You don ’ t need to talk for very long to Linda Smith before it becomes clear that she ’ s a great believer in destiny , and in the power of following your heart .
Not that her life has been without its trials and challenges – but ultimately , she reckons , even the dark times can turn into unexpectedly good outcomes . It was her heart that brought her and husband Ken to the Island in 2002 , when they decided to leave behind their old life in Leicester and take on the Suncliffe Hotel in Shanklin . Linda , who had been visiting the Isle of Wight since childhood , enjoying annual caravan holidays with her parents , says she ’ d always dreamed of living here . “ I just love the place – always have done ” she says , “ and I ’ d always wanted to open a hotel here ”. So when the opportunity arose , the family effectively burned their bridges in Leicester and set sail across the Solent , full of hope for the new life they envisaged . The move involved one rather major sacrifice for Linda , however : she walked
away from a dance school business that she ’ d built up over 21 years , and handed it over to her business partner to carry on . “ I ’ d come to terms with that ” she says . “ All I could think about really was our new life on the Isle of Wight .”
Dancing feet
To say that dancing was in her blood would be an under-statement . In fact , Linda started ballet lessons at the age of two-and-a-half – not because she was the product of a pushy theatrical family , but simply because it was a fun activity for kids in the neighbourhood . Whilst Linda ’ s dad Ron was involved with brass bands , her mum Ruth certainly had no musical or dramatic inclinations – and indeed she encouraged the dance-mad young Linda to take a shorthand typing course in order to have “ something to fall back on ”. Linda laughs that she never actually called on her shorthand or typing , because dance and drama became her overriding passion , filling most of her waking hours when she wasn ’ t at school , and causing her to yearn for the day when
Interview
she could dance full-time . “ I think I always had a theatrical streak in me ” she says . She soaked up everything she could learn from her teacher “ Miss Doris ” of the Doris Gwilt School of Dancing - from classic ballet and tap , to disco dancing , musical theatre and acrobatics . She appeared on the radio , in dance shows , festivals , musicals , plays , pantomimes , reviews and old tyme music halls , did a TV promotion for cheerleading – and from the age of 15-19 , earned herself pocket money of a princely £ 2 a performance as a magician ’ s assistant for a number of conjurerers . Notable among them was her appearance as ‘ Ann ’ in the magical double act Larano and Ann , which involved Linda being sawn in half and having 21 daggers in her head . True to Magic Circle rules , she ’ s still not giving away any secrets about how she survived ! By the age of 21 she had passed her teaching exams with the IDTA , ( The International Dance Teachers Association ) and took a rather brave leap for one so young – setting up a dance school in collaboration with her friend and fellow dancer Julie Watts .
Linda , Charlotte and Ken
“ Notable among them was her appearance as ‘ Ann ’ in the magical double act Larano and Ann , which involved Linda being sawn in half and having 21 daggers in her head .”
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