News
CAT & TOM DALE COMPANY & RICHARD CHAPPELL DANCE
Congratulations to our Exeter Contemporary Programme dancers who performed at the Barnfield Theatre.
Following on from an intensive during the October half term, dancers worked hard to create a piece with Tom Dale Company which they premiered just ahead of Richard Chappell Dance company's "Home Revisited"
CAT OCTOBER INTENSIVES
Students from our 4 CAT programmes had the most amazing time working with guest artists this October half term, including @Brooke Milliner Official, Tom Dale Company, Kayleigh Price Dance, Fubunation and Thomas Page Dances.
CAT x EXCESSIVE HUMAN COLLECTIVE
Congratulations to our Swindon Dance Centre for Advanced Training that performed in a curtain raiser at Exeter Phoenix with Excessive Human Collective
Selected students from our Exeter Contemporary Programme worked with Annie Kelleher (pictured) on a piece that was shown ahead of the Company's latest work Discopia. Excessive Human Collective has 2 CAT alumni - Imogen Reeve, the choreographer was a dancer on the Swindon Dance CAT and Annie was on the DanceEast CAT and will be joining us on our outreach team. We look forward to working with them again in the future.
New Year | New Team Members
Swindon Ballet Programme
Swindon Dance, Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) is launching a brand new programme in May 2022, focusing on Classical Dance. Whether you are aiming for a career in dance or you have a passion for classical dance that you would like to explore further, the Swindon Ballet Programme will help identify and assist, 11-17 year olds with exceptional potential, regardless of their personal circumstances, to benefit from world-class specialist training as part of a broad and balanced education. This will enable them, if they choose to proceed towards self-sustaining careers in classical dance.
Our Ballet Programme will initially be a 10 week pilot programme starting in May 2022. It will be based at Swindon Dance and run weekly Sunday afternoons between 11:00 and 5:00pm. Students will study the foundations of Classical Ballet, focusing on healthy minds, whilst learning how to cope with the physical and emotional demands of classical techniques. We will start every training day with a positive mindfulness session, Ballet Technique classes, followed by either Ballet Pointe or Male technique. In the afternoon this will be followed by sessions from our healthier dancer programme in learning how to prevent injuries, nutrition and understanding the dancers body as well as strengthening and body conditioning classes. Our students will also study music appreciation, dalcroze, Choreography and drama.
We are setting this Programme up to enable budding dancers in the South West area a further variety of dance styles. We have successfully offered young people the opportunity to study and develop in Contemporary and Street Dance styles for more than 15 years, now we feel the time is perfect to expand this to a fuller audience of Classical Ballet lovers offering a fuller range of styles in the South West, with only 1 other Ballet CAT in the North of England. By doing this we hope to create ballet artists who can adapt successfully to the developments within the ballet industry and have thriving careers in classical dance.
End of Year Digital Showcase
We hope you managed to join us for our end of year 'Digital Showcase' online on the 31st July. If you weren't able to watch the showcase live, you are still able to watch the show in full via the Swindon Dance's online Platform. Please head over to onlineplatform.swindondance.org.uk/livestreams/digital-showcase-cat-2021 using the Password: CATdancers
USB Orders of the Digital Showcase
Don't forget we are selling copies of the Digital Showcase online through our USB order forms. To place your order please complete the form here and follow the simple instructions on the form to pay.
Congratulations Anna
Our Swindon Contemporary Programme Coordinator Anna is celebrating three wonderful achievements:
1.) Her lockdown dance film 'IDENTITY' in collaboration with composer + singer-songwriter Zosia Jagodzinksa, has been selected for DEMETERA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, Paris 2021.
2.) She has been nominated for ‘WOMEN IN DANCE AWARD’. This award has been set up by the @AWADANCEcharity for the first time this year to celebrate a woman for her outstanding achievement as a leader in the UK dance sector in 2020.
More information here: https://www.awadance.org/women-in-dance-awards.html
3.) Anna features in the debut film from Who We Are, directed by Novemba alongside Dickson Mbi and Chloe Hearn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&fbclid=IwAR0zVRaN8DB2oSC6-afuP4lt5leHoAfYFjTwG7a0QT7USNfl1LwxqZ1qWfk&v=e3qwOg64Un4&feature=youtu.be
#proud
Audition Successes
The CAT is tremendously proud of our students' recent success at audition. Well done to the following students who have been offered places at these vocational schools, conservatoires and universities read more
6 CAT dancers join the cast of Matthew Bourne's Romeo and Juliet
We are beyond excited to see the latest post from Matthew Bourne's New Adventures which lists 6 Swindon Dance CAT dancers, in the cast for Romeo and Juliet. CAT Alumnus Sharol Mackenzie joins the main cast and was a student on our Exeter Contemporary Programme before graduating from Rambert School read more
CAT Alumnus Dan Baines joins the young cast for the performances at Sadler's Wells. Dan was a student on our Swindon Contemporary Programme and is now in full-time training at Rambert School
Current CAT students from our Exeter Contemporary Programme: Jamel Maarfi, Maea Morgan and Ella Roberts will be joining the young cast for the performances at Theatre Royal Plymouth
Current CAT student Dillon Berry from our Swindon Contemporary Programme will be joining the young cast for the performances at Mayflower Theatre
Well done to you all!
Term 1Teachers
We have a fantastic line up of teachers joining us for term 1 including: Kieran Warner, Shawn Aimey, Bgirl Vanessa & Tomo(for the Swindon Street Dance Programme), Charlotte Eatock and Maryam Pourian (for the Exeter Contemporary Programme and Emma Carter, Sarah Josh, Hannah Ballard & Anna Watkins (for the Swindon Contemporary Programme). For full details on the teachers for term 1 - timetables, teacher biographies etc - please visit your programme page (on the menu above.)
CAT Alumnus Jonah Cook becomes Principal
Many congratulations to CAT Alumnus Jonah Cook who was promoted to the rank of Principal at Bayerisches Staatsballett at the beginning of the 2017/18 season. Jonah was a student on our Swindon Contemporary Programme , who completed his full-time training at The Royal Ballet School and then joined Bayerisches Staatsballett in 2012.