Theresa Emelia Lowrie-Collymore was born in London, England. Her father was a champion ballroom dancer and her mother was an accomplished pianist and painter who fueled her passion for dance. She particularly loved classical dance and fancied watching and listening to fairy tales with the beautifully illustrated supernatural, weightless, tiny hands and feet of the fairies and princesses. So, from five years old, with a keen ear for music and movement, Theresa began ballet.
She studied with The Royal Academy of Dance, The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, Ms. Ruth French Dance Studio and Ms. Margot Conrad School of Dance, all in the United Kingdom. While pursuing a career in banking, Theresa continued to nurture her passion for dance by teaching Classical Ballet in her free time. As her part-time introductory classes mushroomed into sizable registration courses, her career choice became clear.
In 2019, Theresa celebrated forty years as a Classical and Modern Theatre Dance Teacher. She firmly believes that through dance, one is able to reach and communicate with the human spirit. The teaching of dance has helped her to develop discernment for each individual that she is privileged to teach and share with. She also appreciates being a part of an individual’s character building.
One of her major challenges has been insisting that the key to success is mastery of your subject – in this case, Dance. This requires discipline, tenacity, endurance, commitment and dedication. Through her school – the Saint Lucia School of Ballet and Modern Dance – Theresa has influenced the lives of many Saint Lucians. She introduced formal training in Classical Ballet in 1979 and by 2003 she saw a need for an additional dance discipline – another genre with more contrast in style and rhythm using varied but clearly related ethnic medium namely- Modern Theatre Dance. As the school and the art form grows in Saint Lucia, Theresa longs for added teaching help to assist in meeting the demands for formal Dance training.
Among the many awards she has won for her outstanding work, she has won the Saint Lucia Medal of Merit (Silver), the Saint Lucia Medal of Honour (Gold) and the M & C Fine Arts Awards for Dance numerous times.
Her most memorable moment was when her first set of entries from Saint Lucia (eleven students) all passed the international exam with flying colours. Incidentally, they were examined by her old teacher who had advanced her career into examining and tutoring at the Institute. Additionally, her first student to obtain a Master’s Degree presently teaches at a school in the United States.
She currently offers a comprehensive syllabus, for trainees from preschool to the advanced -vocational (from 3½ years to adult).
Meet our Director
Theresa Lowrie - Collymore
– RAD RTS, AISTD dip., SLMM, SLMH