Festival Patrons
The Festival is honoured that the following have agreed to be Patrons of the Taunton Festival of the Arts
Terence Etheridge – Dance Festival
Patron of the Dance Festival is Terence Etheridge, who has had an extensive career in dance and has performed with the English National Ballet, Northern Dance Theatre and in various West End musicals and television programmes.
He has taught at some of the world’s best dance schools: these include The Royal Ballet School, Ballet West, Rambert School (Principal and Ballet Master), Urdang Academy (Head of Dance), Hong Kong Ballet, Icelandic Ballet Company, Royal Swedish Ballet Company, Finnish National Ballet, Ballet Gulbenkian (Portugal) and London City Ballet.
Terence has choreographed pieces for the Royal Opera House (London), the Vienna Festival Ballet, Cape Town Opera, Die Fledermaus (Gothenburg), Merry Widow Opera (Sweden), Don Carlos (South Africa), Chess, the Musical (Denmark), Sweeney Todd (Finnish National Opera) and New Youth Ballet.
Anne Walker MBE – Taunton Young dancer of the year
Anne Walker started her first business – a dance school in Liverpool at the age of 17. Unable to find well-fitting dancewear for her students, she started to make leotards and a range of dancewear in a friend’s attic bedroom.
Fellow dance teachers wanted to buy the same great quality products, so International Dance Supplies was born. Now a global business, Anne is able to take a back seat, and now mentors dance teachers and runs business seminars.
In 2013 she founded the Dance School of the Year Awards in order to celebrate the achievements of dance schools all over the UK and Europe.
In 2010 Anne was awarded an MBE for Services to Business, and she is also the recipient of a First Women Award, Every woman and the American Stevie’s Award.
She is a Patron of Tap Attack and Devon Rape Crisis and is delighted also to be Patron of Taunton Festival of the Arts – Taunton Young Dancer of the Year.
If you’re interested in supporting the Festival, visit our Friends & Benefactors page to learn more.