Tring Park School celebrates life of inspiring teacher
Teaching staff and pupils at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts have come together to honour and celebrate the life of the remarkable Eve Pettinger MBE, who not only made an impact on those at the school, but to the entire classical ballet world.
On Saturday 2nd July, Tring Park School paid testament to this inspiring lady with an event to showcase ‘A Moonlit Evening’, the last piece Eve had commissioned the school to create. It was choreographed by Ruth Brill, who had herself been taught by Eve for many years and featured the next generation of great artists currently training at the school.
Performers were a mix of male and female students ranging from 11 to 19 years old, dancing classical ballet. The event was filled with attendees including the current dance faculty, ex-members of staff and many alumni who were taught by Eve.
Eve was one of the first pupils at the former Arts Educational School, Tring, in 1945 and taught at the school for over 50 years. Prior to her teaching career, she was a professional dancer with London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) and danced for Dame Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin. Her crowning achievement took place in 2007, when she was granted an MBE for her services to classical ballet.
“We set out to celebrate Eve’s life the only way we know how, by creating a piece to highlight her musicality and love of dance”, explained Lorraine Jones, Director of the Dance Course at Tring Park School. “Eve even had the opportunity to view an early performance of the piece last year and it was such a gift seeing the enjoyment it brought to her. It is something we will always treasure.”
Jones continued; “Tring Park was Eve’s family. She personally helped to fund many students’ dance training, and this is set to continue through her legacy and generosity towards the school, ensuring Eve’s memory will live on through the fabric of Tring Park.”
Eve was instrumental in training generations of ballet dancers and was committed to supporting those at the school through her role as a teacher, and beyond. Eve remained involved with Tring Park School throughout her later life, and continued her annual visits, up until her passing in July 2021.