Belinda Williams
Being born into a theatrical family, Belinda started dancing before she was three, her first teacher being her mother, Julie Morton.
She trained at the Arts Educational School in Tring. During that time she performed with the Zurich Ballet as part of the (Rudolph) Nureyev Festival at the London Coliseum, She appeared in The Nutcracker with the London Festival Ballet at the Royal Festival Hall, during which time she performed the ‘Chinese Dance’ on BBC TV’s Nationwide programme. She also made child appearances in commercials for McDonalds and Walkers Crisps.
After gaining two ‘A’ levels in Theatre Studies and Communication Studies at Amersham College and having her first bout of teaching dance under her belt, she successfully auditioned for top choreographer Ray Cornell and so set sail on the Cruise ships. She worked a very happy eighteen months for Ray, travelling the oceans from Europe to South America, and then on to Miami to join Carnival Cruise Lines sailing the Caribbean.
Belinda then continued her teaching at the Julie Morton school of Dancing whilst also adding various television appearances to her C.V., but still having the performing bug, she spent the next the next six years working on the Entertainment staff of a holiday company. As well as appearing in their shows she also became Dance Captain, Assistant Choreographer and Entertainments Manager. It was at this holiday centre that she met her future husband, the entertainer Russ Williams and they were married in 1998. She finally had to hang up her performing shoes due to a knee injury and after lengthy surgery and recuperation, began teaching full time with her mother.
When Julie fell ill, Belinda took over as the ‘Big Bad Boss’, keeping the standard of the school as high as when Julie was teaching. She and Russ are proud parents of Katie, who also dances with the school and is a student at the Tring Park School of Performing Arts (formerly Arts Educational), the same school that her mother and aunt trained. It is great that Belinda will continue teaching at the school.
Jennie Morton
Jennie, like her sister Belinda, trained at the Arts Educational School in Tring, performing in 'The Nutcracker' with the London Festival Ballet and also with the Peter Schaufus production of 'La Syphide', both in London and on tour for four years. After a period performing with Ballet Creations of London, she moved into West End musicals, touring with Harry Secombe in 'Pickwick' and also appearing with Barry Humphries in a Dame Edna Everage production at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. She stepped down from teaching at the school as she then trained to become a registered Osteopath, specialising in the treatment of members of the theatrical profession, dancers, actors and musicians. Working at B.A.P.A.M., the British Association of Performing Arts Medicine, she has since become a recognised authority in the area of performing arts medicine, being part of creating a Masters Degree in Performing Arts Medicine as an Honourary Lecturer at the University College of London and also abroad, particularly in America, where, in New York, she was Chairman of the membership commitee of P.A.M.A., the Performing Arts Medicine Association of America. She is now resident in Los Angeles, California, where she lectures and conducts workshops at various colleges, including Chapman University and the Colburn School of Performing Arts, and continues treating musicians and singers and others in the entertainment profession. Her mother, Julie Morton, would have been so proud of her achievements.
Bill Morton
Bill was an actor and stage manager in the theatre when he met dancer Julie Mellon, as she was then, and they married in 1964. Bill left the theatre in 1966 to join BBC Television, behind the camera, and during the next twenty-five years he worked on a huge variety of major productions, including shows that are still popular today. These include Monty Python, The Good Life, The Two Ronnies and Fawlty Towers, to name but a few.
As a television director in the entertainment field, Bill left the BBC in 1989 to go freelance, directing events like the BAFTA Awards and working on series with, among others, Noel Edmonds and Denis Norden. He spent ten years with Bruce Forsyth as his television director, on the Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right and Bruce’s Price is Right.
Alongside this career, Bill helped with the management of the Dancing School, particularly on the various Displays. Following Julie Morton’s untimely death in 2000, he took over as full-time administrator and is immensely proud of the way Belinda has kept the school going, maintaining the high standards her mother had established.
After directing Denis Norden’s final show in May 2006, Bill decided to retire from his television work and, now past 80, is still closely involved with the administration of the school.