Meet the inspirational woman behind a Liverpool dance school celebrating 40 years

When Carol Talbot decided to give up her biology teaching job to follow a love of dance, in her late 20s and pregnant with her first child, there was no shortage of doubters.

“I applied to a college, they accepted me, and I gave my notice in at school,” she remembers. “The teachers said I was crazy leaving a proper job, but I just knew I wanted to do it.”

Her first classes after qualifying were on Tuesday evenings, in the rented church hall of the Welsh Chapel in Allerton in 1985.

But 40 years later, what began as a once-a-week venture has become a family-run Liverpool institution, Bluebell Studios.

“I was a young mum, I needed to earn some money so I said to my husband, ‘I’ll just start up a little school’,” recalls Carol. “I had no pupils so I put some cards through doors, told family, and I rang a friend who had a successful dancing school in Chorley.

“She offered to bring a busload of her pupils and I could teach a demonstration class with them to see if I could get anybody to register. That’s how I signed up my first 24 children.

“I still needed equipment so I asked my father-in-law for help. He worked at Mannings Marine at the docks and the next thing, six 10-foot polished timbers arrived. When I asked how much I owed him he just said, ‘a bottle of whiskey.’ Those ballet barres are still going strong and used to this day!”

Since that first class, Miss Carol as she’s known to her students has taught tens of thousands of young dancers, many arriving aged two-and-quarter (the earliest they can) and staying until they’re 18.

Carol’s own three children, Natalie, Lyndsey and Matthew all took classes – in fact Matthew, now 43, was the only pupil ever to be expelled.

“We had a lovely elderly lady pianist who used to play the sheet music for exercises,” she remembers. “When my back was turned, he’d take me off and have her laughing and all these three-year-olds giggling and running around, so I told him he wasn’t coming anymore!”

The school spent its first five years in the chapel before Carol’s second life-changing leap of faith saw her secure permanent premises in Heathfield Road, facing Penny Lane.

“A friend rang me and said, ‘do you know the church opposite is for sale’. There was no sign outside, it was a closed tender with one day of viewing. I went, spoke to the estate agent and asked how much it was and he just looked at me and said, ‘six figures love.’

“At this point I had babies, and I was overdrawn at the bank. I went far and wide to find a bank manager who’d lend me the money and quite rightly all of them refused.”

With a loan from her mum to cover the 1% needed to go with the tender, Carol made a cheeky bid.

“I knew nobody would lend me £100,000 but I thought I needed to do the exercise to learn, so I halved it, and added £7,000 because seven was my lucky number.

“On May 1 1990, the phone went and it was the solicitors telling me my bid had been accepted. All I could think was, where am I going to get £57,000 from?”

Determined not to lose the opportunity, she went back to her bank manager. After viewing the former church, he agreed to give her a business development loan to cover the cost – and an extra £2,000 for work on the building.

Bluebell Studios never looked back.

Carol has made lots of improvements over four decades, including adding a second floor to accommodate the growing day nursery and after-school dance classes.

Bluebell now has around 300 students for ballet, modern, tap, lyrical, body conditioning, commercial and musical theatre.

Although at 77, Carol still teaches the baby class, she has a team of six teachers. Her eldest daughter Natalie is a hands-on director, and Natalie’s three children all take classes themselves and help out with what’s become a three-generation business.

Bluebell has an incredible 100% exam pass rate, and a trophy cabinet reflecting success in competitions locally and nationally. Students have danced on Broadway, and in 2024 the Bluebell dance team was selected to represent England at the Dance World Cup.

Celebrating 40 years, Carol says she’s most proud of everyone who keeps Bluebell Studios running so smoothly even when she’s not there, and grateful still to the ‘giants of people’ she’s met on her journey, like the one bank manager who was prepared to say yes.

“And I think what’s phenomenal about Bluebell is it’s become like an extended family,” she adds. “Our students learn life skills as well as dance and even after they leave at 18, they all come back and see us. They form these amazing friendships, it’s a real community.”