Saturday's end of year show brought term to an end at Northern Ballet Academy but as their website says
"just because the sun comes out (fingers crossed!) doesn't mean we have to stop dancing!"Jane Tucker will be giving classes to improvers on 4 and 11 Aug beginners on the 6 and 13 at Northern Ballet's studios in Leeds.
The same teacher is also teaching intensive workshops on Swan Lake and Giselle for beginners and advanced students at KNT Danceworks on the 19 and 22 Aug respectively. I mentioned those courses in KNT Danceworks Adult Summer Intensives 7 May 2015. I shall attend Jane's beginners' classes at Northern Ballet and her Swan Lake intensive on the 19 August and will let you know how I get on.
In the meantime I shall attend at least two of KNT Danceworks ballet classes for beginners or complete beginners each week. These take place in Northern Ballet School's studios on Oxford Road in Manchester between 18:00 and 19:30 every weekday. I have attended classes by Ailsa Baker, Karen Sant, Josh Moss and Sarah Butler and they are all good. I reviewed Ailsa's class in So Proud of Manchester - KNT Danceworks Complete Beginners Class on 29 Aug 2015. You can also see Gita's view in Coming Back to Ballet on 12 March 2015. She wrote:
"Ailsa is another good teacher and clearly very popular. I counted 50 students in her beginners’ class. She let me dance in socks - much easier than dancing barefoot . She was very friendly but still commanded everybody’s attention. She made us work very hard in the stretching and strength building exercises. There seemed to be a wide range of ability and experience from professionals to newbies. Ailsa was very encouraging. Because the class was large the vibe was magic and very chatty. Like all the other classes we started with barre exercises and stretches and then proceeded to port de bras and jumps. It was great fun."As you can see from the abive flash mob video, KNT teach more than ballet. Gita and I have taken a contemporary class with them (see My First Contemporary Dance Class 27 Feb 2015. You will find the complete timetable here.
KNT also give classes in Liverpool. I attended their taster classes in Liverpool town hall last September (see It's not every Class that you can use Lord Canning's Eyes for Spotting 9 Sept 2014. Details are posted on KNT Liverpool's Facebook page.
If you can't get to Manchester easily I can recommend Fiona Noonan's classes at Hype Dance in Sheffield (see More than just Hype - Beginners and Improvers Classes in Sheffield 14 May 2014) and the University of Huddersfield (see Team Hud Adult Ballet Class 22 Jan 2014). You will find Hype's timetable here and Tram Hud (that is to say, the University's) here.
Of course, if you live in or near London you are spoilt for choice. Here is a directory of dance classes kept by londondance.com. It seems that every possible taste and style is catered for. So far, I have attended only one class in London - Adam Pudney's at Pineapple in November 2013. Joanna takes Amber Doyle's classes at Pineapple regularly and speaks very highly of them on Facebook and twitter. I have not yet attended a class at Danceworks but I have watched Christina Mittelmaier's and Denzil Bailey's and was very impressed. Danceworks are now running classes for the over 50s (see Over 50s Ballet Classes at Danceworks 30 May 2015). A particularly good deal for the summer is Danceworks 5 day membership pass for £10 which is available from 1 July to 6 Sept.
Finally an appeal. If anyone whether teacher, student or dance school wants to write about their classes please add your comments below or contact me through twitter or Facebook.
Post Script Joanna has tweeted from Tokyo
@jelterps I love @AmberdoyleAmber general #ballet Saturday/Sunday mornings & Adam Pudney Tuesday evening elementary #ballet @pineappledance
— Joanna Goodman (@JoannaMG22) July 7, 2015
I look forward to trying one of Amber's classes.
