A local dance teacher has raised more than £40k for a children’s cancer charity.
Diane Piper has donated her fee for teaching burlesque classes for the last decade to raise £41,333.75 for Young Lives vs Cancer.
Ms Piper said she charges a small weekly fee for classes to cover rent and donates the remainder to charity.
“I only take out rent money for the premises and I never take any fee for running the class,” she said.
“We also perform at shows, dinner dances, hen parties, birthday parties and other events and if we are paid a fee then 100% of that is donated.”
Pictured: Diane Piper has raised £41k+ for Young Lives Vs Cancer.
Ms Piper has been a dance teacher for 64 years and has worked as a professional dancer: “I started dancing at the age of nine and qualified as a ballet, tap and modern dancer at 18,” she said.
She was a supporter of her chosen charity prior to her decade of fundraising through classes.
“My son, Craig, was diagnosed with cancer when he was a baby and suffered many health issues all his life until his devastating and tragic death thirteen years ago at the age of 29,” she said.
Pictured: Diane Piper started dancing at the age of nine.
Ms Piper said: “I am now 73 and I still love dancing as much as the first day I put on a leotard and a pair of tap shoes.
“Prior to my teaching years, I was a professional cabaret artist and performed all over the UK and also in Italy and Jordan.”
Ms Piper said that there is often a misconception about burlesque dancing.
“I would encourage of all ages to try burlesque; it’s so much fun and it keeps us fit."
Pictured: Diane Piper (centre) with some of her burlesque dance students.
"Burlesque is very tongue-in-cheek and we laugh our way through the classes and love to perform whenever we can," continued Ms Piper.
“Most people take our performances as we intend them to be, fun and cheeky while also showing our hard work and dedication to the dance aspect and the integrity of other types of dance we are also able to perform such as Charleston, jazz and even belly-dance.”
Ms Piper was initially uncertain about starting the classes.
“When I first started the class I did not know how this would be accepted but it has been a huge success ever since and we have had great comments and compliments from each of our performances," she said.
“It has gone way above and beyond my initial expectations.”
Pictured: Ms Piper said burlesque is "tongue-in-cheek".
Ms Piper intends to continue raising money for the charity.
“I want to continue fundraising for this great charity as long as I can. There are four of us in Guernsey who are recognised volunteers for Young Lives vs Cancer and we get together for flag day, have stalls at events and raise money in diverse ways.
“The £41,333.75 was raised purely from the burlesque classes and performances, but we have raised more than that with other initiatives. I am extremely proud of the amount we have raised so far.”
Pictured: Ms Piper received a letter of thanks from the charity.
Ms Piper’s classes are held at the Cobo Community Centre on Saturday mornings from 11:00 to 12:00 for a fee of £8.00. [A class on Saturday 12 March will be held at Styx Community Centre before returning to Cobo the following week.]
“If anyone would like to come and give it a go I would encourage them to contact me, or to turn up to a class. I would also be willing to arrange a taster session if there is enough interest,” said Ms Piper.
Ms Piper and her class will next be performing as a supporting act for a Shirley Bassey tribute artist on 22 July at St Pierre Park Hotel.
More information about Young Lives vs Cancer can be found HERE
CONTACT DETAILS
Telephone 07781 107619
Email mailto:dianepiperdancing@gmail.com
Comments
Comments on this story express the views of the commentator only, not Bailiwick Publishing. We are unable to guarantee the accuracy of any of those comments.