Biography:
Ken and Blanche met at a dance at The Centre in Slough. They immediately started to dance competitively, soon winning the Berks and Bucks amateur Championship. They then turned professional, opened a studio at the Centre where they started to teach, and continued competing. They were grand finalists at the British, International Star and World Championships, at one point coming third i
n the world at Berlin. They danced for England at team matches and danced cabaret on the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and many other ships, and held many demonstrations throughout Britain and abroad. They have had many TV appearances. They were awarded the Carl Alan Award in 2002 and have been inducted into the World Dancing Hall of Fame. Their teaching career also took off. Ken, chairman of the Formation Guild, has compered, organised and judged many major championships and his teams have regularly won the amateur and junior Formation championships at Blackpool. He has taught in America and Russia. Many champions have passed through their hands including Richard Gleave, Alan Fletcher, Patrick Johnson, Vicky Barr, Derek Green, Brian and Sue Puttock, Alan Dixon, Timothy Howson, Julie Galea, Jonathan Wilkins, and Katusha Demidova, who Ken trained in Russia. Blanche Ingle has also trained Karen Hardy who won series four of "Strictly Come Dancing " with Mark Ramprakash in 2006. On September 20th 2013 Blanche Ingle-Bateman was awarded the Carl Alan lifetime dedication to dance award.
