'I know your influence will always be there' Dancing on Ice star's tribute to Blackpool's Phil Winston
“Dance among the stars now, Phil.”
Blackpool ice skating star Katie Staisby has paid tribute to choreographer and dance teacher Phil Winston, who died this week.
Katie, a former Dancing on Ice pro, who grew up in Blackpool said Phil was ‘an inspiring, fascinating, kind and wonderfully creative force.
On Instagram Katie said: “Your extraordinary talent and vision shaped generations of performers, and I know I am just one of countless people whose life was changed by your work.
“Some people leave behind choreography.
“Others leave behind something much greater - they leave a way of seeing movement, music and storytelling.
“Your influence is woven into the way I create and teach to this day, and I know it always will be.
“It’s difficult to imagine that someone who always seemed larger than life almost an enigma to me, someone who felt somehow timeless could be gone.
“Yet your legacy will never disappear. It lives on in every dancer, every skater, every performance, and every standing ovation inspired by the standards you set.
“Dance among the stars now, Phil.
“Light up the heavens as only you could.
“Thank you for inspiring so many of us, often in ways you may never have realised. Thank you for being an incredible Advocate for Blackpool and the creative arts community.
The founder of Phil Winston’s Theatreworks college at Bispham died in hospital in Blackpool.
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Mr Winston dedicated his life to nurturing talent, serving as an adjudicator for the Theatre Dance Council International (TDCI), and holding several leadership roles, including past president, director Emeritus, and examiner, with the International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA).
A spokesperson for Blackpool’s Viva Showbar said all at the venue were truly stunned and deeply saddened by the news of the passing of Phil Winston, adding: “Phil was an extraordinary talent, an inspirational teacher, choreographer and mentor whose influence reaches far beyond the Fylde Coast.