Nadine Senior,

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language Molal ...

(born Nadine Pickles; 4 October 1939 – 28 January 2016) was the founding principal of the

Northern School of Contemporary Dance Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) is a higher education institution in Chapeltown, Leeds, England specialising in contemporary dance. Students can obtain undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in dance, validated by the University of ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

, England.

Personal life

Senior was born Nadine Pickles, in

Scarborough, North Yorkshire Scarborough () is a seaside town in the Borough of Scarborough in North Yorkshire, England. Scarborough is located on the North Sea coastline. Historic counties of England, Historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town lies between 10 ...

, on 4 October 1939. She attended Friarage School and the Scarborough Convent Grammar School, and then studied at a college in Leeds.

Professional life

In the late 1950s she had encountered the work of

Rudolf von Laban Rudolf von Laban, also known as Rudolf Laban (German; also ''Rudolph von Laban'', hu, Lábán Rezső János Attila, Lábán Rudolf; 15 December 1879 – 1 July 1958), was an Austro-Hungarian, German and British dance artist, choreographer an ...

while at teacher training college, and she went on to apply his ideas while teaching PE and holding the position of deputy headmistress at Harehills Middle School in

Harehills Harehills is an inner-city area of east Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is approximately north east of Leeds city centre. Harehills is situated between the A58 (towards Wetherby) and the A64 (towards York). It sits in the Gipton & Ha ...

, Leeds. She introduced all the pupils to dance, saying that "Children are natural movers," and "Dance is one of the few art forms where they have the edge over adults, and they can relate to it immediately." Forty of her pupils, mostly male, became professional dancers, including the group of young men who moved on to

Intake High School Leeds West Academy is a secondary school with academy status in Rodley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It is well known for specialising its area of education in the Performing Arts sector. History Leeds West Academy was founded in September ...

and later formed the

Phoenix Dance Theatre Phoenix Dance Theatre is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, that has grown from small beginnings in inner-city Leeds to be one of Britain’s leading contemporary dance companies. The company tours nationally and internationa ...

and the award-winning choreographer

Darshan Singh Bhuller Darshan Singh Bhuller (born 4 March 1961) is a British dancer, teacher, artistic director, filmmaker, and choreographer. Considered "one of the brightest stars of his generation" and a "darkly powerful performer," Bhuller danced for London Contempor ...

, who would become the company's artistic director. In 1985 she established the

, which offers degree and postgraduate courses in dance, and also youth and community courses. She retired in 2001, and was Chair of the Trustees of Phoenix Dance Theatre for the next six years. She was awarded an

for services to dance.

References

1939 births 2016 deaths Dance teachers People from Scarborough, North Yorkshire {{England-bio-stub