School for a talented dancer - Help!

Have you looked at Woldingham School?

@christmaswreaths no, it's not the same there as the other schools mentioned.

@cantkeepawayforever As below, evenings after a proper full day didn't work for mine.

It worked when we were living abroad and if we had an outstanding dance school literally on our doorstep within walking or easy driving distance, I'd consider it!

But I think you are in the minority, lovely as it sounds.

What is available to you locally?

DD, and a whole group of similar girls / boys, attend a range of local schools (excellent comprehensive, good comprehensive, decent but not stellar independent, single sex selective and mixed superselective grammars) and then congregate in one of the two excellent local dance schools for lessons in the 3 main genres (ballet, tap, modern theatre, all up to Adv 2 - most of the 14/15/16 year old 'serious' dancers are just taking their Advanced 1/2 grades, with distinctions being the norm and anything below a Merit in any exam almost unknown) in the evenings.

DD has, probably from Y6, danced 9-10+ hours a week. Because the dance and academic schools are all local, there is very little travel time involved - so DD usually gets home from academic school at 4, does homework till 6ish, eats and then goes out to dance for 2-3 hours. Timetables are adjusted for older students so that they do fewer, longer evenings, and have some available for concentrated study, and no dance at weekends.

Seems to work well. No dancer wanting to go on to further training at 18 (the most common exit point) has ever failed to get a place at a high quality college if they wish one, and very high GCSE and A-level grades are the norm as the academic schools are very good.

I thought Queen Margarets school in York was also ballet/boarding?

@errorofjudgement It increases as they get older. The info is definitely on the website somewhere, but from memory it's 4-5 hours a week from years 5, 7-8 ish from years 7, then up to 10 for GCSE and even 20 hours from sixth form, depending on if doing the full vocational course plus other dancing.

They can give up normal PE earlyish if they like, or do it as well. They don't have to get changed for academic lessons inbetween ballet lessons. They wear a personalised tracksuit thing over their leotards.

My little one is in the prep school, and does 5 classes a week. Three ballet, one tap and one jazz. She is looking forward to doing more from year 7.

Arts Ed in Chiswick has a dance program
I think they do boarding too

The Hammond. They are quite 'musical theatre' but lots of other dancers there too.

Anyone?

How many hours per week do AB & Bedes students spend on dance studies?

Yes Sue the issue we had that Dd was finding it difficult to fit in locsl dance classes of the quality & quantity alongside academic school. She's currently at vocational school & has been offered a 6th form place but she's also auditioned at AB for 6th form & we are awaiting results. She'd need a bursary as well as a scholarship though in order to attend.

@alexanderhamilton the problem we felt was local dance schools have to use evenings and weekends (and at a distance...) when students are more tired. The main advantage of those two schools are that the dance is in amongst the school day, plus they can do it instead of sport and (for sixth form) instead or alongside academic work.
Saying that though, my eldest (who doesn’t want to dance professionally) should still leave her ultra traditional boarding school with advanced one, so a trad boarding school isn’t terrible for dance, just not perhaps for those who want it as a career.
My youngest is happy at one of the two above mentioned schools 😉 Dammit, I’ll have to make change again before too long!!! Way too outing.

I agree Sue. Any traditional boarding school except those two won't offer the level of dance classes needed for a child to audition at 16. A local dance school is the much better option in that case.

Abbots Bromley or Bede’s would be perfect. Both have almost the same set up (AB traditionally ballet, but now also musical theatre, Bede’s not strong on ballet but stronger at the moment in musical theatre) and the two of them are absolutely unique together in the UK. There are only those two unless you want a vocational school.

Not St Edwards! Or in fact any traditional boarding school that just does dance as an extra (even substationally).

yogamat please feel free to PM - we have been in exactly your position and now at Hurtwood

Millfield has a dance scholarship

Just looked up Hurtwood House. The fees are astronomical.

Does your DD do anything else I.e. singing and drama as jobs that are pure dance are very limited and don't really have longevity.

Don’t dismiss Hurtwood- Better to get her GCSE done and continue her performing extra curricularly then get fully immersed 16-18 with excellent academic provision on top. Tring Park cannot compete academically. Hurtwood has an excellent summer school, as does Laine in Epsom which may be of interest

I don't know much about dance so can't say anything about standards and training etc, but superficially your query makes me wonder whether St Edwards in Oxford might be of interest. It's a traditional boarding school starting from year 9 equivalent, and certainly has significant dance and drama programmes available alongside academics and serious sport etc. Good luck finding the right environment for your child to pursue their interests without losing the backup of a solid education.

Queenswood School have everything you want. They are at Brookmans Park in Hertfordshire.

It would totally depend on whether her current school is supportive of the arts. Do they allow time off to attend auditions, do they value the extra curricular as much as the academic etc? Does she feel she could set up her own extra curricular clubs if she sees a gap in the offering e.g. choreographing numbers for younger years. If it’s a struggle then I would consider moving her - school needs to be on board, not making it difficult. She also needs to be treated as an individual, not just a product of the school.

The thing is, unless she is at a specialist school, she is unlikely to progress or really gain very much from a move. Nobody in the world of performing arts is going to base offering you a job because you have GCSE dance or drama. It’s about how you perform in an audition - that one off chance on that very day.

I would recommend the holiday classes at Urdang. They do one for dance and one for audition technique. I also think the training and courses offered by the National Youth Music Theatre are excellent (audition entry), although concentrate on all of MT, not just dance.

She should take classes in as many diffferent genres as possible. Can she do Street / hip hop / popping and locking etc? She needs to be adaptable and able to pick up choreography in an instant. Attending classes with as many different teachers as possible so she is used to different ways of teaching. Head to Pineapple at a weekend and see what’s on offer. She should work also on strength, conditioning and stamina. Technique needs to be a given.

So you see, it’s all about working towards auditions. Be that entry at 16 to a college or for a job. Apart from having potentially a nicer time doing things she loves at school, a move doesn’t really help her on this path. Instead, fill every moment with different dance experiences, including watching live performances.

Hope that helps!!

How about Brighton College?

Hurst Lodge in Ascot?