About The Jackie Palmer Stage School

Jackie Palmer started her professional dancing career at the age of 12 in Pantomime, once she was able to leave school she toured the country and then worked continuously in the West End.  At that time dancers would often do two shows at the same time in different theatres.  Jackie was a head girl (now called Dance Captain) at the age of 18 and at the same time became principal dancer.  When war broke out, as most performers, Jackie toured with ENSA entertaining troops all over the country. 

It was during that time that she met her future husband and during the pantomime Cinderella in Plymouth, they married and Cinderella gave up her coach to "a real bride".  Having left the theatre to become a housewife and mother Jackie didn't return to dancing until her daughter Marylyn (now principal of the School and Director of the Agency) was 6 years old and wanted to learn to dance.  The schools then local to the family didn't offer the sort of training Jackie has always been used to, nor the opportunities that Jackie had when she was a child.  With this in mind she opened her own school in Middlesex. 

 New Dance Studios built in 2009

She became a Choreographer and both children and adults appeared in top shows all over the country.  Later having moved away from the area and settled in High Wycombe Marylyn decided that dance was the career path she wanted to go down.  In December 1971 the Jackie Palmer Stage School opened in High Wycombe with 40 pupils - within weeks the school had grown and by the following year, pupils were appearing in pantomimes in Windsor, Darlington and Edinburgh as well as Christmas specials.  Jackie continued to teach and continues to be very much involved with the children.  Marylyn became a choreographer and worked on television shows as well as theatre productions here and abroad.  Now Marylyn runs the Jackie Palmer Stage School; Jackie Palmer Agency and JPA Management.