When Bea Stott stepped forward to receive her Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bermuda Arts Council recently, it was the Island's way of honouring decades of devoted service in the promotion and advancement of ballet in Bermuda by the former swimming instructor.

"I'll never forget it,'' she says of the awards evening. "It really was quite an event for me and I really enjoyed it. I saw a lot of people I hadn't seen in years.'' Proudly watching their mother's moment of glory were her three children, David, Duncan and Moira, and their spouses Coral, Susan and Lindsey -- another source of joy, since it was the first time in a decade they had all been together. In fact, the arrival of Moira and her family was a total surprise.

Although the British-born honoree has loved ballet for as long as she can remember, as a young woman growing up it was not floating across a stage on point that she fancied, but winning medals as a competitive swimmer.

While the Second World War caused her to switch lanes and become a swimming instructor instead, it was not until after she had arrived in Bermuda and had her daughter that Mrs. Stott became actively involved in the dance world.

"It was when Moira went to Mrs. Patricia Gray's dance school that I really got into ballet,'' Mrs. Stott recalls. "As she got older I did the box office and fund-raising.'' One thing led to another, and soon Mrs. Stott found herself joining the Bermuda Ballet Association (BBA), of which she would later become chairman several times over.

As always, fund-raising was an important element of that organisation's survival, and those who can remember back to the 1960s will doubtless recall the cheap charter flights to Britain run by Caledonian Airways and organised by John Profit, which were always a guaranteed fund-raiser for the BBA -- "until British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) stopped them,'' Mrs. Stott notes.

In time, the BBA recognised that local dancers unable to afford the cost of going abroad to further their artistic studies needed a performance vehicle to showcase their talents, so Mrs. Stott, then-Mr. John Swan and Mrs. Patricia Gray, among others, decided to form the Bermuda Civic Ballet to give dancers an appropriate outlet.

"It took off and has been going for more than 25 years,'' Mrs. Stott proudly declares. "Anybody can go along and audition, but dancers must be members of the Bermuda Civic Ballet (BCB) in order to perform.'' Not only was Mrs. Stott a founder-member of BCB, but she was also a faithful member of the Board until this year, when she decided to retire and take life a little easier.

"But I am still an honorary member,'' she notes.

As always, Mrs. Stott immersed herself in ensuring that both the BCB's fortunes thrived, as well as the talents of the dancers.

"We felt the dancers should travel more,'' she relates, "and in the 1970s we took about 15 children to Madame Ana Roje's summer school in Yugoslavia with Mrs. Gray. I was chairman for the fund-raising and organising the trip.

"On another occasion, Civic was invited to the Aberdeen Festival of Youth Orchestras and Performing Arts.'' Quite naturally, such jaunts took a great deal of effort and money to bring about, but for the resourceful and energetic Mrs. Stott and a friend, Mrs. Kay Buschlen, fund-raising was, well, as easy as pie.

"We got up early, made meat pies, and took them to offices to sell,'' the excellent cook relates. "People ordered them in advance, and that's how we raised the money to send the children to Aberdeen.'' Meanwhile, the Civic Ballet dancers were trained by visiting Canadian choreographer Mr. Maryan Bayer, and their performance of his Tubular Bells proved an enormous hit with audiences not only in Aberdeen, but also at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

"They were marvellously received,'' Mrs. Stott remembers. "Jackie Swan and Pat Gray joined the trip, and (former Christ Church, Warwick rector) Rev.

Buchanan also came along to see them dance in Edinburgh.'' Over the years, it has given Mrs. Stott great pleasure to play an active role in the steady growth of ballet's popularity in Bermuda, both in terms of more and younger dancers studying this graceful art form, and also sell-out audiences at performances.

Indeed, Mrs. Stott's daugher Moira rose from childish beginnings at age five to eventually become a prima ballerina with a professional company in Canada until a foot injury brought her promising career to an unexpected end.

Stott rewarded for years of service But out of adversity comes diversity, and the former dancer has instead founded a new and highly successful business, Stott Pilates -- a form of exercise using specialised equipment -- with two offices in Toronto and an agent in New York, in addition to featuring in and producing 30 instructional exercise videos which she distributes worldwide.

"A dancer's life is not easy, and it was a struggle,'' Mrs. Stott says of her daughter's ballet career. "Even when she was a prima ballerina she had to work darned hard.'' Which brings the keen supporter to the issue of what sort of future Bermuda offers budding ballerinas and balletomanes.

"I think five to six is the right age to start,'' she says. "Children aren't encouraged to join until they are between ten and 12. Even if they are not going to be dancers, ballet gives them poise and confidence.'' It saddens Mrs. Stott to see that so few local dancers continue their studies past age 16 -- a situation she describes as "a shame''.

"There is so much talent here, but at age 16 they begin to flag and only a few go on because there is not much scope for them if they do stay here. It's a shame. When you think of all the years that Patricia Gray and Louise Jackson have taught, you can count on one hand the dancers who have made it. They have to go abroad if they want to dance.'' While it is for her services to ballet that Mrs. Stott has recently been feted, dance is by no means her sole focus -- or yet the only sphere for which she has received public award.

Her introduction to charity work began just two days after arriving here in 1955 and turned into an association with the Committee of 25 for Handicapped Children which continues to this day.

Not long after helping out at the Committee's 1955 rummage sale, Mrs. Stott founded The Bargain Box, the popular thrift store on Serpentine Road, purchasing the original premises -- a portable hut -- from the United States military for $2 and successfully securing their voluntary services to deliver and erect it.

While the old hut has now been replaced by a smart, two-storey building, the original friendly atmosphere and abundance of reasonably-priced goods continues to attract a steady trade where, often as not, Mrs. Stott can be found behind the counter.

Indeed, for her services to this charity, she was awarded the Queen's Certificate in 1982.

Mrs. Stott also served on the board of the Salvation Army for many years, and is a past Worthy Matron of the Order of the Eastern Star where, again, her culinary prowess was in great demand.

"I used to do all the cooking when we had fund-raisers, and when the Masons had their installations I did most of the cooking,'' she relates.

In addition to all of her civic duties, Mrs. Stott raised her family and successfully ran her own guest house on Pitts Bay Road until recently.

Today, while she has trimmed her busy schedule, the grandmother of four has no plans to put her feet up altogether in her cosy new home.