Sylvia Felgate

19th March 1939 - 30th July 2026

It is with great I share the news of the passing of my dear friend, mentor and founder of The Topsham School of Dance, Sylvia Felgate aged 89. Sylvia opened the school in May 1953 teaching and inspiring thousands of students for over 47 year before handing over the reins in January 2001. So many will have fond memories of Sylvia’s classes and shows. The first photo below shows Sylvia (center) at the very first dance display she organised aged just 16 years. Thank you, Sylvia, for everything.

Dance Show 2027.

We’re excited to announce our next show, ‘It Was A Very Good Year’ will take place at the Barnfield Theatre in Exeter on Saturday 23rd January at 12:00 & 5:00. Our 2026 autumn term will be very busy as we prepare dance routines, try on costumes and take part in group rehearsals. We’re expecting around 135 dancers to take part! Tickets are now on sale through the Barnfield Theatre box office.

Lord of the Flies.

We’re incredibly proud of Theatre Kidz alumni Tom Page-Turner for his role as Bill in the BBC’s new adaptation of Lord of the Flies. It’s so exciting to see a student’s passion and enthusiasm for the arts blossom into something so powerful and poignant!

Vicki, Marie and all the students at Theatre Kidz Honiton wish Tom every success.

KPop Demon Hunter Dance and Craft workshop.

We‘re so proud of everyone who took part in our 2025 K-Pop Demon Hunter workshops! 3 hours flew by while we leant a whole dance, decorated our caps and played lots of Demon Hunter inspired games - We still made time for a couple of juice and biscuit breaks! Well done to all who took part.

Defibrillator fundraising event.

Many of us who use the Dorothy Holman Centre are 'of a  certain age' and to know life saving equipment is close at hand is very reassuring!  Recently, while with his sailing club, one of our Tap Class members suffered a heart attack and spent weeks recovering at Derriford and the RD&E. We fear had he taken ill while with us and without a defibrillator close to hand, the outcome could have been much worse. We’re pleased to say he's doing brilliantly and is back at Tap Class!

After brainstorming with the wonderful Adult Tappers, we came up with the idea of 'Tap & Tea'. We spent an hour learning Abba themed Tap exercises plus a full routine and then relaxed with a nice cup of tea and (more than one!) slice of cake. We had hoped this event would raise in the region of £200 but were totally blown away by everyone's generosity when we raised over £500! A huge thank you to Aldi for the tea, coffee and cakes (plus everyone else who brought cake along)

We also set up a GoFundMe page so that Topsham resident's could contribute should they so wish and was grateful when the total reached £344. The Topsham Town Fayre Committee generously contributed £200 and we sold off some surplice costumes to make up the rest. There is even a bit left over which will be put aside for when the time comes to replace the defib pads.

Robin Turl kindly installed, free of charge,  the cabinet on the outside wall so the defibrillator is now available to all hall and park users.

A huge thank you to everyone who supported out efforts.

Show February 2025 at the Barnfield Theatre, Exeter.

Congratulations to all classes on two incredibly successful shows! On Saturday 8th February at 2:00pm & 7:00pm 113 students from across all classes performed to a full house at the Barnfield Theatre in Exeter. Our show ‘Out of this World’ followed the story of Lib, an intrepid alien hunter who’s setting up camp for the night in hopes of discovering what the lights in the sky really are. There she meets alien family Blip, Bleep & Blop who are secretly visiting Earth in hopes of learning more about our planet. Through a wide variety of music and dance they learn just how wonderful our planet is!

Miss Vicki, Miss Hannah and Daisy are incredibly proud of each and every performer!

Bella & Billy have a spa day!

The 2nd July marks the end of our 10 week summer term and Bella & Billy Bear have worked hard at Baby Ballet so they’re having a spa day! They’re incredibly proud of all our beautiful budding ballerinas and wish everyone a wonderful summer.

Many students will be graduating to either after school Ballet or Mixed Dance class when we’re back in September but for those taking a little time out while they settle into a new school, Miss Vicki, Miss Poppy, Bella and Billy Bear wish you every success!