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Doris Lavelle (London 1907 – ?) was an English professional dancer who was one of the originators of modern Latin American dancing in the ballroom. The Latin and American section of the ISTD Ballroom Branch was formed in 1947 by Monsieur Pierre, Chairman, his partner Doris Lavelle, and colleague, Doris Nichols. They were the first examiners, soon joined by Gwenethe Walshe and Dimitri Petrides. This small band of dedicated specialists worked to establish an examination system and syllabus for both amateur and professional dancers. The syllabus finally agreed in 1955 has been the foundation of teaching and competition in the Latin American dances ever since.

Life
Her father was a music hall artist and there were two brothers. After leaving school, she attended a secretarial course at Pitmans and every weekend she went to the West End of London to enjoy ballroom dancing.

Much of this time was spent at Monsieur Pierre's studio in Regent Street. This was a famous venue for ballroom dancing in the period between the wars. Pierre had originally come to England to work in the French consular service in Liverpool. After WWI he became a professional ballroom dancer. Doris saw him give a demonstration with Meredyth Owen in 1925, and went to him to learn the tango. He quickly realised her dance potential and after some years of training, she became his dance partner. They demonstrated as often as three nights a week at London night clubs, of which there were many at that time. The studio stayed open all through WWII, and was a popular meeting place for the Free French fighters on leave in London.

After the war, the studio was re-established in Greek Street, Soho. A small studio on the top floor with a very good maple floor, a wonderful sound system installed by James Arnell, music brought back from Cuba and when the fire escape door was opened, the great sound of this Latin music drifted out across the rooftops of Soho. By now Pierre, Doris and Jimmy had visited Cuba and discovered that the square rumba was not the Cuban rumba, so in 1948 Pierre introduced to the UK the system of rumba which corresponded to what the Cubans called the bolero-son. It was not well received at first and took 8 years to be accepted.

In the late 60's Doris was severly injured in a car accident, on the way to a competition. She sustained many broken bones in feet, arms and legs, including a badly broken ankle and a shattered kneecap. It took nearly two years before she was able to dance again but, with enormous willpower and persistence, she started again to lecture and demonstrate, and was often partnered by Geoffrey Clapham.

In 1965 Doris published her text for latin dancing, Latin & American dances, which immediately became the standard reference source for many dancers and dance teachers. It ran to two further editions. In 1970, Doris published Discotheque dancing, one of the first books to chart Disco dancing. In this book Doris refers to this style as Soul Dancing. In the introduction she wrote:
 * "It is not my intention to be dogmatic, but rather to give instructions as guidance only, since this type of dancing is essentially a matter of individual taste and improvisation. The most successful performers of Soul Dancing as of all other forms of dancing are those who possess the greatest sense of rhythm".

Doris judged at all the major Championships and was on the Latin American Committee for many years, and trained professionals for their qualifications. Doris believed that the mainspring of Latin Dance was authentic dancing to authentic music.

She had a long and happy personal partnership with Jimmy Arnell, himself a Latin Champion, and shared with him a love of dogs. When you visited the Greek Street Studio, the most comfortable settee was always reserved for the dogs, generally an Alsatian and two poodles.