At Elmhurst we are proud to have a truly dedicated teaching staff, all of whom come from a professional dance background and teach with passion and commitment. Our association with Birmingham Royal Ballet is of immense benefit to the school, further enhancing what we offer our pupils. We are fortunate to welcome Birmingham Royal Ballet dancers and staff to the school to teach daily class, including pas de deux, on a regular basis. Students are given the opportunity to work in Birmingham Royal Ballet productions, in Birmingham and on tour around the UK and abroad, including dancing in the great classical ballets The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty.
Lower School Dance
Throughout the five-year course of study in the Lower School the intensity and expectation of achievement increases year by year. However, the main aim endorsed by the Artistic Director and all staff is to nurture the love and passion for dance in all students, and encourage and develop the freedom and exhilaration of movement aligned with the principals of classical ballet technique.
The emphasis of this course is to provide students, through intensive and dedicated training, the opportunity to lay the groundwork to become exceptional classical dancers. Students are assessed at regular intervals. The assessment procedure is clear and fair. Assessment policies and procedures are available to all students.
Graduate dance students today, as well as being beautiful classical dancers, have to be versatile and be able to meet the extraordinary demands placed on them by the diverse repertoire and choreography of all major classical ballet companies. For this reason Elmhurst students train in many allied dance styles principally including contemporary and jazz.
Throughout their training students are given performance opportunities in the school’s productions in its own specially designed theatre and other venues. Lower School students may, from time to time, be selected by Birmingham Royal Ballet to appear in their productions at Birmingham Hippodrome and on national tours.
All Lower School students are encouraged to enter for the annual Choreographic Competition the finals of which are performed to an invited audience in our Elmhurst’s own theatre. Year 11 students are coached to enter the school’s Solo Competition. Upon completion of the fifth year of training students have an automatic audition entry, if they so wish, into the Upper School course.
Sixth Form Dance
Elmhurst School for Dance aims to produce excellent classical dancers with the emphasis on purity of line, musicality, artistry and a strong technique. Most world class classical ballet companies have a repertoire which includes strong elements of all dance disciplines. It is not sufficient for dance students to be proficient in classical ballet alone. For this reason Elmhurst offers a comprehensive programme to include Contemporary, Jazz and Flamenco. The classical ballet curriculum is supported by Mat Mattox based jazz technique and Cunningham/Graham based contemporary technique.
Students also study intensively Pas de Deux, Solos, Upper Body for male students, Pointe Work for female students and, in conjunction with Birmingham Royal Ballet, Repertoire. Students are assessed in their dance studies at regular intervals. The assessment procedure is clear and fair. Assessment policies and procedures are available to all students.
Sixth formers study for the two-year National Certificate in Professional Classical Ballet or the three-year National Diploma in Professional Dance, validated by Trinity College London. The Diploma is a Level 6 qualification, which is recognised on the new Further Education Qualification Framework as the vocational equivalent of an honours degree. It consists of modules that are assessed both internally and externally and moderated externally throughout the three-year course. The Certificate is a Level 5 qualification.
Students auditioning for this course are accepted for their physical facility, technique and musical aptitude. In their final two years of training students may be selected to dance with Birmingham Royal Ballet in its productions in Birmingham and on National and International tours.
All Upper School students are intensively coached on a one-to-one basis in preparation for entering the annual Solo Competition the finals of which are performed to an invited audience in our theatre. Additionally the students are encouraged to produce a piece of choreography to be performed in the school’s annual Choreographic Competition. During the last two years of study students may be selected to perform in various outreach programmes. This gives students valuable performance experience. Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Learning Department are now recruiting sixth formers to assist in their schools' Outreach Programme.
Graduates are given guidance, during their final year, on preparing their Curriculum Vitae with appropriate photographs, DVDs and portfolios prior to auditioning for professional dance companies.
