Arts Ed or Brit Sixth Form for Dance?

[Lucydocs]

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone has had experience with Arts Ed or Brit School sixth forms for dance and could tell me what the main difference is/ is Arts Ed worth the cost?! (I don't want to get into the politics of Private vs Public debate here please). DD has been offered a place at Arts Ed on the dance strand and is over the moon about it but we're not eligible for the scholarship. Her passion is Contemporary and Ballet. She is auditioning for Brit in a week. I know this is a bit pre-emptive but if she were to be offered a place there I was wondering what it is like and what the advantages/difference are between the two? Really appreciate any thoughts or experiences! Thank you.

She's dealing with some health issues at the moment so not at college. But we both really liked Kingston College, and have a friend whose daughter struggled at school (autism and ADHD) is doing art there and thriving!

Whereabouts in the country are you, roughly? Some of us might be able to offer suggestions of associate schemes and other programmes which she could do alongside her usual local dance school classes for the next two years.

Does her academic school offer A-level dance? That syllabus is broadly contemporary-based and they study the works of well-known choreographers, which could come in handy, and they also learn how to choreograph themselves. If my dd hadn't gone off to full-time ballet training at 16, she would have done that, English Lit and Psychology.

We're edge of Essex not far from London. Re A-levels I'd love her to do that personally but she really struggles academically. Her current school doesn't have a sixth form. She has her Brit audition this Thursday so then will see what our options are. Thanks so much everyone for your advice and experiences!

If cost is an issue I would look at any local FE colleges that run the Btec in Performing Arts where she could also continue to train at her local dance school alongside. (Assuming of course that her dance school provides good quality training).

I'm not sure what age range the various CAT (Centre for Advanced Training) schemes take and for some reason I can't get the main website to open at the moment, but it might be worth your DD looking to see if she can get onto a Contemporary CAT @Lucydocs As I said, I'm a bit out of the loop nowadays but there certainly used to be schemes with a Contemporary focus at The Place in London and at Trinity Laban. She might be too old or have missed the auditions for this year but there's no harm in enquiring as that type of training would definitely benefit an aspiring Contemporary dancer.

"We're edge of Essex not far from London"

Ah, well in that case, she'd have fun going into London and doing a few drop-in classes at Danceworks and/or Pineapple. They have a huge range of classes at all levels, so she could pick and choose anything that takes her fancy.

@Lucydocs Did your daughter end up at either Arts Ed or Brit school? My daughter is looking at both this year.

Yes she went to Brit in the end. She’s really happy there and there are several
people who left Arts Ed to go there as they said it was not that good. My daughter didn’t want to do A-levals so Brit suited her. She’s also joined ENB Youth-Co which is brilliant. Brit is a very diverse and inclusive place and she gets to mix with people on the other strands too not just dance which is great. They put them into sets so they get trained according to their ability. Overall I’ve been very impressed and definitely feel it was the right decision

Thanks so much - that is really helpful. She has an interview in early Jan so fingers crossed...

Do you mind sharing what they do for classical ballet and contemporary at Brit and at what level? How often do they perform? What are the destinations for dancers?

DD(12) is still torn between music and dance and I'm trying to find options where she could do both.

TA