Stagecoach or Sylvia Young?

[Dancergirl]

Dd is 12 and loves both musical theatre and straight drama. She was going to a local Saturday school where she did acting, singing and dancing (bit like Stagecoach I suppose) but after over 3 years there, she's outgrown it and wants to find an alternative.

We are in London so can get into town quite easily so I have put her on the waiting list for Sylvia Young on Saturdays. Does anyone have any experience of it? I know she would like to join an agency too if possible.

The other possibility is Stagecoach but I've heard mixed reports.

If you're based in London and looking for children's musical theatre, then I would say neither. Sylvia Young's is a good name, but only if you're one of her full time kids, and Stagecoaches are just too inconsistent standard wise to really say either way.

I think your best bet would be to look at Italia Conti Associates, which are all a good standard. The best ones are at Barbican and Chislehurst, then there's also schools in Ruislip and Clapham.

Thanks, I did think about Italia Conti but won't it be similar to Sylvia Young? How is it better? The Ruislip one is probably nearest to us.

You could try asking on notapushymum.com as there are loads of knowledgeable posters on there, many with dc's in the West End musicals, TV and films etc. Someone on there is bound to be able to help.

Conti Associates and the part time school at Sylvia Young's are very different.

At Sylvia's, the part time kids only do classes and nothing else. They don't do shows or exams, the only time parents get to see what they have been doing, is once a term when there's a sit in day for parents to watch classes.

With Conti Associates, each school does its own shows and they often get invited to perform at other events as well. Conti also give the opportunity for the children to do ISTD dance exams and LAMDA exams in acting. They also run a scholarship scheme for the more talented children to join the main school.

Much as I love Sylvia's and the training there is good, I just don't get the point of a performing arts school where the children don't actually get the chance to perform on stage???

Thanks, that's really helpful.

I'm looking into Italia Conti associates for dd, possibly for my older (dancing) dd who is looking for tap and modern.

Ruislip or Barbican are our closest ones, is it worth going into town for Barbican or is Ruislip just as good?