HRH The Duchess of Cornwall has been approved by HM The Queen to become the Royal Academy of Dance’s Vice-Patron. The announcement was made in a special video call by The Duchess with Dame Darcey Bussell DBE and Silver Swan Ambassador Angela Rippon CBE.
The Duchess was joined by Dame Darcey and Angela Rippon to discuss the Royal Academy of Dance’s initiative to keep older learners moving to the music at home through free, online Silver Swans ballet tutorials. They discussed how beneficial dance is for maintaining mental and physical wellbeing, at any age, with The Duchess explaining how taking part in RAD’s Silver Swans classes has positively impacted her personally. Dame Darcey also had the opportunity to discuss the Academy’s mission to inspire the world to dance through excellence in teaching, even under lockdown conditions.
Watch the video here
When the Royal Academy of Dance’s Gene Awards (now known as The Dame Margot Fonteyn Awards) were taken offshore by its CEO Luke Rittner for the first time in over 70 years, Sydney won the international bid to host the Competition – despite near rioting in London. The Sydney Competition turned out to be a huge success and every year the Competition travels to a new city.
The Friends supported this first Sydney Competition and has maintained great relations with the Royal Academy of Dance and the London team headed by the wonderful Luke Rittner, who visits Sydney annually.