Against the Odds Series / Gillian Lynne – Dancing Days are Here Again
Back in the 1930’s a not so unusual event took place at a school in England. This elementary school sent a note home with one of its students, asking the parents to come to the school for a meeting.
It turns out their daughter was very fidgety and couldn’t concentrate in class. She was becoming disruptive and homework assignments were late and missing. I guess they would have called it ADHD today, but that hadn’t been invented (it wasn’t an available condition, so people weren’t aware they could have it).
So the parents, concerned that their young daughter had a learning disorder took an extraordinary step for the time and sought the help of a “specialist”.
The girl, her mother and the doctor gathered in a large oak paneled office. The girl, sitting on her hands, listened for twenty minutes as the eight-year old student’s mother told the specialist all of the girl’s problems and why they thought she had a learning disorder.
Upon the conclusion of this litany, the doctor went and sat down next to the girl and said, “I’ve listened to all of the things your mother has told me and I need to speak to her privately”. He said, “wait here, we wont be very long”, and as he headed for the door, he stopped at his desk and turned on the radio.
When they got out of the room, the specialist turned to the mother and said, “lets just stand here and watch her”.
The minute they left the room, the girl got to her feet and started moving to the music.
The doctor turned to the mom and said, “You know, Gillian isn’t sick – she’s a dancer.” “Take her to a dance school.” The mother followed his instructions to the delight of the young girl. For once in her life, the room was full of people like her. People who couldn’t sit still, people who had to move to think. They did tap, ballet, Jazz, contemporary dance and the rest, as they say is history.
Gillian Barbara Lynne became a successful soloist dancer at the age of twenty appearing at the Royal Opera House in Sleeping Beauty. She met Andrew Lloyd Webber and choreographed some of the most successful theatrical productions in history, including Cats and Phantom of the Opera. She is a multi millionaire who has brought joy to millions.
Somebody else might have put her on medication and told her to calm down.
Scridb filter
Date: May 22, 2011