Tutor: Lilly Sell
Lilly trained to be a dancer from the age of 5 but grew too tall to go into dance professionally. Years later, at the age of 35, she returned to formal dance training when she studied at the Laban Centre in London, embarking on full time study of modern, classical and folk dance, choreography and Laban notation and specialising in the teaching of Creative Dance. She took these teaching skills to Geneva, where she taught dance to both primary and secondary school children at the international School of the United Nations.
In 1992, Lilly was introduced to Circle Dance in Perth, Australia whilst visiting a friend. She was immediately struck by the special energy and spiritual quality of the dance and music and the sense of community it engendered. Surprised to discover that Circle Dance had its origins in the UK, she went back to England and started dancing her socks off with different teachers around the country.
Totally inspired to teach, Lilly joined the first Circle Dance teacher training course run by Judy King, and since then has been busy teaching and promoting CD.
During Covid Lilly launched her own You Tube channel and made around 65 teaching videos so dancers around the World could keep dancing! She moved from Oxfordshire to Somerset in 2021, and started Circle Dance groups in her village. Her passion for sharing dances takes her around the UK and abroad, plus she organises highly successful residential dance events alongside her husband Vern, who leads walks and shares mindful relaxation at the end of each dancing evening as part of an optional activities programme.
In recent years, she has also become known as a gifted choreographer, and her dances to both modern and traditional music have travelled far and wide.
Lilly’s dancers describe her as “an inspirational dancer and dance teacher” “an exceptional teacher” with “a gentle patient and fun approach”. Most dances are beautifully demonstrated, then clearly taught in easy to follow chunks.