even though the event is now held in the Winter Gardens in Blackpool, a bursary in her memory is awarded annually and presented by her family.

Along with being involved with the Miss Dance of Great Britain competition, Rosalyn organised and choreographed hundreds of productions and raised funds for several charities.

She was described as a ‘strong character’ by Eleanor.

“I’m looking forward to the event and I owe so much to her including my career.”

The event for Barnsley Hospice will be at the Bluebell Suite in Dodworh from 5pm till late on Sunday.

Tickets to the event are available from The Dance Depot, Barnsley Hospice, Dancerama and the Take 2 Academy. You can also contact Eleanor Hill on 07775 678 312.