26/11/2024
Delighted to announce our adjudicator for May 2025, Alison Forrester.
Alison began her passion for dance in Portsmouth where she loved competing in the local Festivals. She competed many times at The All England Finals herself in a variety of dance genres. She loves adjudicating and having the opportunity to be part of the enjoyment felt by young people when competing. She trained at London College of Dance in Bedford. She graduated with teaching qualifications in Greek, Ballet, Modern and Tap.
She then spent 3 wonderful years cruising around the world with Celebrity and Silver Seas Cruises. Onboard, the cast performed a variety of shows from Le Jazz Hot and Fiddler on the Roof to Chorus Line and Grease. It was a highlight of her career! Her next adventure was to take her to the USA for 9 years. She danced in Shows on the Las Vegas Strip for 7 years and performed in various large conventions, most notably for American Express, which took 6 months of preparation in learning to Irish dance! During her time in the US, she travelled to Chicago and Los Angeles to study with some of the Tap Greats such as Gregory Hines, Henry Le Tang and Jason Samuels Smith.
When returning to the UK, her career took many different pathways. She became a Fellow of the ISTD, ran a Dance School, created the Tap syllabus for the ISTD and became one of only two UK Judges for the IDO World Tap Championships. This has taken her to Germany, Zagreb and Prague in the past few years.
Alison currently teaches at Laine Theatre Arts in Epsom, is examiner and Lead Lecturer for the ISTD, coaches and mentors teachers around the world and examines for The Dang Musical Theatre Syllabus.
