Edna Homer ran a dance academy at the Institute
Edna and best friend Dorothy Hindmarsh at the gramophone
Dance Class February 1940
Concert Programme 1947
Edna's Dance Troop
Dorothy Hindmarsh
Francis Wilmott
Edna 2004
From 1939 to 1944 Edna Homer ran the Edna Homer Dance Academy. She rented the committee room on the first floor of the Workers' Institute in Cradley Heath, where she held classes in ballroom, ballet and tap.
Edna had always loved dancing. She took her first dancing steps as a little girl of seven, at the “'Stute”, as the Institute was known by local people, when a man came to teach dancing in the hall. Although the young Edna learnt different forms of dance, ballroom was always her favourite, and with her dance partner she won quite a few local competitions.
Edna's love of dancing led her to teaching, and it was through her brother-in-law that she came to hire a room at the “'Stute”. Edna was seventeen when she started her dance classes and set up her Dance Academy. The initials E.H.D.A. were proudly displayed on the white blouse she used to wear with her black skirt.
Edna ran dance classes on and off throughout the week, but Tuesday nights were the most popular. The classes would start at 7.30p.m. and run until 10.30p.m. A short interval would be taken, often at the "Railway" pub on Lower High Street. Sometimes, they would go to Homer's fish and chip shop across the road from the Institute.
The Committee Room was laid out with wooden chairs around the edges, and at the side of the room there was a table, where Edna's gramophone would be playing the latest Victor Silvester record. On the right side of the room was a small upright piano, which Edna also used, and local pianist Norman Robinson would accompany the dancers.
As well as running dancing classes, Edna managed the “Edna Homer Dance Troop”, a group of women who performed shows in hospitals, churches and other venues. All the women wore outfits of white blouses and black short skirts.
Edna gave up teaching dancing when she was about twenty-two, and in 1944 married a local businessman. However, the dance school carried on in her name until June 1951. Dance classes, under other names, continued in the Institute until 1955.
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| Updated: | Wed 21 May 2008 - 1 |
| Interpretation written by | Louis Howe |
| Author's organisation | Curatorial |
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