Gosport dance group walk Bridgemary Carnival route in memory of founder
THE memory of a woman who inspired countless girls to take to the dance floor will live on in her students.
Dorothy Temple, founder of Dorothy Temple School of Dance, died in October last year after a sudden illness.
She was also a committee member for the annual Bridgemary Carnival in Gosport, which this year was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
In her memory, members of the dance troop took to the streets and walked the usual route of the carnival procession.
Lucy Fox – who now jointly runs the dance company with Elizabeth Ward and Sue Brown – said everyone wanted to do something in Dorothy’s memory.
She said: ‘Everyone was keen to do something to remember Dorothy – she had such a huge impact on all our lives.
‘We had quite a lot of members turn up to walk around the procession route, which was great to see.
‘Dorothy always put the children first and that’s something that we will carry with us.’
Bridgemary Carnival is one of Gosport’s mainstay events, and always proves popular with the residents.
Schools, community groups, musicians and even emergency services take part in the parade, which loops around the centre of Bridgemary, filling the streets with music and laughter.
One of the other carnival organisers, Lesley Ward, put forward the idea of holding a group walk for Dorothy.
Lucy said: ‘It was a very emotional day for all of us – but it was amazing to see how important Dorothy was in so many people’s lives.
‘The dance group and the carnival were both enormours parts of her life, so it was a very fitting tribute to her.
‘For the children it has been a very difficult year; they’re still getting over the loss of Dorothy but also haven’t really been able to properly mourn together due to quarantine.
‘To see one another while doing something like this made everything really quite special.’
This year’s event would have been the 14th annual Bridgemary Carnival.