November 2017 www.womanthismonth.com PEOPLE | interview 32 Dancing to the Future Zilia Bahrain Ballet Centre (BBC) was started in 1982 by an Italian-American mother married to a Bahraini who wanted something for her kids to do. Zilia explains: “The centre was the only professional place for anything performance-related. It mainly promoted ballet and other classical dance forms along with some folk dances. It also hosted music, karate and boxing classes for a while. You could say it was the first performing arts studio on the island.” The core activities of the school were under the Ministry of Education until the end of 2015 when Zilia and her mum, Rosemarie, took over. They found themselves facing various problems, some due to new regulations. “Our existence was covered in years of dust 'neath the records of the Ministry of Education! We could see immediately that our challenge presented itself right there – that we were forgotten!” she says. So began the 18-month process of transferring the business to its new owners, which revealed that it should be under a different ministry. High-level meetings followed and a new licence to operate was granted at the start of 2017. Over the years students have studied everything from imperial ballet and tap to modern theatre and jazz. Teachers are trained and certified from the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), UK. Once a year pupils take to the stage to display their talents in an annual dance show. The next one will be in January 2018. With the transitory nature of Bahrain’s expat population, many students have continued their studies in other countries with some going on to teach and others even dancing on Broadway. As the island’s oldest dance school celebrates its 35th anniversary, its managing partner, Zilia Monteiro, tells us about its past and future. Zilia adds: “We also have many parents, who once used to study at our studio as kids, now bringing their own children – and to me this is a testimonial!” Zilia herself has a background in media, and once worked at Bahrain This Month. So, what took her into this field? She explains: “My family decided to pursue a business that was based on our passion and would allow us to work and empower the children of today. “I have always wanted to be a ballerina since I first remembered tippy-toeing around the living room furniture whilst watching musicals like The Sound of Music. As my parents couldn’t afford it, at the time, I remained a ballerina in the bedroom but I had no clue I would one day run a ballet studio! I have to put a disclaimer here: my mother handles a lot of the daily operations. We are a mother-daughter duo. We took over the studio in early 2016; it was a business desperate for a new lease of life. “At the time I was working in the media field, which was and still is my passion, and we came across this opportunity to buy. I come from a family and culture that are highly enthusiastic about music and anything arts-related, so doing
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