200 youngsters get their first taste of ballet


The Royal Ballet School gave more than two hundred lucky Swindon children their first taste of ballet dancing in an innovative dance education project.

Year three pupils, aged seven and eight, from five Swindon primary schools, gathered at Swindon Dance on Thursday to watch student ballet dancers, ask questions and have a go themselves on the stage.

“They loved it!” said Sarah Fletcher, education and development assistant coordinator at Swindon Dance. “Every time the dancers did a big lift in the pas de deux, or a did a jump sequence, the children were making lots of noise and cheering!”

The 262 pupils were taking part in the first stage of the Royal Ballet School’s Primary Steps programme, which is in its 11th year in Swindon.

Six students from the Royal Ballet School gave the demonstration – with four junior associates, aged 10 to 11, and two senior students from the upper school, aged 18 to 19, demonstrating their ballet skills. This gave the visiting youngsters a chance to see how skills developed and progressed over the years of coaching.

Three hour-long demonstrations were held over the course of the day. After the demonstration, the ballet students talked to the children about ballet dancing and gave them a chance to ask questions.

Some of the boys took the opportunity to go on stage and practise jumping – to see who could leap the highest. Some of the girls volunteered to experience a pas de deux lift, from the senior ballet dancer.

“They really enjoyed it,” Sarah said. “It was a great introduction to ballet and reached children who might never otherwise have had that experience. It was so great to see.”

Pippa Cobbing and Jennifer Riley represented the Royal Ballet School at the event, to introduce Swindon pupils to the school’s nationwide Junior Associate programme.

Swindon Dance has helped to develop this innovative programme involving the following primary schools: Drove, Lainesmead, Lawn, Mountford Manor and Tregoze Primary Schools.

Year 3 pupils from all five schools will spend the next six weeks working closely with Royal Ballet School teachers, discovering ballet through a carefully-designed series of creative dance workshops.

At the end of the six-week course, 26 of the most talented pupils will be invited to develop their newfound knowledge and skills by joining weekly Primary Steps classes at Swindon Dance for up to four years.

The young people taking part will receive their training from teachers specially approved by The Royal Ballet School. After the four years, the aspiring young dancers will be advised on how best to continue their dance training and some may be invited to audition for The Royal Ballet School’s highly regarded Junior Associate programme.

Primary Steps touches the lives of more than 2,000 young people throughout England each year in Dagenham, Swindon, Blackpool, Bury St Edmunds and Mansfield.

The Royal Ballet School is one of the world’s greatest centres of classical ballet training which for generations has produced dancers and choreographers of international renown – from Margot Fonteyn, Antoinette Sibley, Anthony Dowell, Anya Linden, Darcey Bussell and Kenneth MacMillan, to a new generation currently making its mark on the world stage – Lauren Cuthbertson, Steven McRae, Edward Watson and Christopher Wheeldon to name but a few.

Admission to the School is based purely on talent and potential, regardless of academic ability or personal circumstances, and 90% of current students rely on financial support to attend the School.

The School offers an eight-year carefully structured dance course, aligned with an extensive academic programme, giving the students the best possible education to equip them for a career in the world of dance.

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