School for a talented dancer - Help!

[yogamatcalling]

I think I might be looking for the impossible, is there an independent school including boarding schools that can cater for a talented dancer who is strong academically? I don't want to narrow her options too early and send her to a vocational school at 13. She is passionate and committed to dancing, (ballet, modern, tap, street and latin & ballroom) she also sings and acts. We've looked at Hurstpierpoint college but they don't seem to be able to cater for G&T dancers, although have dance GCSE.
Any current parents of Legat school? I don't quite understand how this school works with Bede's.
TIA

[Brightonhome]

Hi, My dd is at Brighton College having gained an academic scholarship and a dance scholarship. She does ballet, modern, tap and also ballet intermediate. There are no latin or ballroom classes, but they do have an annual 'Strictly Come Dancing' competition. The best older dancers went to the world championships last year and won gold medals. Academically it is superb, and their dance school is excellent. One of their teachers is an RAD examiner too.

[katymac]

I agree alexanderhamilton she has learned ternacity, the value of hard work, self reliance (she left home at 16 & had to manage shopping/cooking/rent earlier than most), how to network, how to ask for help from supervisors/managers,

She has experince and can work in event management, hospitality, back stage and front of house. She can sort out her own mic, and is a good way towards working out lighting plots

Conversely if she had 'stayed on at school' (ie the local sixth form college) she might have scraped a level 3 BTec in childcare or catering but Alevels would have been so far outside her abilities

However with a level 6 as a mature student (at 30/35) she will hopefully retrain into a good career

[katymac]

Thanks Error she does work hard

[AlexanderHamilton]

There are a lot of colleges springing up of varying standards.

My dd will more than likely leave vocational school with pretty much the same GCSE's as if she'd taken up a place at a selective school. She might get slightly lower science results due to a test or two of uncertain teaching but that can happen anywhere & has now been sorted for the future.

I have friends with children at Tring & academics there are taken very seriously.

We know katymac & her dd in real life & are keeping everything crossed career wise. My take on it is that no education or training is ever wasted. There are so many transferable skills you get from the performing arts.

[errorofjudgement]

@katymac, I’ve followed your posts for a number of years across this forum and NAPM. Congratulations to your DD, and I hope it continues for her. It’s great to hear of her hard work & focus being rewarded.

[katymac]

You must know different colleges - the ones DD was serious about take less than 10% of their auditionees, one less than 5% & the funded students is a much tinier proportion.

I imagine getting jobs takes it down to half that graduate get some sort of job - her college is a bit higher - the main ones do have a higher job rate & tiny numbers get westend

[cantkeepawayforever]

she is in Panto this year, graduates in May and fingers crossed she will be one of the few that find work

Fingers crossed! I think, tbh, that's the really hard point, not the 'getting into college' one.

[errorofjudgement]

I completely agree re the importance of academic studies.
But to be honest, the A level results at Tring are comparable with the outstanding comp DD attended. If the teaching is good and there’s a supportive environment then the individual student should do well. DD is in a group with other high achievers, and the teachers she has are really good with a strong focus on helping students.
It’s certainly not been DDs experience that there is less focus on the academic studies! Indeed a fair part of her Christmas break is being spent on prep. & homework.
However I appreciate the sixth form dance course does have more flexibility so dancers can focus purely on dance if they choose.

[katymac]

DD is probably an anomaly; but she is in Panto this year, graduates in May and fingers crossed she will be one of the few that find work

[cantkeepawayforever]

Most DC who dance at the school have been dancing from a very young age - and as I said DD is pretty typical with 9-10+ hours every week from aged 10 or 11.

2-6 per year go on to 18+ dance training - I can remember a year of 8, but DD (15)'s Advanced 1/2 classes are probably no more than 8-10 in any discipline, and smaller in some, so I imagine hers will be another year of 2-4 going on further, rather than a bumper year of 6-8.

[katymac]

That is impressive

DD started dancing Ballet/modern etc at the start of yr 9 & only 1 boy from her school has ever gone before

[cantkeepawayforever]

katymac,

Nobody who has applied from DD's dance school for FT post 18 training has ever failed to get a place - though of course not every 18 year old graduating from the school applies for post 18 training, as the principal is pretty good at indicating what is likely to be possible. I do remember a girl about 4 or 5 years ago who didn't get funding - it was the talk of the school because it is rare.

[katymac]

Hmm, in order to get a place at a good post 16/18 vocational school, I wonder if some of you are under-estimating the level of dance you need to be at

DD was dancing upwards of 20 hrs aweek (in GCSE year) incuding 2 associate schemes & got 2 places no funding the first year she auditioned.

After a year FT training she got 7 places, 6 with funding

[cantkeepawayforever]

We (parents) have always felt the focus should be far more on academics until 18 to keep as many doors open as possible to reflect the reality that very few make a decent living out of performing,

Exactly. Couldn't agree more, which is why if DD chooses dance / DS chooses music performance it will be post 18, with A-levels from a good academic school under their belts.

[homebythesea]

WRT Tring for 6th form the reason why we rejected it was the feeling that the A levels were very much a sideline not a focus and the results are really not great. We (parents) have always felt the focus should be far more on academics until 18 to keep as many doors open as possible to reflect the reality that very few make a decent living out of performing, and a dance career is only one twisted knee away from being a disaster.

[errorofjudgement]

Thanks for the updates.
I was interested given the comments on the uniqueness of AB, Bedes and Hurtwood. Looking at the specialist schools, we only researched Tring (mainly because my DD is an actor more than a dancer)
At Tring the students in year 10 onwards have 22.5 hours per week of vocational training be it Dance, or a wider performance foundation, plus spend around around the same time studying for 9 GCSEs.
At 6th form, the timings are the same, but for 3 A-levels and the vocational is specialised, ie, Dance, Drama or MT.

The dance students also study for the Trinity Diploma either alongside or in place of, some of the A levels.
Plus additional dance training is available on Saturdays and is open to all students at the school regardless of their specialism.

[cantkeepawayforever]

I am absolutely not claiming that a boarding school + excellent local dance school can match the 'specialist dance schools' in terms of hours and range of dance. The BRB dancer from one of the local schools went to Elmshurst at around 13, IIRC, because the hours of pure ballet just weren't available.

However, it may reduce the level of compromise between dance and academics required for more generalist dancers or those who want an academic 'backup plan' - so pupils can leave with 10 high level GCSEs and 3 A / A*s at A-level, plus 3 Advanced 1 / 2 Distinctions and a place at a high quality post 18 dance college (or a place at a top university - it varies).

[AlexanderHamilton]

Incidentally I was led to believe we'd be informed about the results of the AB scholarship auditions by the end of term but nothing yet.

[AlexanderHamilton]

At Hammond Years 7-11 get about 9 hours of ballet per week plus approx 6 hours of other dance styles per week.

6th Form (or Upper School) is a lot more as they only do 2 A levels the rest of the time from 9am - 6pm is dance/MT

[cantkeepawayforever]

The ones I know do the usual amount of evening classes for their age / grade - 8 hours or so for the serious older ones, plus lessons in their own school - though they don't tend to take troupe lessons as their holidays don't match the ones when the troupe competitions take place.

Obviously day pupils from the same schools are brought by their parents / walk themselves to lessons the same as the state school pupils do.

[SueSueDonahue]

@cantkeepawayforever ah, I get you!

That's actually what my eldest does exactly as her trad boarding school.

It's not something I'd recommend a more serious dancer though as she hardly manages much (maybe three lessons a week, five hour max). God knows how her recent exam went as her teacher discounted a distinction.

The teacher also puts her own dance school dancers first (classes don't run when "the show" is about to happen, etc.)

But I agree, it does work to an extent!

[cantkeepawayforever]

Sue,

Apologies, i obviously wasn't clear.

The cases I know about work the other way round - where traditional private schools with boarding have strong relationships with excellent local dance schools, so that their boarding pupils attend evening dance classes at the dance school along with pupils from lots of day schools. One also has curriculum dance lessons within the school day, and some 1:1 lessons, taught by staff from the dance school but in the boarding school.

So IME it is possible for serious dancers attending good boarding school to attend excellent local dance schools, rather than there having to be a compromise in either school or dance work

[SueSueDonahue]

@cantkeepawayforever sadly, that's also not always the case. Neither Abbots Bromley or Bede's allow non pupils to attend their dance classes. They simply have to concentrate on their own students and don't have the time for more.

I think that is the key difference between them a trad boarding school @christmaswreaths. Something like woldingham (an excellent school by the way!) and Queen Margaret's just offer dance classes as one of the numerous options they are quite good at. They might have a few students who are good at dancing, and maybe one or two over a decade that end up making it a career. But they are just not the same as they are not set up to offer the fully integrated dance in amongst/instead of academic subjects. They also do not have the staff to offer all the vocational qualifications that Bede's and AB do alongside A levels.

And they are separate again to the dance specialist schools (such as White Lodge, etc) as the two of them also have many students who do other things and don't dance at all. I like that mix very much personally as who knows what an 11 year old might change their mind to? 😂

As I said earlier though, my eldest is a very traditional boarding school because a more dance school wouldn't suit her (she likes extra niche things like astronomy and CCF!) and she will still leave school with grade 8 and Advanced Two. So a trad boarding school isn't bad! But she spends less than half the hours on it, and doesn't want to do it as a career.

I am so going to have to change my username after Christmas 😂 way too outing.

[cantkeepawayforever]

Appreciate how lucky we are to have two outstanding schools within walking distance!

However, perhaps more relevantly for you, the private boarding schools (also within walking distance) do have pupils who attend both dance schools, just like the day pupils from the range of other schools. One also has teachers from one of the dance schools go into the school to give lessons. So if you could find a town with great dance schools and a good school, you might find that they have the kind of symbiotic relationship for good dancers that happens locally to me.

[christmaswreaths]

@Suesuedonahue I would be very interested to understand the difference as I am in the exact same situation as the OP but I was not aware of these other schools, which I will now consider