THE DANCING YEARS       Lyndon Wainwright was the male half of the dance partnership, Lyndon and Felicia, that in 1948 won the Premier Prix in the World’s Professional Eight Dance Ballroom championship. They then specialized in the Latin dances and significantly helped introduce these dance forms to the British public. For the first time in British TV shows, such as Casa de Salta featuring Edmundo Ros’s Latin band and on Victor Silvester’s BBC Dancing Club, they danced Rumba, Samba, Paso Doble and Mambo. They presented their show over 400 times a year for several years. On seeing them perform, Claude Langdon, the owner of Britain’s most famous dance hall, the Hammersmith Palais, instructed the manager to engage them to present their show at every alternate Dancers’ Night for a year. It was a unique engagement.

Lyndon with his dance partner in his performing days.

      When the partnership was dissolved in 1960, Lyndon devoted himself to teaching, writing and the administrative side of the dance “world”. He has had nine books on dance published over the years including one for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and a best seller “Let’s Dance” that has been translated into five other languages. Additionally has written sections of two books edited by Arthur Franks, the editor of Dance Today and the Dancing Times, and was engaged as a consultant by Eaglemoss Publications for “part-work” which it published on Ballroom Dancing. For over 50 years he has contributed articles to dance magazines such as Dance International, Dance Today (Previously the Ballroom Dancing Times), Dance Expression and continues to do so. He has also written articles for the Daily Mirror. He is retained as a consultant for Britain’s leading dance teachers’ organization, The International Dance Teachers’ Association (the IDTA).

Ballroom Dances of Latin America (Author's pub. 1947) Better Dancing (pub. Kaye & Ward 1983). First Steps to Ballroom Dancing (pub. Lyric Nooks 1993) The Story of British Popular Dance (pub. IDTA Sales 1997) The Dance Teachers' Handbook (Pub: British Dance Council 2001.) Strictly Ballroom Dancing (Pub: Australian Broadcasting Corp.) Let's Dance (Pub: HarperCollins, 2005       now republished in five additional languages). Need to Know? Latin Dancing. . (Pub: HarperCollins 2006)      Need to Know? Ballroom Dancing. (Pub HarperCollins 2007) Web-Site of HarperCollins Publishers Web-Site of The British Dance Council Web-Site of the International Dance Teachers' Association

      Lyndon has been an Executive Councillor, Hon. Treasurer, and Company Secretary of the IDTA. In addition he has served as a delegate to the British Dance Council and as founder and Hon. Secretary of its Teachers’ Committee, on the Council for Dance Education and Training, and the Central Council of Physical Recreation. He has become an acknowledged expert in the Performing and Phonographic Rights involved in playing music in public and is often consulted by dance teachers in respect of their commitments in respect of these liabilities. He has maintained a close relationship with his parent body the I.D.T.A.

      For a number of years, Lyndon was a trained engineering metrologist (“Metrology” - the science of precision measurement) and at periods in his life was head of the Quality Control and Metrology Section of the Research Association for the Printing, Packaging and Paper Making Industries. In this capacity he lectured for many groups both in the UK and abroad, and sat on a number of committees of the International Association of Research Organizations in the Printing Industries. He was also Chairman of the British Engineering Metrology Association for a few years.

      The dance profession have honoured Lyndon with a number of awards for service to dance. In 1996 and 1999 he received the dance world’s “Oscars” the Carl Alan, in 1998 the Classique de Danse, in 1982 the American Hall of Fame, in 2000 the Ballroom Dancer’s’ Federation President’s Award, and in 2005 the Distinguished Service Award of the I.D.T.A.

      Lyndon was invited by the BBC to take part in a TV show “Last Man at the Palais” dealing with the history of the Hammersmith Palais, was interviewed along with many others for the programme and with a fellow professional danced the Last Waltz at the Palais to conclude the presentation. It was first screened on BBC TV4 on Christmas Eve, 2007.

      “I didn’t like the text, but then I was reading it under adverse conditions – the light was on”. With apologies to Groucho Marx.