Top Vocational Ballet Schools in London?

[Entrechat]

Hello All, we are soon moving to London and I'd like to know what are the top schools for classical ballet there. We are auditioning in a few days at Royal Ballet, but I'd like to have a Plan B and C. When I look online, it can get confusing, as some highly rated schools also have yoga, ballet for seniors (nothing against seniors, almost one myself, but you know what I mean), etc... Any tips from local ballet experts would be very appreciated. My daughter is eleven. 

[Pas de Quatre]

Is your daughter's training Vaganova based? Two of the top schools in London are Masters of Ballet Academy and Natalia Kremen school, and they both use the Vaganova method.

[Anna C]

How old is your daughter?  And are you looking for full-time school, or weekend/evening classes?

[Kate_N]

I think you'll need to give us a bit more information - if you feel comfortable in doing so. London is the size & population of a small country, and it is really important to look for ballet schools in the area in which you'll be living, or easily commutable (and preferably not by car - that often takes longer!). 

 

The other thing is you'll need to orient yourself to the British education system, in both school and ballet, as it's different in some significant ways from the US system. In my experience of the two systems, academic study in the UK is generally more intense and UK children often at a higher level than US children of the same age - but this is because the UK system tends to specialise a lot earlier than the US system - generally by the end of school + post-secondary education (university or other kinds of training) they're all about even!

 

On the other hand, ballet education & training tends to be slower and less intense here until children are mid-teens.

 

In ballet terms, the emphasis tends to be on full-time vocational training around the time children take their GCSE qualification - so at 15 or 16. Prior to that, most (but not all) talented ballet students study with teachers in local studios, often supplemented by monthly Associates' classes. Ballet training tends not to be the "dance everyday" schedule of US studios.  And acceptance into this vocational training is highly selective and very competitive because numbers taken in are very small (particularly in comparison to US studios). There are pros & cons for both ways.

 

The Royal Ballet School is residential, as are several other vocational schools, such as Elmhurst (in Birmingham) and the English National Ballet School. Central School of Ballet might be another one to look at (central London on the SouthBank, about 5 minutes walk from Waterloo station). Then there is the school at Danceworks (central London just off the west end of Oxford Street), although I think that's been affected by COVID.

 

Most ballet studios offer after-school classes, and for an 11 year old, those would be 2 or 3 times during the week and probably most of Saturday. 

 

Associates' programmes are enrichment and outreach classes offered by  some of the elite schools (eg Royal Ballet School) to those with talent, but for one reason or another (proximity, not successful for full-time study etc etc) do not attend one of these schools.

 

If you search this forum (Doing Dance) you'll find lots of discussion of the various ballet training options available. 

 

But this is an overview, from my own observation of watching children through both systems.  The wonderful ballet parents of this forum will have the real inside stories for you, and some more specific local recommendations, if you feel comfortable about disclosing the general area you'll be living in in London eg south west, north, east etc.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Kate_N

[Janeparent]

In London, as well as Masters of Ballet Academy and Natalia Kremen’s school, which both have vocational level training outside of academic school hours, there is also Young Dancers Academy, which is a “vocational” school, in the sense that it is normally understood in the UK, ie. a full-time school with both ballet and academics. The other well-known UK vocational schools with strong ballet (other than The Royal Ballet School) are Elmhurst Ballet School (Birmingham) and Tring Park School for the Performing Arts. The latter three are mainly boarding schools with some day students; YDA is mainly a day school with, I believe, some options for accommodation. The other vocational schools in London, English National Ballet School, Central School of Ballet and so on, are for age 16+, so not available to you at the moment for full-time training.

[Anna C]

On 18/11/2021 at 08:31, Anna C said:

How old is your daughter?  And are you looking for full-time school, or weekend/evening classes?

 

Oh my bad, I missed the “my daughter is eleven”!  Sorry.

 

But yes, we still need to know if you’re looking for full time or part-time training.

[Kate_N]

Central runs an after school programme, I think.

[rowan]

I agree with Kate. Both academic education and ballet training are different in the UK and the States. 

Home schooling is very unusual here, though growing, and that means ballet training is done after school and at weekends. The school system is quite rigid and quite long - you won’t in general be able to leave early to attend dance classes. My understanding is that UK pupils are generally at least a year academically ahead of students from the States, certainly by the age of 18 - eg, the UK A level is at least college freshman level - though at age 11 this difference won’t matter as much. Will your daughter attend a state school here?

 

Regarding ballet training, assuming you mean after academic school, in general most dance schools will not offer classes every day. You may need to find two schools - with the teachers’ approval. Lessons may be shorter than you are used to. An hour is quite standard. You can audition for some associate schemes, as mentioned above, which will have longer, more focused lessons, usually on a Saturday. Competition for these places is quite tough. Apart from the Vaganova-based schools mentioned above, the RAD is a big overseer of dance classes and exams. Dance exams are a big part of ballet culture here. An 11-year-old could take three or maybe four syllabus classes a week, one hour each, at their HQ. That would be regarded as quite a lot, though. The RAD also now seem to run some sort of associates course of their own - by invitation only. As has been said, London is a big place. Some schools might not be feasible, depending where you live. If you can give an approximation of where you live, people will be able to give more precise recommendations.

[Jan McNulty]

I've added a tag "London" that may bring up useful older threads.  Here's one that came up:

 

 

[Entrechat]

Wow, thanks everyone so much for all this helpful information. I’ll try to answer some of your questions.

My DD trains in Balanchine style. Although, this past summer she completed a six week intensive at Ballet Ruso in Barcelona in Russian style. She said she didn’t like it that much because she found the movements “too slow” compared to Balanchine. However, everything about her  Ballet Ruso summer experience was excellent, I highly recommend it that school.

 

When the intensive in Barcelona finished, the two directors asked to meet with us and they told us that she should be at one of the world’s top three schools. They said to apply her to Royal Ballet, Paris Opera, and I think Vagovana in Russia.

 

I was shocked and flattered for her, and told them that we were planning to move in a few years to London and we’d apply her then. They said no, that we should be applying her ASAP, now that she’s eleven, and not when she’s fourteen, etc.

 

Thanks again everyone! You’ve all been so helpful, I’ve been sort of lost on this issue and now feel better. ☺️

[Janeparent]

It does sounds as though you’d want a full-time “vocational” school, as it would be difficult to get the amount of training hours she’s used to otherwise (it might also be possible to get similar hours at Masters of Ballet or Natalia Kremen, but those are both Russian style training, which she didn’t enjoy at the intensive). It is possible to be a day student at White Lodge, but it isn’t walkable (except possibly sometimes in the summer) as it’s within Richmond Park, which has gates that are locked at dusk - if the gates are locked there is school transport which you would have to meet at the gates, or the railway station. If you wanted somewhere near Notting Hill there is Young Dancers Academy (academics included) in Shepherd’s Bush, or their evening and weekend classes, which are called West London School of Dance (the day time “vocational” students also do some of the evening classes). And as another poster said, Central School of Ballet do have evening classes too. For other rigorous full-time training you’d be looking outside London (Elmhurst, Tring).

 

Lots of decisions for you to make! All the best of luck with it all. One other thing to bear in mind is that if you wanted your daughter to audition for a start next September, the auditions are happening about now - so the deadlines for lots of the schools will be imminent.

[KeepDancing!!]

Hi, you have two main options in the UK for an 11 year old, either a full time vocational school, RBS, Elmhurst, Tring are the three main classical options, or to attend a day school for academics and train after school and at weekends.

 

If you are hoping for her to attend one of these full time vocational schools auditions are already taking place for next year. They do preliminary rounds followed by final rounds in the Spring. I think you have already missed the window for applying to the Royal Ballet School this year, as they are already running their preliminary round auditions and the cut off for applications was October I believe. I'm not sure if Elmhurst and Tring may still allow applications?

 

All of these audition rounds are for entry next September(2022). On that basis you would now be looking at having to join the next round of auditions for entry in Sept 2023 for Royal Ballet school. As I said it might be possible to still apply for Elmhurst or Tring for next September, I'm not sure.

 

The other option would be to look for a very high standard school that provides after school training. I would recommend Masters of Ballet Academy in London, they run classes 6 days a week, Tuesday- Sunday for 3 hours a day, slightly longer on weekends with rehearsals etc. The training is Vaganova. This year their graduating students have got into some of the top vocational schools at 16 in UK and abroad: Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet School, Vaganova Academy in Russia, John Cranko in Germany and Bolshoi to name a few.

 

 

[KeepDancing!!]

Sorrr, I realised you said she is auditioning at RBS this weekend. Good luck and hope things go well for her.

[Ballet Power]

For academics - You might be able to find a school that offers the international baccalaureate as I work at a school that’s teaches that (sorry not in London) 

[Entrechat]

We'll be in London from the 23rd until the 29th of this month. I booked a hotel across from the Royal Opera House. Besides her audition at RB, I got us tickets to Giselle, Nutcracker, and a tour of the Royal Opera House. I had to get all six pound tickets because in USA, tickets to a good ballet cost ten times that at least.

Maybe I should try to audition her at Elmhurst and Tring as well? It might be too much for her with the jet lag, and we have to take multiple covid tests at Boots.

 

We also just got our tickets to spend summer in London, to see how we could move to / live in London. Maybe I could have her audition then to Elmhurst and Tring, as we arrive quite early, on June 8th, if she doesn't get into RB? Or maybe it'll be too late then?

 

And gosh, I didn't realize all this about White Lodge, its gates locking at dusk, etc. These days, my DD finishes ballet at 8:30 PM, and it's dark out. Would I be able to pick her up after ballet from White Lodge? I know she could board there, but I couldn't imagine not living with her, she's our precious girl.  And on top of school and ballet, we barely get to see her as it is now.

 

At the summer intensive in Barcelona, we made friends with a family who lives in London during the school year, and their daughter dances at RB, but in a weekend class. After the recital at the end of the intensive, the mom took me by the shoulders and forcefully said I need to apply DD to Royal Ballet in October (this was before the directors told me the same). She was kind to say this, since her daughter is a bit older than mine and my daughter was performing with the teen girls in that recital while hers was with their age group of eleven year olds. They will be at the same audition at RB next week.

 

I get cringey to talk about all this, because it seems like I'm boasting. But, I really feel a bit lost and don't have anybody to ask. All of this is weird for me and I don't want to seem like a stage mom, but I also don't want her to miss any wonderful opportunities. And when she dances, it's just the lovliest and most magical thing I've ever seen. It's like our entire family's lives now revolve around our daughter's ballet. I think it's fun, but I also feel like I'm learning as I go. So many people in this forum know tons more than I do about ballet, I can't even figure out the acronyms like "I have a YQT trying for her UNL at KR and it's really BWO but also PPA, so...." Huh?

 

We're keeping our London trip to audition at RB (I've got one acronym down!) a secret.

[Pups_mum]

I don't have much to add @Blakeybut just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear of your son and husband's diagnosis and I hope the treatment goes well. It must be a very stressful time.

Good luck with your planned move. It sounds like it will be a big change for you all, wherever you end up living. Just bear in mind, that if you don't find yhe perfect place for your daughter immediately, it isn't the end of the world. It is easy to feel that there is only one "right" way to go about things, especially when you've had professional advice, but if you hang around this forum for any length of time you will see that "success" takes many different forms, and can be achieved in many different ways. Also if you look ay the biographies of the dancers in any company you will see that they are very diverse, with lots of different training routes. 

You have a lot on your plate at the moment. Keep an open mind and remember that what happens at age 11 definitely doesn't define the whole future. Best of luck with everything.

[Entrechat]

7 minutes ago, Pups_mum said:

I don't have much to add @Blakeybut just wanted to say how sorry I am to hear of your son and husband's diagnosis and I hope the treatment goes well. It must be a very stressful time.

Good luck with your planned move. It sounds like it will be a big change for you all, wherever you end up living. Just bear in mind, that if you don't find yhe perfect place for your daughter immediately, it isn't the end of the world. It is easy to feel that there is only one "right" way to go about things, especially when you've had professional advice, but if you hang around this forum for any length of time you will see that "success" takes many different forms, and can be achieved in many different ways. Also if you look ay the biographies of the dancers in any company you will see that they are very diverse, with lots of different training routes. 

You have a lot on your plate at the moment. Keep an open mind and remember that what happens at age 11 definitely doesn't define the whole future. Best of luck with everything.

Thanks for your wise and kind words. And I totally agree about diverse trainings. I've been getting library books on Margot Fonteyn, Misty Copeland, etc, to see how ballerinas have found success by going against the grain and doing their own thing, following their intuition. And when I looked up who was dancing as Giselle in the show we'll see next week at Royal Opera House, I was surprised and delighted to see it's a forty-one year old American woman (you all probably know her name already but I now have forgotten it) who's a principal dancer at RB. So fascinating! : )

[Kate_N]

On 18/11/2021 at 15:22, Blakey said:

When the intensive in Barcelona finished, the two directors asked to meet with us and they told us that our DD should be at one of the world’s top three schools. They said to apply her to Royal Ballet, Paris Opera, and I think Vagovana in Russia.

 

I know that must have been lovely to hear, but I would take such advice with a pinch of salt ... No-one is guaranteed anything in a pursuit such as ballet.

 

On the one hand, your DD can audition & see what happens. On the other hand, she's only 11. There's a bit of time yet. 

 

As far as I was taught, "Balanchine training" is a style or a variation of Russian training, introduced by Mr Balanchine, and a style adapted for the typically very fast footwork favoured by New York City Ballet (Mr B's company). A properly trained dancer is trained in ballet, which is ballet, which is ballet. The different national "schools" (French, Italian, Russian, English, Danish) have their emphases, but as one of my very experienced teachers says, Ballet is ballet is ballet. 

[Kate_N]

32 minutes ago, Pups_mum said:

Just bear in mind, that if you don't find yhe perfect place for your daughter immediately, it isn't the end of the world. It is easy to feel that there is only one "right" way to go about things, especially when you've had professional advice, but if you hang around this forum for any length of time you will see that "success" takes many different forms, and can be achieved in many different ways. Also if you look ay the biographies of the dancers in any company you will see that they are very diverse, with lots of different training routes. 

 

@Pups_mum puts it so well!

 

Have a great time in London, and toi toi toi to your DD for her auditions.

Edited November 18, 2021 by Kate_N

[Janeparent]

I’m not sure about the visa situation. It might be worth contacting Elmhurst or Tring to see whether you’d be able to submit a video of your daughter dancing instead of the preliminary audition (you’d still have to travel over for finals though). Those schools are no good if you definitely want London though - although Tring has easy access to London. The girl you met at the intensive must have been an “associate” of RBS - they do Saturday classes, called associates, in London and at various other places around the country (you have to audition - there would have been a box to tick for that on your White Lodge application as you can audition for both in the one audition). With WL your daughter could come home in the evenings but you probably wouldn’t be able to fetch her most days actually from the school; I think the school has transport to bring day students (and staff, I think) out of Richmond Park - I think parents usually meet the mini-bus at Richmond station to fetch them.

[rowan]

I really don’t know if it’s possible for a whole family to come to live in the UK on the back of a talented child student visa. I would think the parents would need a visa in their own right, but I’m no expert on this. Perhaps there is such a scheme. Does it exist in other countries? 

[Entrechat]

11 minutes ago, rowan said:

I really don’t know if it’s possible for a whole family to come to live in the UK on the back of a talented child student visa. I would think the parents would need a visa in their own right, but I’m no expert on this. Perhaps there is such a scheme. Does it exist in other countries? 

I'm not sure either. But I thought that since my daughter's a minor, it could maybe happen. I watched a recent interview with the director of Royal Ballet School and he said something like "If you're not from the UK, don't be discouraged about applying to our school. If we like you, we'll make sure you'll be able to live here." In the US, we have chain migration, which is when one family member comes to live here, and then that person's immediate family members are able to live in US also.

[Janeparent]

6 minutes ago, Blakey said:

I'm not sure either. But I thought that since my daughter's a minor, it could maybe happen. I watched a recent interview with the director of Royal Ballet School and he said something like "If you're not from the UK, don't be discouraged about applying to our school. If we like you, we'll make sure you'll be able to live here." In the US, we have chain migration, which is when one family member comes to live here, and then that person's immediate family members are able to live in US also.

I think when he said that he was probably meaning just the student, boarding at the school, rather than their family - but I don’t know about visas.

[Peony]

The family members are not allowed to work in the US though are they?

im sure you’ve already thought about the costs but I think they would be substantial as you would only be entitled to emergency medical care on the NHS and I don’t think there is funding at white lodge for international students (not the usual MDS anyway). If she’s on a full scholarship and funded shoes/ uniform etc potentially the move could cost you a lot 

[Peony]

This may help https://www.gov.uk/parent-of-a-child-at-school-visa

 

it appears the child can have a visa to come here as a boarder or you can apply for one parent to accompany but other family must live abroad and it ends when the child is 12 so don’t think that will help you! However, if you have funds to live in London/ private schools etc I expect there’s a different visa you could apply for. 

[Peony]

https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa?step-by-step-nav=a6bf2818-5035-45f7-ad38-c76cb8f1f251
 

I think this is the page you need

[Entrechat]

25 minutes ago, Peony said:

https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa?step-by-step-nav=a6bf2818-5035-45f7-ad38-c76cb8f1f251
 

I think this is the page you need

Thanks so much, very helpful!!

We should also be getting Italian/EU passports soon (through my grandparents from Italy), I don't know if that would make living in UK easier than with USA passports. I think the UK's innovator visa might also be an option for us.

This summer, we are planning to look for a home to buy in London. At least in Spain, the few real estate agencies we used had in-house lawyers to facilitate the visa/immigration process, and it was a sort of package deal with the purchase of the property. Hopefully UK has that also?

 

[Peony]

I imagine it’s very tricky as you probably don’t want to start the process before you know she has a place you’re happy with but you’d then have a fairly short time frame for an international move. Not sure EU passport makes any difference post Brexit. Possibly finding an immigration lawyer would be your quickest and easiest option

[Entrechat]

11 minutes ago, Peony said:

I imagine it’s very tricky as you probably don’t want to start the process before you know she has a place you’re happy with but you’d then have a fairly short time frame for an international move. Not sure EU passport makes any difference post Brexit. Possibly finding an immigration lawyer would be your quickest and easiest option

Exactly, it's very tricky. Let's see how this audition goes, and then we can figure out the visa stuff. It's just so much more fun dealing with ballet than with immigration, hopefully my husband will deal with that, haha... Thanks Peony, you've given lots of great advice!

[Lifeafterballet]

Good morning, it sounds from this and your other posts that your daughter is doing really well and getting a lot of support, encouragement and opportunities at her current school.   It looks like she is really happy there. You may find British ballet schools very different. In our personal experience you hand your child over to them at 11 and stay away, until they don’t want them anymore or they are broken 😞 Sorry to appear negative but if you take a look at other threads on this forum about lower school ballet training in the U.K. you will get a variety of experiences and an insight into the reality of vocational training. It’s not all it’s portrayed to be sadly and you need to be prepared for the bumpy road ahead. If you don’t have to move to London then personally I would leave your daughter where she is happy and flourishing. We followed advice and made poor choices with our daughter. With RBS it’s not just getting in, it’s staying in. Not many make it to the end for a variety of reasons. I hate to be the Grim Reaper on this forum but I feel sad when I think of families and their young children entering into vocational ballet training not aware of some of the issues they may encounter. 
Enjoy your trip to London, it’s a fun city 😊 and the very best of luck with your plans. 

[Anna C]

1 hour ago, cotes du rhone ! said:

With RBS it’s not just getting in, it’s staying in. Not many make it to the end for a variety of reasons.

 

Yes, this is a really good point.  The likelihood of making it through years 7-11 (age11-16) at White Lodge, graduating into RBS Upper School (age 16-19), staying for all three years (students are assessed out after 2 years, with others brought in for final year), graduating and getting a contract with a good ballet company - it’s a real rarity, especially for girls.

 

So much can happen along the way.  Even if the student is happy, injuries can and do happen.  Bodies can change shape.  Being the favourite and moving to a school where every student has been the best can be scary and intimidating.  The constant axe of assessments hanging over one’s head is an added pressure.  Sometimes, students who have been 100% focused on ballet can simply change their mind and want to do something else in their teenage years.  This is doable if the family hasn’t made huge sacrifices to fund schooling, like selling their house or moving halfway across the world, because that sacrifice, even if unspoken, can put huge pressure on the child to succeed in ballet and stay the course.  I don’t know if you’ve heard of Miko Fogarty but her story is interesting. 

 

I always say to people to take it all one term (semester) at a time, and try to enjoy the journey, rather than focus on the end goal.  If it’s meant to be, it won’t pass you by.  Absolutely audition for White Lodge, make the most of having a lovely day, enjoy London (and especially seeing Giselle; it sounds like you’re seeing the wonderful Sarah Lamb, trained in Boston), have a look at Young Dancer’s Academy, Elmhurst and Tring Park websites.  But Brexit has changed a lot of things in the UK so don’t bank on your EU Passports helping. 😔 It might also be well worth having a closer look at NYCB’s training programme too, as well as Boston Ballet? 

 

Wishing your Son and Husband full recoveries - you certainly won’t have an excess of sun over here! 

[Peony]

I think it depends on whether you really want to move to London and as part of that you need ballet training or whether it’s primarily a move for the ballet. If the second maybe cast the net wider. There isn’t another school equivalent to the royal ballet in the UK. She’s currently at a good school, there are equivalents here but I wouldn’t move specifically for them over what you have. Especially not as she currently has funding. Is SAB considered the top school in the US?

there are certainly dancers who go all the way through RB from associates to company. Were they identifiable at 11? I’m honestly not sure, some children do seem to have a very natural ability with minimal prior training.

enjoy your visit to london!

[Kate_N]

11 hours ago, Blakey said:

had in-house lawyers to facilitate the visa/immigration process, and it was a sort of package deal with the purchase of the property. Hopefully UK has that also?

 

In terms of buying a property in London, I imagine you can find whatever you want if you're prepared to pay for it.

 

But that won't work for UK visas.