COLOURFUL and spectacular shows to end the year have long been a tradition of Furness dance schools, offering youngsters a chance to show family and friends all the latest moves and costumes.

Back in December 1999 it was also the end of an era for Helen Waddington as she hung up her tap shoes after more than 20 years in the business.

Her final show for Helen’s School of Dance was called Showstoppers at Barrow’s Forum 28 - a lively mixture of dance and music with routines based on Annie, Abba and the King and I.

The Mail, on December 1 in 1999, noted: “Helen’s dance school has won many accolades, scooping prizes in the Cumbria carnivals and entertaining the public with popular shows.

“But at 36, she has decided to devote her time to her three children, Yvette, 13, Brad, 10 and Bethan, four."

Helen, of Yarlside Road, Barrow, said: “Running the dance school is so time consuming.

“There is so much organising to do behind the scenes getting the costumes ready. The best thing about doing the dance school is the kids. I have been surrounded by them all my life and I love to have lots of kids around me. Some of the girls at the dance school I have known since they were babies.”

In October 1999 Pauline Barker’s Imperial School of Dance has presented cheques of £800 to the Children’s Ward Support Group of Furness General Hospital , £100 to Dalton Drill Hall and £100 to Nelson Street Community Association. The school held its Dance Crazy evening at the Forum in December 2006 to help celebrate the organisation’s 20th anniversary. There was a standing ovation for dance school mums who got together for an energetic routine based on the Ghost Busters movie. The stars were Joanne McGrath, Debbie Husband, Louise McCracken, Jane Doyle and Suzanne Barclay.

In January2000 The Steps Incorporated Dance School presented two nights of entertainment at the Forum called Dancetime 2000, which included a spectacular 1970s section.