Oct 4, 2023

Autumn Term 2023 Roundup

It's been a busy and fruitful start to new academic year at Danscentre! We have loved seeing the students at our city centre hub and our DC venues again after summer. Keep reading to find out more of what has been happening in the studios this term and what we've got to look forward to for the rest of the year!

Feature week

Introducing feature weeks last year was a great success and students and staff have once again thoroughly enjoyed our first feature week of the new academic year! They are a great opportunity for students to hone in on a specific element of dance and explore it in more depth.

P6 to S6 - Strength and Flexibility

All classes at Danscentre incorporate elements of strength and flexibility as fundamental pillars of dance technique. However, having this as our feature week focus allowed more time and detail to go into learning new exercises, taking part in challenges and moving in a different way! Student gave their all in every class including doing conditioning exercises, pilates, yoga, fitness challenges, partner work, team quizzes and more! There are are lots of pictures and videos of the week over on our Instagram (@danscentre) and Facebook pages so give us a like or a follow over there. We are also now on TikTok too (@danscentre)!

Here's what some of our student's had to say about our strength and flexibility feature week:

"It was a really challenging week but it was a lot of fun"

"I enjoyed it because we got to do different activities and work as a team."

"I enjoyed lifting and partner work in contemporary"

Pre school to P5 - Bring a Book

Well done dancers (and parents) for bringing in a book to your classes! It was great to hear about the stories and characters the dancers enjoyed and teachers explored different books within their classes to evoke different emotions, performance and movement quality. This was also an opportunity to look ahead to some inspiration for our Junior Show in 2024 - more information coming soon!

ATAP - Royal Ballet School Affiliate Training and Assessment Programme

Last year Danscentre became one of the first schools in the world to put students through the new Royal Ballet School ATAP exams, and remains the only school in the North East to offer this training system.

"This innovative programme gives dance students a high-quality, holistic learning experience. It is an alternative to other recreational training models based on learning a syllabus for examination. Alongside classical ballet vocabulary and performance skills, students learn choreography, repertoire, and appreciation. The programme uses student-centred learning. Teachers guide students to learn ‘how’ to learn and to enjoy and value the process. Teachers are trained and mentored directly by The Royal Ballet School." - The Royal Ballet School

Our ATAP Level 1 group received their medals this term which was very exciting and we have a wide variety of ages learning through the ATAP method this year. Above are some students from the ATAP Level 4 class looking at using sculpture as choreographic inspiration!

Looking forward to...

Behind the scenes we have lots of exciting opportunities coming up for students of all ages! Some dancers are preparing for Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) or Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) exams in ballet or modern, while others are working on a commercial performance for the VSA Ball in November. We're also excited to have been asked to perform again for the Christmas Light Parade in December.

Save the Date! Letters have now been sent out for our Junior Show which is happening in March 2024 at the Beach Ballroom. This is a brilliant opportunity for our youngest dancers from Primary 1 to Primary 5!