Saturday Morning dance & Musical Theatre

To enhance expression and musicality, classes learn stagecraft, how to sing and how to act; all of this gives them more tools for expressive performance and trains them to work with different theatrical disciplines from a place of shared understanding. 

This is incorporated into their dance class in a fun and engaging way that complements their dance work.

Classes use drama games to explore physical theatre and facial expression, through character work they develop empathy and awareness, and improvisation builds confidence, social skills and creative problem-solving.

Students learn songs with choreography to understand musical phrasing, tonality, harmonic movement and dynamics in a fun, physical way.

Rhythmic work is taught explicitly - most obviously through tap dance, as the feet become a musical instrument themselves, but rhythm exists in all dance styles so students learn how to use tempo, accent and timing in their dancing which we believe makes for a better performer all round. Musical Theatre exams can be taken from both the BATD and LCME.

The classes are structured in such a way that all styles are covered suitable to the age and stage of the dancers in the class. This ensures a broad and general dance experience underpinned by safe, proper technical training and appropriate body conditioning to support their progress.

Studying more than one style builds versatility, fitness and adaptability. In today's performance industry (like so many others!) versatility is crucial. 

We also believe that, similar to our music programme, being experienced in a variety of styles means we can enjoy our favourites and learn to appreciate what else there is too. It means students cultivate a broad vocabulary of movement and skill that builds confidence, competence and athleticism.

Yes, but we are not a ballet school, so it is not our sole focus. Our dance teachers all hold Ballet teaching diplomas, and ballet forms the core of our technical training. Pupils will have a chance to dance en pointe as they progress and they learn the French terminology.

I can make recommendations for excellent ballet schools if you are wishing that level of intensive training in ballet specifically for your child. In depth grade level classes are available for Ballet, which we encourage for our upper primary students and beyond.

Ballet is a brilliant foundation to build strength, flexibility, grace, body awareness, musicality and placement, plus it is excellent for training good posture and presence in a performer. 

That's why it features in every class of ours!

In the beginning, you wear age-appropriate comfortable stretchy clothes (nothing too loose though as it gets in the way). 

By lesson 4 we would expect all dancers to attend in uniform, and have the appropriate shoes (tap and soft shoes) so they can safely proceed.*** Uniform lists will be distributed at class and can either be ordered through the school or purchased directly from retailers.

***Please note, we're not "uniform daft" and no child will be excluded on the basis of not wearing exact uniform, but dance is a physical pursuit that carries a risk of injury and APPROPRIATE clothing and footwear is a matter of being responsible about child safety.

Movement is uninhibited and the alignment of muscles and joints can be seen through the fabric. This is important to avoid injury and correct mistakes as they arise. Nobody should be dancing in socks only - that's a slip hazard and bare feet, trainers or appropriate dance shoes should be worn at all times.

Yes, absolutely. All are welcome! We have both boys and girls enrolled in all our activities at Rhythm Academy. 

While we encourage all students to participate in our performances, it's not something that suits every single person - or maybe they don't feel ready yet but would like the option in subsequent years. That's completely alright.

Our way of teaching and learning includes showing students what supporting each other really is, so we find most children want actively to be involved however they can be.

We host open-class showcases where family members are invited in to see what the students have been working on, and that's a great opportunity to build the confidence to perform to a bigger arena in the future. We try to keep our productions local and convenient, baring in mind what can be reasonably expected of young children and their families!

We accept Dance and MT programme students from 3 years old, and ask that they are toilet trained. As we are covering dance, drama and song in our classes there is so much fun to be had for the little ones. So long as they can walk and talk well and be away from their parents for the duration of the class, we are delighted to have them. These are drop-off classes.

£6.33 per class. This includes class for kids platform fees, warm-up, conditioning, technique and artistic work with activities appropriate to each age group, and the input from our vocal trainer.

Classes are payable per half-term (approx 5 or 6 weeks) payable on the first class of the block. Classes are bookable through ClassforKids at our booking page. Don't worry, if you're already in the class you'll get a text when it's payment time.

Classes missed cannot be refunded.

Remember your child's dance class involves paying for fully trained staff who must pay professional subscriptions (and all undertaking continuous professional development), comprehensive insurances, phonographic licensing to use music legally, hall hire and equipment costs.

No. The Music Programme is not a Musical Theatre programme. There will be some natural crossover, but it won't be the same.

Musicianship activities like sight-singing, aural skills, music theory and certain styles will be covered in the Music Programme that are not covered here.

This programme covers theatrical dance, performance and singing with staging and choreography.

Yes, they will still be taught vocal technique, breath control and voice care, but beyond that, the big difference is in the performance context and the repertoire.