Pre-School: ages 3 to 4 years
This is the starter class for children from the age of 3 years and above. The children have a fun time visiting the witches' supermarket shopping for spells or maybe going to the ball in a pony and trap as Cinderella. All games contain ballet excercises but taught in a fun and imaginative way.
Pre-Primary Classes: 4 to 6 years
The children in this class follow a Royal Academy of Dance syllabus but again taught in a fun way, for example circus and clown scenes where each child has a little bit of mime and movement within the scene. There are more technical exercises in this class with the children being prepared for there first Presentation Class in front of a Royal Academy of Dance examiner.
Primary: 6 years and above
This class gets a little harder but are still fun! The children learn to dance with a partner for the first time and work towards performing a solo dance routine for a Royal Academy of Dance Presentation Class or examination. At this early stage the teacher is allowed to accompany the pupil into the presentation to give them confidence.
Grade 1, 2 and 3
Each grade is a progression with the completion of one grade leading to the next. The children by now feel a real sense of achievement. Each grade has a choice of a Royal Academy of Dance examination or the less formal presentation. Within these grades the children start to do character work and dances where they wear a character shirt and shoes.
Grade 4 and 5
By now the children have gained a good basic technique and are enjoying both classical and character work.
Grades 6, 7 and 8
These grades are delightful for the student and contain beautiful music and lovely classical free movement and character work
Adults
Our adult classes are for the complete novice with no ballet experience whatsoever as well as those who have done a little bit of dancing and who wish to improve their ballet skills. More details can be found here.
Musical Theatre
Musical Theatre is a form of theatre combining music, songs, spoken dialogue and dance. The classes will also cover improvisation, characterisation, mime and role play. At the end of each term there will be a short presentation to parents demonstrating the techniques the children have learnt whilst performing hits from popular West End musicals.This is a fantastic opportunity to build confidence and learn new skills, with equal emphasis being given to acting, singing and dancing. Our musical theatre classes are run by Alicia Rumsby who has directed shows and concerts with schools and youth groups all over the county. She is assisted by Sebastian Heffer, a professional actor and former Stagecoach teacher.
