Dance is in Ayrshire family's blood!

Aug 8 2008 by Stuart Wilson

FOR any parent, watching their child follow in their footsteps is a proud moment.

And for one family it’s happened three times over.

When little Heather McPike took her first steps on the dancefloor this year, she became the fourth generation of a family dynasty.

The Elite Dance School, which rose from humble beginnings in a bedroom in 1930, has grown to become one of Ayrshire’s biggest performing arts groups.

And they’ve kept it in the family with the school’s ownership passed down the line to the modern day.

Cheryl McPike now leads the Ayr-based school after succeeding her mum, Karen Ritchie and grandmother, Wini Clifford.

She revealed: “It’s amazing to think the school is still around after all these years and being run by me because dancing was the least thing I wanted to do when I was younger.

“But it’s become the family way and I know my gran was very proud of seeing her school continued with us before she died.

“It all started in a room in her mum’s house and grew from there. She would stage shows when she was 14 and eventually got her own studio in Carrick Street.”

Wini, who travelled Ayrshire with her growing band of dancers to entertain the troops during the war, then handed over control to daughter Karen, who still teaches the infants today.

And the family ties were continued when granddaughter Cheryl joined at the age of three before stepping up to be principal teacher.

Cheryl, 38, admitted: “It’s a hard job at times because we have 150 girls in the school so it’s a lot of work, but I love it.

“We don’t get any funding help from outside so we do well to be where we are and the annual show we staged at the Citadel recently was a huge success.

“We even have two girls competing at the World Championships in Ireland this week, so there’s lots of talent coming through the group. My dream is to have enough money to build my own studio. At the moment we’re based at the Holy Trinity Church but I’d love to have my own facility.”

She laughed: “Maybe if I win the lottery it will happen.”

Elite run classes in Ayr, Annbank, Coylton and Tarbolton and take dancers from age 2½ upwards. The school offers classes in tap, modern, highland, cheerleading, ballet, acrobatic, disco and baton twirling.

For more information, contact Cheryl on 01292 284269 or visit www.elitedanceschool.co.uk