About Us

The Elsber School Of Theatre Dance was founded in 1968 by Wendy Catherall. From a humble beginning of just 14 pupils in a tiny hall in Buckley, it has now grown to be the most highly acclaimed school in the area.
The school provides excellent training in jazz, modern, ballet and tap dance for children between the ages of 3 and 19. I.S.T.D. (Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing) examinations are taken in these subjects, with at least 2 examination sessions per year. The school also teaches Irish Dance.
The school also incorporates many other styles of dance in theatre and competition work (eg. national folk, classical Greek, street dance to name but a few!!!) and encourages both singing and drama in theatre productions. Boys classes are taught separately to ensure that strength and style can develop independently.
Each year, the school provides dancers for pantomimes and local dramatic productions. Every 2 years, the school hosts it’s major production at Clwyd Theatr Cymru. This is a breathtaking West End style production for every member of the school, incorporating all aspects of the arts and lots of energy!!! On the inbetween years of the major production, the school performs in a series of ‘Minishows’ which are to promote and showcase the talented dancers in the school.
Our last big production was ’I Want IT All' which was performed at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in June 2009 with various smaller charity concerts and showcases being performed all year round.

Since Wendy retired from the running of the school a couple of years ago (although she is still heavily involvedl), Rachel Catherall, daughter of Wendy, took over the running of the it. Rachel is a former professional dancer (see 'staff' page) and is a professional choreographer (see www.rachelcatherall.co.uk for more details)

Many pupils from the school regularly compete in competitions (festivals) with great success.

Many past pupils from the school, are either dancing or teaching dance professionally all over the world.

In addition to the excellent dance training received at the school, the fully qualified staff make the lessons both fun and interesting for the children. Not everyone is designed to become a professional dancer or teacher, but all pupils will leave the school with confidence and poise that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.