Dance teacher who inspired thousands of students dies aged 106

A dance teacher who inspired thousands of students and was awarded a British Empire Medal has died aged 106.

Angela Redgrave was honoured for her services to dance in the late Queen’s 2022 Birthday Honours.

She was the principal of the Bristol School of Dancing for over half a century after acquiring its premises in 1970.

Miss Redgrave was born in Finchley, north London, in 1917 and began dancing at the relatively late age of 10 before joining a prestigious performing arts school in the city at the age of 16.

Angela Redgrave was the principal of the Bristol School of Dancing from 1970 (Redgrave family/PA)

After the Second World War, she moved to Somerset where she trained as a teacher and eventually opened her own dance school, where she taught thousands of young people.

When she started dancing as a child, she was taught the Royal Academy of Dancing Syllabus, which she followed for the rest of her life.

She did not stop teaching during the coronavirus lockdown and moved lessons online with the help of her daughter.

Aged 104, she was the oldest of 1,134 people to receive a birthday honour marking Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in 2022.

She said at the time she felt “very honoured to be presented with such a lovely award”.

The Bristol School of Dancing posted a tribute to the “wonderful and beautiful” dance teacher on social media.

Saying she had died on Saturday, the school said: “It is with deep sadness we announce the passing of Miss Angela Redgrave.

“A wonderful and beautiful lady who was an inspiration to us all and will be greatly missed.”