There are some people who love to dance but cannot stand being on a stage. Ally Tatem is not one of those people. “I live for performing,” said the 30-year-old. “Don’t ask me to get up on stage and speak, but throw me on a stage to dance and I am all over it.”

As a teenager she loved being on stage so much she dreamt of becoming a professional dancer.

“When I was 13, I was interviewed and someone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up,” she said. “I said I want to be a dancer my whole life.”

But it did not quite work out that way.

When she was 15, she studied dance full-time at the North Carolina School of the Arts, but left after only a year.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t a very positive experience,” she said. “I had some unhealthy body image issues that came out of it. I made the decision that it was healthier for me to walk away from dance as a career. I left after a year.”

She ended up studying photography at the Savannah School of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. Today, she and her husband, Mark Tatem, run Two & Quarter Photography in St George.

“I am still passionate about dance though,” she said.

To keep her hand in, she takes adult dance classes with the Bermuda Civic Ballet in the summer months. Their morning and evening class schedule suits her busy work life.

On Friday, she will be performing in their 45th anniversary recital at City Hall. She is no stranger to the event.

“The first year I performed in the recital was 1997 and I was ten,” said Ms Tatem.

“We did Sylvia outside Government House.”

She had only just started taking dance classes at the Somerset School of Dancing, but was already proving herself a natural talent.

“I actually took my first dance lessons when I was two,” she said. “But I quit because I didn’t like the way they made me sweat.

“Then when I was ten this need to dance suddenly came on me again. I didn’t want to dance; I had to dance.”

Dancing with BCB in the summers allowed her to work with overseas artists and teachers.

“I think the main aspect of BCB that continues to make it a success year after year is the fact that it provides international training right here at home,” she said.

“And it is a really great programme because it is open to all dance schools.”

She took part in BCB activities throughout her childhood, but her involvement dropped off right after college.

“When I first came home from university I didn’t really take part for four or five years,” she said. “I don’t really know why. I think maybe I was just busy setting up my career.”

Getting involved again felt like a homecoming.

“There are a handful of dancers who went through BCB with me who still come back and get involved,” she said. This spring she became a trustee of BCB.

“It was really important for me to be able to get involved,” she said. “It was such a significant part of my dance education. But I am kind of straddling the fence, performing and being a trustee. I am seeing both sides of it.”

This year she will be playing a nymph in Chopiniana in the first half of the show. In the second half, international guest artists will perform pas de deux.

“We will finish with a piece called Blue Nights at the Jazz Café,” said Ms Tatem.

That number is being choreographed by another BCB graduate, James Waddell.

“He is a Bermudian dancer who now dances with the Royal Ballet Flanders in Belgium,” she said. “He comes back every year and stays involved.”

She said Mr Waddell was one of several Bermudians involved with BCB who had gone on to become professional dancers.

“It really is a testament to the programme,” she said.

Performers will also include students from this year’s summer intensive and international artists Aiko Tanaka from Royal Ballet Flanders; and Jessica McCann and Yoshiaki Nakano from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

The recital will be held on Friday and Saturday at 8pm at the Earl Cameron Theatre at City Hall.

Tickets are $40 general admission, $30 for seniors and $20 for students, available at www.ptix.bm or by calling 278-1500.