The Royal Ballet School establishes first regional training hub with Dance Base Scotland
The Royal Ballet School and Dance Base Scotland will work together to deliver a wealth of dance opportunities for young people, aspiring dancers and dance professionals.
With this new partnership, The Royal Ballet School and Dance Base will collaborate to deliver the highest-quality Royal Ballet School programmes in Scotland, including for children trying dance for the first time, dance students who want to train at a recreational or pre-vocational level and those who wish to teach dance in various settings. These programmes will all take place within Dance Base’s award-winning studios in central Edinburgh.
©2024 Dance Base. Photographed by Chris Scott (left) and Stuart Armitt (right).
On the partnership, Artistic Director Christopher Powney said:
Dance Base, as Scotland’s National Centre for Dance, is the perfect partner for the School. We share a mission to open up the dance world to as many people as possible. With our expertise as a world leader in classical ballet training and Dance Base’s wealth of knowledge and experience in the region, I’m excited to see what we can achieve together.
Jim Hollington, Chief Executive at Dance Base, said:
We are delighted to welcome The Royal Ballet School to our studios and to partner with them to host their Regional Training Hub for Scotland and the North of England. With our world-class facilities, we’re the natural home for this opportunity. The partnership really complements our existing activity with the community and professional dance artists, and we’re excited to see how the collaboration will develop for us and the broader dance sector in Scotland.
Widening access to dance
The Royal Ballet Schol has delivered its Associate Programme in nine centres across the UK since the 1980s. The School will now expand this work by creating regional training hub partnerships in these centres and new locations that are easily accessible so that more people can engage with and experience dance.
Our partnership with Dance Base is based on the two organisations’ shared values of accessibility and inclusion and their complementary knowledge and experience. Established in 1926, the School brings to the partnership nearly 100 years of delivering excellence in dancer and dance teacher training.
The partnership will benefit from Dance Base’s local knowledge and standing in the community, its connections across the Scottish dance industry and beyond, and its reputation as an inclusive centre where all are welcome to explore their relationship with dance.
Starting 18 February, dancers aged 7-10 who may be interested in joining the School’s Associate programme can attend an Associate Insight class, followed by a recreational dance workshop for dance students aged 8-11 and dance teachers on 3 March. The School will deliver its full Junior and Mid Associate programmes at Dance Base starting September 2024.
