Winter Term Recap

18 December 2024

This Winter term has been another remarkable period of generosity from our loyal supporters. The Big Give took place from 3 December to 10 December with a goal of £20,000 to raise for our Central Pathways to Dance campaign. We are thrilled to announce that we have once again exceeded our target, raising a total of £23,972.50!

This year’s campaign is continuing our work from 2023, enabling us to successfully build on existing programmes to create a wider range of pathways into dance. We will now be able to develop additional opportunities to provide outreach to help address the challenges and barriers faced by the under-represented groups that we target. The money raised will be divided evenly across the following five categories; our neighbourhood programmes and discounts, delivery of our Junior Associate programme, our work in primary schools, delivery of our Short Course programmes and development of our partnerships in London.

Following the success of the Big Give, our dancers then performed four sold-out performances of this year’s Winter Showcase. The showcase presented a mix of classical and contemporary pieces, choreographed and arranged by our faculty of tutors; Jann Esterhuizen, Chris Hinton-Lewis, Amy Hollins, Shaun McLaughlin, Yolandi Moreira, Adela Ramirez, Ben Warbis and Leanne King – who is also our in-house Production Manager and responsible for bringing the Winter Showcase to life!

The students thoroughly enjoy the Winter Showcase each year, as it is an opportunity for their families to see them perform and to witness their progress over the last term. It is also the first performance at Central for our current cohort of 42 Year 1 students, who took to the stage to present Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker alongside a charming restaging of Yondering “That’s What’s the Matter”.

Our Year 2 students performed excerpts from Sleeping Beauty, as well as the captivating Act III Wedding Pas de Deux from Don Quixote. Also in the festive spirit, and taken from The Nutcracker, were performances from our final year students, including the Nutcracker Prince solo, Mirlitons and Snowflakes. Our Year 3 students presented original work Insinuare, choreographed by Leanne King, and an adaptation of the contemporary One of a Kind by Jiri Kylian. You can view a short recap of the performances here.

Auditions have also been taking place alongside these activities, as we look to the academic year 2025/26. Our Assisted Application Scheme is open for all UK-based and eligible applicants. Four preliminary auditions remain in the New Year: two in London, one in Manchester and one in Truro. These auditions become increasingly busy, and for those looking to apply via in-person audition, we strongly recommend submitting your application before Christmas.

Video auditions are once again open to international applicants and those who cannot attend an in-person audition. Our early deadline for international applicants is fast approaching on 1 January 2025. Head to our Video Auditions page to find out more about preparing your video audition.