After freelance teaching for some years, she founded her own school, “Grace School of Dance” in Leicester in 2003. In 2007 she gained her Licentiate and Certificate of Dance Education in Cecchetti Classical Ballet. Deirdre is a qualified ISTD Natural Movement teacher and is currently teaching ISTD Modern Theatre Faculty work. In 2008 Deirdre was awarded a grant from the Diana Barker Memorial Fund enabling her to study the Enrico Cecchetti Diploma, which she is currently working on with Eve Leveaux. The Cecchetti Society was founded in 1922 to promote and keep alive the teaching method of Enrico Cecchetti (1850-1928), a celebrated Italian virtuoso dancer and teacher – Maestro Cecchetti teaching and method of training had a profound impact on the foundation of British Ballet.
Deirdre Lee trained at the Royal Ballet School in London on the dancer’s course. A foot injury prevented a ballet career and after working in the commercial and straight theatre she retrained and qualified as a Cecchetti Classical ballet teacher in 1994 with Eve Leveaux at Derby Academy of Classical Dance. Post qualification she spent three months at the National Ballet School in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.