ELSD prides itself on being a fun and welcoming place to learn to dance, whatever your aspirations, with the same quality and dedicated tuition given to all. Whether you wish to become a professional performer, or just come along for fun, East Lancs School of Dancing provides a range of lessons to suit everyone! ELSD was founded by Claire Slater in 1990, and has grown to be a fantastic dance school with an even better reputation for providing quality dance tuition to all its members no matter what their intentions; whether they were attending once a week for fun or studying for much wanted careers. Our highly qualified team of teachers are renowned in their specific areas of expertise, many of whom are currently teaching in vocational colleges and schools, as well as at ELSD. At ELSD we provide classes in Imperial Ballet, Modern, Jazz and Tap, RAD Ballet and Acrobatics. Group classes and / or private tuition can be received for children whose parents wish to bring them privately out of school hours. Class ratios are kept to a maximum of 16 pupils to maintain our high standards of quality teaching and professionalism; a rarity in today’s climate where in many larger schools the pupils have become a mere commodity. We also offer external tuition within local schools and nurseries from pre-school level to GCSE Dance; the work involved can be as simple as arranging themed, topic based classes for nursery children to preparing, choreographing and producing full productions. Thanks to our fantastic classes and wonderful staff we have built up excellent, long-term relationships with several settings. ELSD exam results, competition and audition successes speak for themselves; many of our pupils have been accepted and trained on various associate schemes and summer schools and have attended schemes such as Junior, Mid and Senior Associates and summer school with the Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst Associates and summer school, Checchetti Associates, Northern Ballet Theatre Associates, Northern Ballet Theatre CAT scheme and summer school, Hammond Associates, Laine Junior squad and summer school, Arts Education Summer school, English National Ballet school Summer school and Bird Summer school to mention a few. ELSD pupils are regularly given and encouraged to take the opportunity to develop their performance and artistry skills as a valuable part of their development as dancers but most importantly for their enjoyment and to build confidence with opportunities varying to cater for all abilities such as:
• Workshops and Summer schools which are held at the studios in the holiday periods aimed at introducing new skills and allow pupils to experience new disciplines in order to discover where their talents lie, these events often end with a performance opportunity at the end of the session.
• Bi-Annual dance school productions that are produced and choreographed by the ELSD teaching team .
• Audition and take part in professional performances in the North West of England. Pupils have enjoyed performing in ballets, variety performances, at dinner dances and annually with PMA Productions who produce our local professional pantomime held at the Muni Theatre, Colne.
• Competing at local dance festivals in groups, duets or solo dances and competing at larger events such as Miss Dance and the All England Dance Festival heats and Finals.
• Taking part in events organised by the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. We have supported the Junior and Senior Imperial Ballet Awards and the Janet Cram Awards and have been fortunate to have pupils receive awards in both. We have been heavily involved in events organised by the Yorkshire Teachers Group, such as “Day of Dance “. Pupils have also had the honour of being asked to appear on the Imperial Ballet Syllabus DVD’s and to demonstrate various aspects of the Imperial Ballet syllabus at ISTD Northern Congress . Senior pupils have continued into full time training at a host of reputable vocational schools throughout the country including the Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet School, Elmhurst Ballet School, Laine Theatre Arts, Doreen Bird College, Italia Conti, Northern Ballet School, Ballet West, Hammond, Urdang Academy, Arts Education, Preston’s College, Merseyside Dance and Drama, Rambert and Phil Winstons Theatre School . Past pupils have gone on to professional success, entering professional Performing Arts and Dance Schools and then onto West End productions and International ballet companies. Ex-pupils are currently performing as Dance Captain in America, Dance Captain with Cunard, Soloist Kiel Ballet Company and in West End productions “ We Will Rock You” and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, while those who have followed the teaching route are either teaching at or running Dance or Performing Arts schools of their own throughout the country.
