DanceEast Academy
New East of England Academy for the best in dance Government’s top training centre will be based in Ipswich
The government’s new training scheme for the most talented young dancers, the Centre for Advanced Training in dance, will open in the East of England this year as the DanceEast Academy. Recruiting the very best young dancers who will be aged between 10-14 years old this September, the DanceEast Academy is looking for young people who will be trained up to the ages of 18 before embarking on careers as professional dancers.
The DanceEast Academy will be part of the Department for Children, Schools and Families’s new regionalised system for training at the highest level. For the first year the Academy will be run from DanceEast’s current headquarters at Northgate Arts Centre in Ipswich but will move to their new building with state-of-the-art facilities, the Jerwood DanceHouse on the town’s regenerated waterfront in September 2009.
Training for the most talented young dancers from across the region will be subsidised by government grants to allow people from all backgrounds the opportunity to learn. Expert teaching and input from internationally acclaimed choreographers and dance artists will be offered at weekends, and out of school sessions, allowing the region’s young talent the chance to stay in mainstream schooling. Previously talented young dancers would have to leave home for boarding school to progress their dance education with national dance schools. Would-be dancers do not need previous dance experience but must have ambition and potential.
A talent-spotting programme will start in the regional schools in the new year in the hope that teachers will help find future dance stars in their midst. DanceEast is holding open days for hopefuls across the region. The first takes place in Ipswich on 27 January. Further dates throughout the spring will be held in Norwich, Cambridge, Colchester and Bury. Ends For more information contact DanceEast on 01473 295241/ 01473 295242
- Mon 07 Jan