An ex-dancer herself, Diane performed professionally for some 15 years, appearing in over 48 musicals, including appearances on Rhodesian and South African television, was a member of the Bulawayo City Ballet Company, performed with Merle Park and Judith Reyn, both principle dancers at the time with the Royal Ballet, danced in pantomimes, the original Jazzart Company under the direction of Sue Parker and toured South Africa with Brickhill Burke Productions.

Diane matriculated in Bulawayo. In 1970 she was awarded the Bulawayo Ballet Bursary from the Bulawayo Ballet Society headed by Vida Twell, mother of the well-known ex CTCB dancer Olga Twell, to study at the UCT School of Dance, then under the direction of Dr. Dulcie Howes. Thereafter, she went on to train internationally with dance personalities Joe Pugliese and Fred Traguth in New York, Monica Saez in Cannes and took classes at the Alvin Ailey and Broadway Dance Centres,
Broadway.

It was with this grounding “out in the field” as well as “in front of the footlights” that Diane
opened her studio of Modern Dance in 1975 which numbered amongst the largest and
most successful in South Africa in its time.

An Examiner and an Adjudicator, Diane won several choreographic awards in her teaching career including the prestigious BP Choreography Award of 1983 for her dance drama “Olympic Games – The tragedy at Munich”

Diane is remembered during the 80’s for her huge amateur Dance Productions of “Dansation,” staged at the then cavernous 3 Arts Theatre. These productions were noted in the “Arabesque Dance Magazine” by Angela Du Preez as “always a highlight in the Cape” and rated them amongst “the best of the best.”

It was with this accumulated and hands on experience, both in the dancing and teaching
world, amateur and professional, that Diane sort to retire from the exclusive world of
teaching in 2002 and entered the magical world of THEATRE DANCE, creating new and
exciting opportunities for both teachers and dancers alike - taking dance with the theatre
into a new arena - providing a different format for children to be trained for the stage – making dance more of an educational journey rather than simply a technical overload – believing that children who are stimulated learn better, teachers who are stimulated teach better.

With an abundance of energy, enterprise and enthusiasm, a tremendous drive, dedication
and frankness, and an overwhelming obsession for perfection, Diane, together with Denise
Morrison and Janice Tighe founded the THEATRE DANCE ASSOCIATION which today is run by Diane and Denise, providing a platform for children to be trained on the TDA
exclusive MODERN, TAP, HIP HOP and BALLET Syllabi.