A LEGENDARY Flintshire dance teacher has been recognised in the King's Birthday Honours List. 

Shirley Snowden has received a BEM for services to dance and to the arts. In 1953, she opened the Shirley School of Dancing based in Hawarden, aged just 16.

Amazingly, Shirley still runs the school at 87 years old. The school has a 100 per cent pass rate in examinations taken by their students.

She started it in a wartime air raid shelter in 1953 - the year of Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation.

Down the years, Miss Shirley, as she is affectionately known, has taught thousands of people how to dance - and is a legendary figure in the dancing community. Dozens of her students have gone on to be professional dancers. 

Over the years she has overseen more than 50 former students go on to become qualified teachers themselves.

The school performs shows to raise money for local and national charities, including most recently ‘Shooting Stars’, the cancer unit in Wrexham Maelor Hospital. Miss Shirley also takes her pupils into the community to perform in local care homes to entertain the elderly and infirmed residents.

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She previously said: "I started out in a wartime air raid shelter in Mancot with eight pupils. Little did I know then that I'd be going on to teach thousands of students over 70 years. 

"I've trained all my own teachers - the first to qualify being my sister, Gaynor.

"Dancing has been my whole life, I've been in love with it since I was a little girl. I just love teaching it, especially to children - and I'm going to keep doing so for as long as I can!"