London/Croydon ballet classes for beginner aged 13

[Zanthe]

Hi! My 13-year-old wants to start ballet classes but I’m having trouble finding one for beginners aged 13. Anyone know of any in the London or Croydon areas, please? Thanks.

Try Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden, I think they have drop-in beginner classes that cover teen ages.

Could you afford private lessons to cover the basics and assess her level before joining a grade class (assuming that is what she wants).

No, we can’t really afford private. We’ve already just signed her up for singing lessons and I’m running out of money, lol! She wants to get into musical theatre and we’re realising she’s going to need ballet.

You could try the Betty Wivell Academy in south London.
That said, 13 is really late to start ballet if it's needed for the next step. I think you will need to throw money at it

Does your DD want to train with other children her age or would she be happy to join a beginner’s class aimed at adults? Teen beginner classes will be hard to find just because it’s such a small niche unfortunately.

Pineapple have a six week absolute beginners introduction to ballet course that starts at the end of February. Thursday nights 7-8. It will be mostly adults but Pineapple is mostly an all-ages environment, so she would probably be welcome. Give reception a ring and they can confirm. (Or actually if you are terribly unsure, I will be there tomorrow and can ask for you.) Most of Pineapple is drop in classes, which is great as you only pay for what you attend so no big cost upfront for something new that may or may not stick. But a 6 week introduction would give her a bit of grounding to then go into a drop in beginner ballet class and not be entirely lost in the language and format of it all. (There is a drop in beginner ballet class Thursdays at 6 so I would guess those who like the course will likely start going to that one.)

There is a Pineapple kids ballet on Saturday morning for age 7-13, but she would need to understand there will be 7-8 year olds who aren’t total beginners there too. (Some will be.) Depends on how much she is bothered by being a little different, that’s all!

If it comes naturally to her and she is considering musical theatre for post-16 training or for work, then I would get some planning going as PPs are right - she is going to need some private lessons to catch her up to those who started earlier. But you don’t need to decide that today - just keep in mind to keep her on a good path for all of you. Good luck to her!

Just on the idea that 13 is late to start ballet for musical theatre.
My DD started from scratch at 16 as and is doing an MT foundation course in one of the best drama schools for MT.
Determination and hard work go a long way.

Thanks! That’s all really useful. I’ll look into the adult classes at Pineapple for her as this might suit her better than the ones for younger kids as she’s quite tall and looks older than 13 and might feel quite self-conscious - but maybe that is something she will just have to deal with when starting at this late stage. If you are at Pineapple tomorrow and don’t mind asking about the adult classes that would be great. It’s so kind of you to offer, thank you so much. X

@CatatonicLadybug Sorry, meant to tag you!

@ChimneyPot That’s good to know! Did you daughter do adult ballet classes at 16?

Absolutely not my daughtrr we r started at 15 now at Italia Conti studying musical theatre and dancing on pointe.
Musical theatre courses look for aptitude and train ability not current ability.
My daughter joined an adult ballet class at a school that focused on technique rather than passing exams.

Should say Dd is 20 now on the degree course.

She did a teen class with 13-19 year olds most of whom were much better than her and worked really hard. It was lockdown so she skipped loads of online school and practised for hours.
She spoke to the dance school in advance and explained what she wanted to do and they were very helpful.

My daughter used to live in Croydon. She is a dancer and trained in musical theatre and did some cover teaching at various dance schools so I will ask her if she knows of anywhere suitable.

There's also Danceworks in London, they do classes for teens as well as adults. They and Pineapple might not allow younger dancers into adult beginner classes though, so bear that in mind.

Otherwise, find the telephone numbers of ballet schools local to you and ring them up to ask for advice. Sometimes it is better to speak to someone rather than messaging. People do start ballet in their teens, often for the same reason as your dc, it isn't that uncommon.

Ah, that’s very encouraging to hear. Thank you!☺️

Amazing! Well done her! ❤️

Oh, wow, thanks, that would be great! We’ll have a look at Danceworks and Pineapple but somewhere more local would be ideal so anywhere in or near Croydon would be perfect. x

Thank you. Will check them out.

Try calling or emailing this dance school. It’s small and very bespoke, and it’s easy to get to from Croydon on the tram. If they don’t have something suitable, they will probably know the right person to ask.

https://www.dancegems.co.uk/

I've PMd you 🙂

@Zanthe it would also be worth getting her some technical jazz classes as ballet and technical jazz are part of the audition process for musical theatre at all drama theatre.
My daughter did local musical theatre and tap until 14 when she took up singing classes. Really serious prep for drama school only began in the summer term of year 10 when did ballet and jazz as well.
She got a sixth form professional training place and then moved on to the degree.
She is definitely not the willowy leggy blond, what she is, is a very hard worker and that's what MT demands. This is her 4th year of over 30 contact hours a week with only 1 hour a week sat in a lecture the rest are all physical.
There are people she is at college with who have talent, but didn't have a formal dance class till they arrived at Conti.

Do look at options like BYMT and NYMT who offer scholarships for their productions.

Have been to Pineapple tonight and have a positive update!

She would definitely be welcome on their 6 week beginner ballet course. Yes, the goal is to prepare people so they can then choose the drop in beginner class of their choice and not feel totally lost.

She would need to keep in mind it is a class meant to be very inclusive and welcome all walks of life to ballet, so there will likely be middle aged ladies in there too. Possibly men as well. But they would all be absolute beginners, so would have that in common. I mentioned that it was for a teen wanting to get into musical theatre etc and everyone on reception said definitely, come along and see how it goes. 6 weeks is a lot shorter than most courses so if she hates it, it’s less of an investment in both cash and time. But if she loves it, then she’s right there with lots of other options to help her find the path she wants.

The other classes I would suggest she try at Pineapple would be the beginner level commercial jazz with Fleur (Mondays and Sundays), beginners contemporary with Maria on Sundays, and beginners jazz with Karen on Saturdays. These three are have been teaching at Pineapple longer that your daughter has been alive so although they might not have the glossy social media presence of some of the really young and hip teachers, their technique both in dance and teaching method. Maria is one of the very best for making the teaching of contemporary (which honestly can be really weird even to dancers trained in other styles!) actually make sense. And Fleur has two levels to her class - start with beginner and then move up to elem/gen once that feels easy. The jump between the two is pretty big but really worth sticking it out if it turns out she really loves this stuff. All those classes would be excellent prep for musical theatre training in her future.

wishing her lots of luck and happiness!

Wow, thanks so much for finding this all out for me, that’s all really good to know. Lots of options there! Will have a chat with my daughter and see what ahe wants to do. Thanks again! ❤️

Bit late but I think one of the Brit Saturday school classes covers a lot of ballet technique and they also have a contemporary partnership with Rambert. Obviously very local to you in Croydon, might be worth a call. Look for Brit Kids on their website.