Jacquelyne France-Marsden has taken over the Tasmanian Academy of Dance

Former Launceston resident Jacquelyne France-Marsden has taken over the Tasmanian Academy of Dance at Invermay after moving back to her home city.

Ballet has been in Ms France-Marsdens life from a young age. She started ballet dancing at the age of three, when she and her family lived in Hong Kong.

When her family moved back to Launceston at age 8, Ms France-Marsden continued her dancing career at the Tasmanian Academy of Dance from age 8, under the guidance of teacher Allison Gibson-Snare. Ms France-Marsden said the ballet school became like a second home to her as she spent a lot of her formative years training at the studios at Invermay.

Despite moving interstate for a time, Ms France-Marsden maintained her relationship with her former teacher Ms Gibson-Snare.

Her association with the school only strengthened when she moved back to Launceston and joined her mentor as a teacher.

However, Tasmanian Academy of Dance has had new life breathed into it, with Ms France-Marsden taking over ownership of the institution and rebranding as Ballet and Dance Arts Tasmania.

In recent years I have concentrated on becoming a fully qualified and registered teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance, and with those formal qualifications in hand, I felt ready to take up the challenge of running my own dance school and give the next generation of young dancers that same gift that I was given as a child," Ms France-Marsden said.

I would like to thank the ex-principal and founder, Allison Gibson-Snare, for all of her hard work over the past 27 years. She has been my teacher and my mentor, and her legacy will live on as we step into a new era for the school.

With her full support, I am extremely excited to take up the reins as Principal of Ballet & Dance Arts Tasmania, with the opportunity to implement my ideas and offer new pathways for our students going forward.

There are classes for children from three years old through to adult beginners.

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