The Course
English National Ballet School provides full time training for students starting from 16 years of age.
Years one and two provides the fundamental core training, as well as developing and advancing the student's classical technique, artistry and musicality. Complimentary studies, including Contemporary, are offered as part of the course to ensure the versatility required of our students. On successful completion of the two year course, students are awarded the Level 5 Diploma in Professional Dance by Trinity College, London.The focus of our third year is to provide each student with a professional performance experience, in conjunction with the completion of their training. During the spring term, each student will perform with ENB2, our apprenticeship touring company, (formed in association with and produced by English National Ballet), taking abridged classical ballets, to theatres across England. The students will also have the opportunity to work and perform with English National Ballet Company, on a regular basis. All of the students will perform in our school performances and will have the opportunity to experience working with eminent guest teachers and choreographers.
On successful completion of the three year course you will be awarded Trinity College London’s Level 6 Diploma in Professional Dance. This Diploma is at least comparable in terms of vocational competence to the standards required for honours degrees and graduate diplomas. Students with the Level 6 Diploma are eligible to apply to Middlesex University to take a part-time distance learning programme which extends their Diploma into a BA Honours Professional Practice (Arts).
Artistic Strand
90% of the course is held in the studio and on-stage, and you will work towards the highest standards of technique and artistry.
The core disciplines are Ballet supported by Contemporary Dance and you will also study:
Variations
Pas de Deux
Repertoire
Performance
Spanish Dance
Choreography
Body Conditioning
Upper Body Strength Training
Dalcroze Eurythmics
Assessment
Performance Opportunities
As the official school of English National Ballet, third year students have the opportunity to rehearse, perform and tour with the Company at key times of the year, in some of the most prestigious theatres in the world. You will experience working with Company staff and dancers, learning and performing repertoire by world renowned choreographers.
Twice a year the school holds performances involving the entire student body. At Christmas in our studio theatre, and the summer performance, at a prestigious London theatre. The summer performance is a mix of existing and especially choreographed work, giving you the opportunity to work with professional choreographers and repetiteurs.
This year, for the first time, the winner of our choreographic competition, will have the opportunity of performing their ballet alongside and on stage with English National Ballet.
When appropriate, selected students will be entered for both UK and international ballet competitions, allowing you to work and perform alongside your international colleagues.
Professional & Personal Development Strand
Academic Programme
ENBS is first and foremost a ballet
school. We ensure students receive a good all-round education to
prepare you for a future career in dance and provide a unique course of
academic study which focuses on creative and artistic development.
You
will continue to develop academic and intellectual skills through a
programme specifically designed to enhance and extend your dance
training and to meet the demands of the ever changing dance profession.
The course of study includes:
- Dance History - a fascinating look at the roots of present day dance performance. This course underpins work in all other modules
- Anatomy for dancers - understanding the importance of nutrition, psychology, fitness and a healthy lifestyle in reaching optimum performance
- Choreography - developing the imaginative and creative response in each dancer and understanding the choreographic process. The module is integrated with a number of other modules
- Benesh Notation - ENBS is one of only two vocational schools in the United Kingdom to enter students for the Score Reading for Dancers exam of the Benesh Institute, where results are consistently high
- Professional Development Portfolio - preparation for audition and entry into the dance profession; also maintaining a professional career
- Dance on Screen - from Busby Berkeley to the Ballet Boyz this module focuses on the directors, choreographers and dancers who have used innovatory filming techniques to portray, manipulate and distort the dancing body over the last seventy five years.
Fitness Programme
Your health and physical welfare is of high priority to us and we have a
programme of physical fitness specially designed for you with the aim
of developing your technical skills by improving your general health,
fitness and stamina.
The programme helps you to meet the ever-increasing technical and choreographic demands made on dancers today.
The
School's emphasis on fitness to dance and on a "healthy dancer
programme" is about attention to all-round fitness that is achieved
through a combination of regular, body
conditioning, weight training and education about nutrition.
Visiting
lecturers who are specialists in the fields of nutrition, performance
psychology and physiotherapy supplement the core curriculum. We value
this knowledge as part of the essential preparation for a career as a
professional dancer. It helps you to understand your physiques and to
prevent injuries where possible.
We want you to feel both mentally and physically in peak condition, so that you can achieve excellence.