Happy Easter from Central School of Ballet

10 April 2025

The Spring term here at Central School of Ballet has flown by! Both in and out of the studios, our students and staff have been involved in a variety of activities. And as we look ahead to opportunities in the next term for our friends and supporters to get involved, we hope to see many of you attending events and watching our talented cohort of students perform. But first, there is much to celebrate from the last few months…

To end this term, we have our annual Choreography Showcase, a fantastic evening of original works presented by a selection of our Year 2 students. The dancers put together their pieces, including costume and lighting, for performance in our Gable Theatre. Choreography tutor Bim Malcomson has been working in the studios with the choreographers to refine their works, alongside Creative Projects Manager Leanne King, helping them to develop their ideas and strengthen their choreographic voice.

Preparations are also underway to begin this year’s Ballet Central tour. The full programme curated by Artistic Director, Kate Coyne, has now been announced and can be viewed here. Audiences will be delighted by a range of works from classical choreographers Frederick Ashton and Kristen McNally alongside theatrical duo Thick & Tight, and contemporary choreographer Dickson Mbi. The tour will premiere in May at Newbury Spring Festival, ending at the Britten Theatre alongside the annual Summer Showcase. We are also pleased to be hosting a preview performance for our Southwark neighbours and local partnerships, as part of our Widening Participation work. In June, we will be returning to the Linbury Theatre as part of the Next Generation Festival. Discounts on some performances are available for dance schools and groups, find out more and book your tickets here.

Auditions for 2025 entry to our degree course have now come to a close. This year’s audition panel has been delighted with the breadth of talent and passion that they have seen. Our Assisted Application Scheme opened once again in September 2024, helping us with our mission to support an increasingly diverse, innovative and internationally recognised culture of dance in the UK. We encourage all young dancers considering their future training with Central to look at our Student Life pages, and to reach out to us via email or social media with any questions. 

Throughout this term we have continued to celebrate our recent graduate successes. In particular, we are incredibly proud of our 2024 cohort, who continue to tell us of new contracts and opportunities that they are involved with. In the last couple of weeks we have celebrated Megan, who has joined Cape Town City Ballet on a 12-month contract, Lauren, who is currently in rehearsals for Todrick Hall’s brand new musical Midnight, and Pippa, who has joined Northern Dance and is rehearsing their new commission Flores de la Noche.

Our Associate and Short Course programme has had another successful term. The February half term courses included our much-loved One Day Ballet Intensives, plus our new Central Moves courses for 4-7 and 8-16 years. May half term courses will be on sale soon, with limited places for each day make sure to keep an eye out for updates.

On Saturday 29 March, we hosted our Associate Creative Day, a fabulous opportunity for our Associate students to work with exciting guest tutors. Central graduate Risa Maki taught a workshop with fellow company member Chiara Irrera, on behalf of the wonderful Jasmin Vardimon Company. Another of our talented alumni, Kanika Carr (Ballet Black, Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Lion King West End) taught ballet classes. She was joined by Arunima Kumar Dance Co, who introduced our students to the classical Indian dance form of Kuchipudi.

Our Development team have been working hard behind the scenes on a series of campaigns to support both the Ballet Central tour and our HE degree courses. For the first time, we took part in Arts for Impact, a 7 day match funding campaign supporting arts and culture charities run by the Big Give. We exceeded our target of £10,000 raising a total of £11,433.75! In addition to this, our fundraising efforts continue with our Ballet Central appeal, where generous supporters of Central help us to bring the Ballet Central tour to life each year.

It has been a term filled with energy, focus and enthusiasm, and we look forward to welcoming our students back into the studio after the Easter break. Please also note that adult classes will return after the bank holiday weekend on Tuesday 22 April.