In less than 2 weeks time, on Sunday 24th March 2019, our talented & dedicated Dance Stables Ballet dancers will be participating in our Second Annual DS Ballet Grading! We can't wait for everyone to showcase their hardwork.
Children from our DS Academies in Islington, Wood Green, Muswell Hill, Grange Park, Leyton, Stoke Newington and Enfield will be assessed on the 24th March, and our 313 Ballerinas will be graded on Saturday 6th April 2019.
We are strongly believers that hard work and creative moment should be rewarded, especially in the Ballet field. This is why we have created a safe and creative platform, that will open the path and prepare your child for many future dancing opportunities.
Dance Stables Ballet Grading aims to support the DS Academy syllabus & learning, while providing a grading scheme where candidates can progress & develop their Dance understanding & skill. We have introduced our Grading to classes to show children’s development and understanding of their Ballet learning , with a focus on self-expression and confidence in performing.
We are very excited to announce this years Guest Assessor is Samina Beckford, who will be sat alongside DS Director Cara Louise Horsley, to put our young talented ballet dancers through their paces.
Samina is a graduate of the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, where she studied in Contemporary and Ballet technique and Choreography. Samina has worked as an Animateur at the Richard Alston Dance Company, teaching the company's repertoire in education and community settings across the UK. As a Director at "First Position Dance Arts", Samina has extensive knowledge of dance in education and facilitates both Dance and Drama workshops in schools across Birmingham. As Participation Producer at Birmingham Hippodrome, Samina is responsible for young companies, including Musical Theatre and Zoonation Youth Company, and leads strategic development of youth talent development programme. See here for more info on the projects that Samina is currently leading on, they all look fantastic! Samina also creates curtains raisers for shows such as Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake - a Dance Stables' favourite.
We asked Samina what she will be looking for at the Grading. She says she will be on the look out for "dancers that can mix strong technique with strong performance skills, and how they can balance both in their movement" This is very much a skill combination that Samina herself mastered beautifully in her own dance performance work!
We are very excited to welcome Samina to Dance Stables; to showcase the capabilities our talented DS kids and for them to learn from such a fantastically knowledgable guest assessor!
Best of luck to all! :)
DS Results will be out ahead of the Easter Break 2019! Watch this space!