‘The Allen School of Dance, or YDC, is one of the longest running family dance schools in the UK’

Lisha Allen is the third generation of her family to run the Yeovil Dancecentre, also known as the Allen School of Dance or YDC, which was established in 1939.

It is one of the longest running family dance schools in the UK and Lisha, who is now the director, choreographer and writer of original show ‘The Creation’, is the grandaughter of it its founder, Reg Allen.

The show will be unveiled at Westlands Entertainment Venue on 23rd July, and Lisha has told Somerset’s Alive! all about the concept and her life in dance, with stunning photos from Len Copland.

For 21-year-old Lisha, ‘The Creation’ is a realisation of many months of hard work, following years of being immersed in the world of dance “since before I could walk.”

Explaining her dance credentials, so far, Lisha said: “I competed from a young age and still do in the genres of Ballroom and Latin, recently coming second in the country in 4 dance Ballroom, at the Supadance National Finals.

“I have been following the the footsteps of my parents, whilst forging my own path which somewhat differs from their skillsets, into a modern age.”

‘The Creation’ is not Lisha’s first show as she had a huge hand in a special celebration for the dancecentre.

Lisha continued: “I have created shows in the past, being largely responsible for the choreography of our 80th year anniversary show a few years ago, but this is my first original show, and the dancentre’s first ever show with one fluid narrative, including every style we offer.

“I have also been introducing film opportunities to the dance school, after creating a 50 minute Wizard of Oz dance film that I choreographed, filmed and edited, all self taught, which included a large range of locations, using both drone footage and from my phone.

“I have created multiple shorter films since, and look forward to our next film this year after purchasing new, professional equipment.”

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The Yeovil Dancentre is predominantly a competition school and some recent credits include winning the Chairman’s trophy for the second best results of all the schools in the National Supadance League Finals, which is the biggest couples event for UK dancers.

They also boast having multiple Champions and finalists at the IDTA Nationwide Ballroom and Latin finals in April, and also having students nominated and/or make finals for the top ballet/jazz dancers in the country, out of 7,000 candidates.

The dancecentre also had three winning freestyle/street teams at the last UKA Nationals held in Blackpool.

Lisha said that it was she is pleased to have made the time to produce her new, original show, and credits her dad for opening the door to the path is eventually took.

She continued: “Due to [Yeovil Dancecentre’s] brilliantly busy schedule, we do not often get to showcase our talent all in one place locally.

“When I initially pitched the idea of doing a show to my parents, I was planning to use the narrative of another show. It wasn’t until my dad, Nigel Allen principal of the Yeovil Dancentre, suggested writing my own narrative, that everything changed.”

Lisha described what happened next as she went about bringing her creative ideas into life.

She said: “A few months down the road and I had scraped together a few notes on my phone that were changing by the day and somehow I was trying to translate my vision to all the dancers and parents, whom I’m sure at the time thought I was crazy.

“Since then, I have spent endless hours researching, editing all the music, choreographing the dancers, designing costumes, writing the script, recording voice-overs, creating social media content and much more.

“This doesn’t begin to cover all the jobs my mum, Mel Allen, has done too, as well as the teaching from my parents and sister, Maria Allen, who also followed in their footsteps.”

So, what can people expect from ‘The Creation’? Lisha reveals what is in store: “The entire narrative is told through dance and voice-overs which I have written and recorded, and the cast of 80 showcase a mixture of ballroom, latin, ballet, street, freestyle, contemporary, acro, jazz, theatre craft, lyrical, rock ‘n roll and more.

“The show is family friendly and entirely magical, telling a beautiful, poignant story through a language like no other. 

“It tells the epic tale of a puppet dreaming beyond what destiny had in store for her, told through the language of dance.”

Lisha adds: “The story begins with ‘the Puppet’, created by ‘the Puppeteer’, who has no purpose or mind of her own, as you will find in our sardonic, opening duet that prefaces the show.

“At the grand opening ball to reveal the famous Puppeteer’s newest creation, ‘the Dreamer’ secretly gifts the Puppet the ability to dream, giving her life and a purpose beyond what she was destined for.

“The Dreamer takes her through the dream worlds of many artists to help her find her purpose, from a Composer, Writer and Botanist, to an Artist, Designer and Dancer. Will the Puppet finally find her true calling?”

A brief history of the Yeovil Dancentre (YDC), Allen School of Dance 

The dance school, which is often also known as the Allen School of Dance, was established by the late Reg Allen in 1939, just before the start of the Second World War.

The school continued during the war, until Red joined the RAF, meaning it was postponed until 1945 when he resumed the school full time.

When Reg married his wife Joyce, the school moved to a new venue behind the Royal British Legion in the late 1940s, where two old army huts were put together on land with Reg leased.

A large wooden floor was laid in the hall and was known at the time as one of the best dance floors in the South West. After 30 years, the lease was not renewed and the hall was pulled down. 

This did not end the school however, as it continued from numerous halls in Yeovil, until the second generation of the Allens – Nigel (Reg and Joyce’s son) and his wife Mel, brought a disused warehouse, converting it into what is now known as the Yeovil Dancentre.

Reg continued teaching there until he died at the age of 82, and Joyce stayed teaching for another 10 years after this.

Today, the family business is still thriving and has had a plethora of successes in the industry over the years, and is often open 7 days a week.

All photos are courtesy of Len Copland – check out his site HERE.