IN the 59 years she presided over the dance academy she founded, Seena Bird saw her students not only pass numerous dancing examinations but also appear on children's programs on television and win competitions throughout Victoria.
Mrs Bird, 90, died last month from complications following a fall.
In latter years, Mrs Bird's two daughters, Sherall and Rosalie, took over the Academy of Dance while Mrs Bird concentrated on the design and sewing of costumes for the students.
Today her granddaughters Sheree and Alicia run the dance school business. Alicia supervises the Dandenong Seena Bird's Dance Stars Performing Arts, while Sheree operates centres at Narre Warren, Berwick, and Garfield.
In 1944, Mrs Bird married farmer Hector Bird and stopped teaching to raise her family.
The couple ran a poultry farm in Noble Park and also lived on a dairy farm in Cardinia.
Mr Bird died in 1996.
Mrs Bird was chosen for the Borovansky Ballet Company when it formed in Melbourne in 1939 but she declined, instead choosing to start her own teaching career at the tender age of 15. She opened dance centres in Box Hill, Balwyn, and Mont Albert.
She is survived by two children, five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
-Marg Stork
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