La Sylvaine School of Dance / Wendy Bell School of Dance
La Sylvaine School of Dance was founded by Blandine Lamaison in London in 1979, 32 years after her mother, Jeanne Lamaison, founded the original school in Fontainebleau. The school started with Wednesday afternoon lessons for the children of the Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle and subsequently expanded to other French schools including Jacques Prevert, L’Ecole des Petits L'Ile aux Enfants as well as to local state schools in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea namely Bousfield School, Our Lady of Victories, The Oratory and Holy Trinity and The Chelsea Theatre for Saturday lessons. Independent schools visited include Redcliffe School, Fulham Prep and Tadpoles.
The Aims
The primary aim of the school is to teach children how to extend their potential through the disciplines of dance and performance. Children are taught the RAD syllabus and are regularly entered for examination when they are ready - with impressively high results. The very high standard of tuition has enabled several students to progress to vocational schools such as the Arts Educational School at Chiswick, Laines Theatre Art School and the Royal Academy of Dancing.
Blandine Lamaison is a graduate of Concours Artistique de Paris and a Licenciate of the Royal Academy of Dance. She trained with a variety of teachers from the Paris Opera and the Royal Academy of Dance. She started as a teacher in Padova, Italy and joined Pauline Howard’s school in Sussex before moving to London where she became an RAD examiner at the same time as opening La Sylvaine, London.
La Sylvaine - Fontainebleau
La Sylvaine was founded in 1947 by Jeanne Lamaison in Fontainebleau. In 1973, her daughter, Marie Lamaison, a graduate of l'École Supérieure d'Études Chorégraphiques de Paris, took over, having been a teacher since 1967.
La Sylvaine - Bordeaux
Martine Lamaison opened a school in Bordeaux in 1975, with various branches in this area. Her daughter, Stephanie Corne, took over in 2000, spreading the influence of La Sylvaine across the South West of France.
“Passion Achieves Miracles”
