Dance Teacher Course

[swe]

A friend has asked if I could recommend any 18 + courses at college/uni which would be suitable for teaching dance. As my dd is hoping to go down performance route I have no idea on where to look-but I am sure some of you knowledgeable folk will be able to help! The young lady in question has most of her experience in tap/ballet/modern so i assume she wants to specialise in these (though I think she would like to do contemporary too). Any pointers greatly received x

[drdance]

Hi,

 

If she wants to teach tap/modern and have pupils do exams etc she'll need to train with one of the examining bodies such as the ISTD and there isn't actually a university course designed to do this (madness I know, it's on my to-do list once I win the lottery!). Some of the vocational schools eg Birds do a degree course and include part of the ISTD teacher quals in that but not all of the units, I believe. The best places for advice on their qualifications are the bodies themselves eg RAD, ISTD, IDTA.

 

The closest thing there is, however, is the degree course at RAD - where one graduates as a registered teacher. That allows 'mutually recognised teacher' status (and therefore exam entry rights) with the IDTA. At one stage you used to be able to do ISTD Associates (as they were back then) at RAD as part of that course but I think that has all changed now.

 

A lot of 'private' dance colleges have emerged where one can train in the ISTD teaching qualifications but these are not universities as such, and the qualifications completed there are ISTD vocational grades and DDI/DDE only, not degrees. The ISTD do now do a degree but I think it's only distance-learning, validated by HQ.

[Pups_mum]

A friend of my DD's is going to Preston College to do a course that includes teaching. http://www.preston.ac.uk/index.php/dance-academy

I believe they've recently spent a lot on upgrading the facilities there - DD's friend was very impressed when she went to look around.

[miss.pointe]

Bucks Uni do a Foundation Degree specifically for IDTA teachers (you need to be at least an IDTA Associate) which my teacher (from my IDTA teaching course) reccommended to us. Haven't looked into it in much detail but it's there!

[robin64]

pups mum is the Preston course for age 16 so instead of A levels? Had a very quick look at the link but wasn't 100% sure. We are not at the stage of looking at post 16 yet but it will come round very quickly. We have family in Preston so I was interested in looking at the link. I didn't even realise there was a college with dance courses there.

[Aurora]

Yes Preston is post 16 and instead of A levels though you could possibly do them as evening classes, I know of someone who did 2 like that. They do take older than 16 though, I know of someone who went there in her early 20s. The standard is pretty high overall and you can do ISTD teacher training in all techniques. Plus there's no fees to pay which is a bonus!

[Fiz]

Is that the university at Buckingham which is private and charges the whole courses costs'?

[Pups_mum]

pups mum is the Preston course for age 16 so instead of A levels? Had a very quick look at the link but wasn't 100% sure. We are not at the stage of looking at post 16 yet but it will come round very quickly. We have family in Preston so I was interested in looking at the link. I didn't even realise there was a college with dance courses there.

My DD's friend is going post A level but I do know someome else whose son was thinking of going at 16 so it looks like both options are posssible. I think you can download the full prospectus from their website which might clarify things further.

[drdance]

I had forgotten Preston College - great course!

 

The one at Bucks is New Buckinghamshire University - not sure about the fees though