Inspire australia participants

Highlights from The Royal Ballet School’s first Inspire Intensive in Australia

Members of our Training & Access Team have been sharing their expertise with dance educators worldwide, most recently hosting our Inspire teacher training seminars in Melbourne, Australia.

Under the guidance of Mark Annear, Director of Training & Access, and Karen Berry, Senior Teacher Training Manager, 35 dance teachers and educators from Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore came together for a bespoke five-day teacher training programme from 29 September to 3 October.

The Inspire Intensive was hosted in The Australian Ballet School’s state-of-the-art studios and, for the first time, over Zoom to open opportunities to dance educators worldwide.

Inspire participants at the barre

Reflecting on the week’s success, Mark Annear shared:

Our first Inspire Intensive in Australia was a huge success. It’s always rewarding to share our teaching philosophy with dance teachers and support them in elevating their practice.

Our participants were incredibly open to learning and enthusiastic about implementing progressive, inclusive, and holistic teaching approaches. Thank you to all the teachers who attended and to Megan Connelly and The Australian Ballet School for hosting the Intensive.

Five days of learning

Days one to four covered good teaching practice and the foundations of classical ballet technique before exploring various elements of classical ballet technique and artistry, including barre work, port de bras, centre practice, pirouettes, allegro, and pointe work.

Alongside practical classes, the seminars covered an array of forward-thinking topics, including motor development, effective lesson planning, understanding motivation and feedback, and enchaînement construction.

Day five, led by The Australian Ballet School, began with a roundtable discussion on communication in the dance studio. The discussion focused on studio culture, creating safe learning environments, mindset, two-way communication, feedback and how teachers can respect tradition while keeping current with education practice.

The day finished with a workshop with the Australian Ballet School’s faculty, including Artistic Director and Head of School Megan Connelly, Head of Teaching & Learning Lynette Wills, and Physiotherapist Gabrielle Davidson. The workshop covered pointe work preparation, preparing and fitting shoes, strategies to improve strength and alignment on pointe, and calf rise technique.

Highlights from the royal ballet school's first inspire intensive in australia

Feedback from participants

Our Inspire participants found the experience transformative and enriching:

This type of course is what I’ve been seeking to help consolidate my knowledge since I qualified as a ballet teacher in 2021, and today, it also solidified my teaching philosophy and how I want to teach. I didn’t think a one-day course could be so transformative, and I’m looking forward to attending more Inspire sessions in the future.

Another participant added:

Both tutors were the perfect fit for expanding my knowledge bank, which I believe to be considerable. Their deliveries were superb, with a wonderful mix of wanting to achieve maximum outcomes in a very comfortable and joyful way.

Our next Inspire seminars will take place in London, Singapore and Hong Kong this year. Find out more.