Newsletter Autumn 2019
Newsletter
September 2019
Welcome back to another year of dancing at Dance Warehouse. We hope you have had a lovely summer break and are ready for what promises to be an exciting year!
Last term
Last term kept our students’ dancing feet very busy…. We had two days of graded exams at Dance Warehouse and vocational students taking exams at the RAD Headquarters. The results arrived over the holidays and congratulations go to all of our pupils who all worked very hard to achieve a 100% pass rate with everyone gaining merits and distinctions.
Drama students performed two separate performances for family and friends, older students danced in the Marlowe Dance Network’s ‘The Planets’
show and many students displayed their creative sides in our Choreographic Competition. Well done to all of them!
In August forty students attended our summer school, ‘The Golden Ticket’, and put on a fantastic show for family at the end of the week under the direction of Katieanne, and Miss Jessica also ran her ever-popular workshops for students throughout August.
Congratulations!
At the end of term we said goodbye to several students who are leaving us having successfully auditioned for full-time schools; Tegwen Evans-Forrest (Performers College), Francesca Cheney (London Studio Centre) and Iris Clover (Elmhurst Ballet School). We wish them all well as they start their vocational training this term.
Congratulations also go to Nell Weatherby who has been offered a place in ENBYouthCo, Carlos AlmodovarWhite who has successfully auditioned for the Royal
Ballet School’s Junior Associate programme, Ilona Morris who is joining Central School of Ballet’s Associate programme and to Isobel Goddard who has been offered a place at London Junior Ballet.
This term
We have both RAD graded and vocational ballet exams in November/December. Our graded exam dates have now been provisionally set for 21st and 22nd November. Exam coaching classes will start immediately this weekend, and any outstanding exam fees should please now be settled. Thank you.
We have once again been invited to dance in the Youth
Festival of Remembrance on 9th November at The Leas
Cliff Hall, Folkestone, and will also be supporting Demelza Hospice Care for Children by performing in their Danceathon on 7th December in Ashford. Classes involved in these events will receive letters with further information in their classes.
We are pleased to announce that Andre Portasio, exsoloist with English National Ballet, will be joining us at
Dance Warehouse this term to start our new Dance Warehouse Scholars programme on Sunday afternoons. These classes, suitable for 11-18 year olds, are designed for those ballet students wishing to take their dancing a little more seriously and wanting to improve their technique, strength and artistry. The classes will consist of body conditioning exercises and a classical class, and will be held at two different levels – a junior level and a senior level. If you are interested in trying these classes please pick up a leaflet or ask a member of staff for further information.
Rambert Grades pilot scheme
We are thrilled to announce that we have been selected as one of only eight dance schools internationally to take part in Rambert’s new Rambert Grades pilot scheme! This brand new creative and contemporary syllabus has been devised by a panel of professional dance experts in the field, and not only trains students’ contemporary technique but encourages their creative side too. Both Miss Jessicas and Miss Katie have been busy training over the holidays and are excited to be introducing the work to our pupils in several of our creative and contemporary classes in Canterbury and Ashford.
2020 – A very special year for Dance Warehouse!
Next year in 2020 Dance Warehouse celebrates its 25th anniversary as a dance school. Please put these dates in your diary: 13th-19th July 2020.
In the past few years we have had our biennial shows at The Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury but in 2020 we shall be using a new and exciting venue in Canterbury – the Malthouse Theatre. Recent changes at the Marlowe Theatre have resulted in youth community projects being developed by the theatre itself such as the Marlowe Dance Network which we have been part of.
However, these changes have meant that Dance Warehouse can no longer be guaranteed a regular slot in the theatre’s long term programme planning.
The new venue will be more intimate and is easily accessible, and will still provide our pupils with the chance to perform in public and experience the excitement of live performance. This is something that we know is vital for our young aspiring pupils. We are all looking forward to the production to celebrate our special year and hope very much that you will support the school as it continues to teach your children a love of dance and the performing arts, which is a privilege for us all at Dance Warehouse.
Chaperones Needed!
We cannot give our students all of these wonderful performance experiences without the help of volunteers to look after our young dancers backstage. Child licensing laws require us to have registered chaperones, otherwise the show literally can’t go on! Chaperoning can be a very rewarding experience and many parents tell us they enjoy seeing the performance from the other side of the curtain! Becoming a KCC registered volunteer chaperone is free of charge but does take a little time to apply for so I would please ask anyone who thinks they could help us in this way to apply now. Please speak to us for further information on how to apply. Thank you!
Theatre Trips
We have several forthcoming theatre trips to the Marlowe Theatre this year to look forward to:
Matthew Bourne’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’ on Thursday 19th September at 7.30pm. FULL!
Northern Ballet’s ‘Dracula’ on Thursday 10th October at 7.30pm for pupils aged 12 years and over. TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE – £10 each.
Acosta Danza: Evolution on Saturday 21st March at 7.30pm for pupils aged 10 years and over. TICKETS AVAILABLE – £10 each.
Matthew Bourne’s ‘Red Shoes’ on Thursday 9th April at 7.30pm for pupils aged 10 years and over. TICKETS AVAILABLE – £15 each.
If you would like to go to any of these shows, please add your name to the list on the noticeboard. Tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis so don’t miss out!
Mobile Uniform Shop
Please be aware that our mobile shop is now only open on Saturday mornings from 9.30-12.30pm. All pupils can however order uniform from Katherine through our new website using the order form on the Uniform page, or
by emailing her: uniform@dancewarehouse.info
Thank you for your continued support. As always please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any problems or queries. We can always be contacted by telephone on
01227 761461 or by email at
enquiries@dancewarehouse.info
K. Marquis