Dance at Brit and ICTheatre post 16

[FancySomeChips]

Looking for advice from people with experience.

My eldest has been offered a place at Brit on the dance strand post 16 and also at ICTheatre. She has also applied for Urdang but hasn’t heard back yet.

Does anyone have experience of dance at ICTheatre Brighton or Brit school?

We haven’t been able to tour either so haven’t been able to “get the feel” for which she is better suited for.

We live pretty equidistant from both and I could even relocate with my job if needed to be closer and we have family near both.

I realise this is a great position to be in, for once the universe is smiling on us!

A friend of dd auditioned for BRIT school but she didn’t feel the standard of dance was high enough for her. I think she went to Bird instead. My dd didn’t audition as we are too far away and she wanted a higher technical level of dance.

I don’t know much about the other place.

She’s got quite a few friends who have been to Urdang. It’s a very good college.

Bird is too far and we can’t afford the fees for anywhere that isn’t fully funded- urdang is not but praying for a DADA. It’s also very far and even the travel costs will mean no holidays/new clothes/days out/takeaways.

But thanks for the insight.

Never heard of IC Brighton - what is it? I’ve got a niece at Brit and she absolutely loves every second! The dance strand is very competitive so she’s done well to get in. I think the reputation of the Brit is hard to turn down.

ICT Brighton is one of the newer performing arts colleges. It offers BA hons degrees along with Level 3 Extended Diplomas. They are owned by BIMM which run a group of fairly well known contemporary music colleges.

ICTheatre is very up and coming- they have schools in Manchester and Birmingham too. Some say better for dance than Brit, others don’t. So it’s hard to decide.

We have been very impressed with ICTheatre’s admissions support and attitude towards dealing with the events/limitations/drama caused by the pandemic. One of the better known dance schools was the plain opposite of this, seemingly with the attitude that they were too fabulous an institution to worry about an applicant (not my dc) losing a dparent to COVID and this affecting their ability to submit video auditions the same week. My dc wasn’t applying to that college, but it was shocking nevertheless. They might produce great leaps and high kicks, but their attitude towards grieving 15 year olds was shocking.

Thank you @Corblimbea, really appreciate your comments. Brit had way more applicants than places again this year for dance and they stream for each genre in September so I am sure my dc will find likeminded people.

Bloody hell, that’s appalling. Any clues as to which college it was? There is a big emphasis on pastoral care and mental health in performing arts at the moment.

Am I correct in thinking that ICT are one of the places that took on some of the ill fated Ballet West students or am I thinking of somewhere else?

What I will say is that I do think you get better attention at some of the smaller colleges. Bird is huge these days and Performers is heading the same way. (Dd never got the feel she could ever be a Lainey). She chose a smaller college and has found on the whole, there have been more opportunities and individual attention.

The problem we have had is that most insist on triple threat for the first year, but some dancers don’t want to sing and some actors don’t want to dance etc.
DC loved Laines but refused to do the triple threat audition, same reason for not wanting to do the AVT at Urdang.

I’m not saying which college my dd’s friend had the big issues with. Obviously it’s second hand info I got at a very dark time for the family. It could have just been a very uppity admission assistant having a bad week, but it was very upsetting.

Not sure about Ballet West. What happened?

Just googled and I do remember hearing about this, it’s been a hectic old year!

Search the ITV news and 'Ballet West' and you'll find out.

Dd had friends at Ballet West. A couple had left due to not being happy but a couple were there recently. It was dances worst kept secret.

Horrendous.
They charged him last week.
I really hope those dancers all managed to find help for what happened to them and that those there part way through their courses managed to find other schools to continue at.

DD did another performance subject at Brit and loved the whole experience - it's v high quality, kids v enthusiastic and committed, lots of opportunities. Think the dancers in her year mostly went on to good things. BRICTT has only been going a year or so so haven't heard much about it yet. Both fairly handy for stations if your DD is getting there by train. There's a whole campus at Brit but BRICTT is in an old office block close to a major road junction. Good luck with the decision!

Anyone else had any experience??