All that jazz

Urdang and London studio centre both have associate schemes with a mix of dance styles. I have also heard of youth companies like One Youth Dance and the jazz associates seems to be very popular and offers classes in jazz, contemporary/lyrical and commercial.

Arts 1 in milton Keynes  do a dance course which is very good

Dance box (in mk too) also do a dance course

Both are gov funded but contain 20+ hours of dance which is much more than the standard 12 at other colleges plus both perform at move it and other events 

Thank you so much to everyone who has replied 😊 as I'm relatively new to dance (only been doing ballet for around 6 months) and come from a more commercial jazz background your advice and everything else I've read on this forum is really appreciated x 

19 minutes ago, Anna C said:

The full sole Oxford laceup tap shoes should be fine in PU/leatherette for a BTEC.  I wouldn’t get the expensive leather ones yet, see how you get on first.

 

Have you danced in New Yorkers before? They seem to range in heel height between 1.5 and 3 inches, so to start with I wouldn’t go above 2 inches unless they specify 3.   If not specified I’d probably get a reasonably priced black pair to start with. I think some colleges ask for both tan and black but only for shows.

 

Unless you’re absolutely sure you’ve stopped growing, I wouldn’t buy them just yet though! You don’t want to grow out of them before you start your course. ☺️

I've taken heel classes (more dancing in stilettos and heeled boots😂😂😁) but haven't ever danced in new yorkers so will definitely take your advice of a 2 inch heel!!

Sorry if I'm sounding slightly stupid but I've seen jazz taps and normal taps which would you suggest?

19 minutes ago, Pointetoes said:

DD is just about to head into her final term of a Btec Level 3 Extended Diploma in MT. She had to have tap shoes had to be fully laced, Oxfords. She also had to have tan not black New Yorkers with a 3” heel. 

I fully understand your excitement but before you buy anything I would contact the college. DD is at a small college and they don’t put the uniform list on the website but we were emailed it towards the end of May early June. 

Yes I have contacted the college and they've told me the induction packs don't get sent out until the summer term,I think after the last round of auditions in June, which when I'm as excited as I am is a long wait😂😂😁 slightly off topic but did your daughter find the mt btec a good grounding for uni/college auditions? 

4 minutes ago, Anna C said:

Just what I was going to suggest.  I’d check with the college but would think that any laceup Oxford style tap shoe (they look like this: https://uk.blochworld.com/product/LS3312L) would be fine.  They range from below £30 to almost £60 so I’d start with a basic pair.

 

Agree with Pictures that “Character” probably means New Yorkers/heels as opposed to the canvas RAD Character shoes, so again check whether they want black or tan. 

 

Ah, cross post! 

Thankyou both so much and yes I meant New Yorkers rather than the RAD shoes!

5 minutes ago, Picturesinthefirelight said:

Have you been sent a uniform list yet?  I'd hold on unless you know they don't mind.

 

For tap shoes a lot of colleges seem to like full sole Oxfords, the brand depends on your feet (Bloch for wide, Capezio for narrow etc etc).  The college may have a preference between black or tan character heels/New Yorkers.

Thankyou for your reply,

They haven't sent any induction information yet sand as it's a small, newer Mt college there isn't much information online. It doesn't seem like they are particularly strict on shoes so I may just get them an keep them in the box so they can be returned easily if wrong. I'm quite impatient😂 what heel size character shoes should I get and what brands do you recommend.

It's so hard to know whether to spend more on higher quality or get cheaper tap and character shoes for now and see how I get on with them.

Decisions decisions!!

17 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

Hello All that jazz and welcome to the Forum!

Thankyou!

Hi I have a place to study musical theatre btec at a performing arts college for September. What tap shoes and character heels would you suggest I buy? I haven't tapped before so want something suitable for my level but will also last as I (hopefully) improve.

Thankyou in advance

At urdang they suggested English, history, business, biology and pe as options as well as theatre studies before degree that would be useful, but to be honest it's much more important to do what you're good at and enjoy. There is no right or wrong just what works for now.

If there is a dance btec option instead of alevel maybe that would have more practical work unless your daughter enjoys the mostly theory GCSE course and is prepared to not do that much dance at alevel (obviously depends on the provider).

There is also a course called core maths which is a level 3 qualification for those who are interested in social sciences and biological sciences so if that's offered it could be a way of keeping the maths up for a year without doing a full blown a level.

Very interesting to hear about the new trinity laban course... I had no idea!!

Hi,

I'm not sure where abouts you are based but here are a few options I have heard of (they lean towards more jazz/mt than classical ballet though so may not be useful to you so sorry if that's the case)

I know urdang offer a fully funded level 3 course called the AVT. It is 21 hours I think and they have 20-30 on the course. It does say you need to live within travelling distance to London but on the open day they did say that it was flexible.

Their qualification is a level 3 ocr worth 2 alevels so perhaps not enough to gain entry into some of the schools later on that prefer 3 alevels or equivalent. They are still auditioning.

There is LIPA sixth form too which offers a dance course and is fully funded

BRIT school dance course although don't think much ballet is involved so you might have to supplement your training with additional classes. Also tiny catchment and few places available outside of this.

Italia Conti Guildford offer a l3 btec which is only  funded for 16 hours (like most btecs) but you can top up to more hours (can't remember exact number).

There is a sixth form called Arts1 in Milton Keynes who have a very impressive list of destinations including trinity laban, RBS, Laine, bird, performers, masters, Urdang, Stella Mann, millennium, London studio centre, northern school of contemporary dance (as well as purely MT colleges) . So a wide range of graduate destinations covering both more contemporary schools as well as those leaning into jazz/mt. They are also still auditioning. From what I've heard it's 21 hours and there is a specifically dance course as well as an mt one.

Have heard of Pendleton college too but not sure if it's more for MT than dance.

Jelli studios were at move it (veryyy jazz based and MT so might not be your daughter's bag)

Dance Box in Milton Keynes too. It is a 3 year course fully funded the whole way through but once you get your BTEC at year 2 I don't see why you cannot audition for the 'bigger' colleges. I know they are just dance based.

BRICTT and BOA also come to mind but I know much more about MT and less about contemporary dance so the above information may not be helpful at all😳

I think that most of the above options would be great if she's considering cruise ship work etc but for contemporary perhaps only a couple of them. 

Best wishes