ANNE… CAMBUS DANCE QUEEN
Tributes to stage star and teacher
Tributes have been paid to Cambuslang’s very own dancing queen, who has passed away at the age of 84.
In a memorable career, Anne Burden danced with stars including Cliff Richard and Des O’ Connor.
But she was best known locally for her unstinting work at the Dorothy Kemp School of Dance.
The school was started by her mum, Dorothy, and Anne went on to help teach countless thousands of grateful dancers from the 1950s onwards, many of whom expressed their sympathies on social media.
Her son Mike recalled: “Every time my mum spoke about dancing she talked about entertaining people.
“She wanted to pass on her skills and just help people enjoy it.
“We’ve had so many nice messages, with a lot saying learning to dance was a big part of their life.
“They would do these big shows at Cathkin High for the Meals on Wheels charity, performing dance in the first half and then a pantomime in the second half.
“The place would be packed out, sometimes for two or three nights.”
Anne and her sister Kathleen had already enjoyed full houses and appreciative audiences before the school’s success.
They toured together, performing at home and abroad in Europe and Africa.
They also worked with various celebrities.
“She danced all over the world and with people like Cliff Richard, Morecambe and Wise, and Des O’Connor.
“She used to always joke to us that she had taught Des O’Connor to tap dance.
“When she worked with Cliff Richard all the girls would be trying to climb into the windows of the venue, just in an attempt to get close to him.
“Mum never had a big head about it though - I honestly don’t think anyone would have known other than a few close friends just how much she had done.”
As well as being an accomplished dancer, Anne was also a well known golfer, and a member of Cambuslang Golf Club, serving as Lanarkshire county captain.
She was also a Scottish international selector and honorary president of Lanarkshire Ladies County Golf Association from 2013 to 2015.
Anne continued to be involved with the dance school until just four years ago, when she suffered a massive stroke.
Mike said: “We visited her for her 84th birthday and the next day she passed away - it was like she had been hanging on just for that.”
Anne is survived by her three children, Mike, Bobbi and Katy, as well as three grandchildren.
Her husband of 56 years, Andrew, died in 2016, and her sister Kathleen passed away in 2015.
Anne’s funeral will take place next Thursday, March 8, at South Lanarkshire Crematorium at 2pm.