A West Cumbrian woman has been running a well-established dance school for the past three decades. 

Karen Starkey, of Whitehaven, runs Starkey School of Theatre Dance based on Duke Street in the town centre. 

Over the years Karen has seen a great deal of success with many of her students going on to perform in the industry. 

Ms Starkey said: "I'm a theatre dance teacher so I teach classical ballet, tap, theatre craft, and contemporary modern jazz, these are the four subjects that I specialise in. 

"I've been going for thirty years now, since 1993, so it is going very well. I've danced since I was five so I just thought I'd like to give other children the experiences that I'd had in the past. 

"A lot of my students have gone on to have a great deal of success with their dancing, some have gone to the West End, dance colleges, the Royal Ballet School, and others have become dance teachers so there's been quite a lot of good points over the years. 

"I teach from three years old up to adults, it is a full-time business so I teach every day apart from Sundays, but if I'm working on an event I'll work seven days a week. 

"I do a Christmas ballet every year which is a big event that I organise and a show every two years which involves the whole school. 

"We've got exams on Tuesday and the syllabus I teach is the IDTA, the International Dance Teachers Association, and all the exams are taken under that. 

"We had exams three weeks ago and have some more this week and all of them are recognised by theatre schools, dance colleges, and universities when they get to their majors they get UCAS points that they can use to get into universities. 

"I've been chairman of the IDTA lakes area for the last 25 years, we've got a few teachers in the area and it is a worldwide syllabus."

Karen said that there are now spaces available for the September intake and more details can be found by calling 07764609877 or emailing karenlstarkey@hotmail.com.