Suzanne's School of Dance and Drama

Ickenham

We have been established since 1995 and throughout this time have always dedicated ourselves to providing excellent teaching in all elements of Dance and Musical Theatre to students of all ages whether they are looking for a fun pastime or a career in the industry. Our School is a friendly, relaxed, and safe environment where our pupils can flourish, enjoy themselves, and make friends outside of their own schools and we are proud to continually maintain this ethos.

Classes
We have Dance classes in: Ballet, Pointe and Pre-Pointe, Ballet Technique, Pas de Deux, Progressive Ballet Technique, Contemporary, Modern Jazz, Street-dance, Commercial Jazz, Tap as well as Gymnastic Dance.

We follow the globally recognised Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) syllabus for Ballet and the ISTD syllabus for Modern Jazz and Tap. We enter pupils for Graded exams from Primary to Advanced levels. 
We also have Musical Theatre classes which include Singing, Acting, Drama, and LAMDA classes for boys and girls from 5-18 years. We enter pupils for the LAMDA exams (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) from 5 years upwards.

Please see our 'Classes' page for more information on all of our classes.
 
You can try any class for 3 weeks on a pay as you go basis and then we ask you to sign up for the term which closely follows the local school term.

We have a unique facility whereby if your child misses a class for any reason they can make up that same class type on a different day during the term, or even try a completely new type of class. 

We also offer huge discounts if you do 4 or more hours per week.

Our Promise To You

We will move children into higher ability classes as soon as they are ready for the next level rather than purely based upon age. We see our class age ranges as a guide and a starting point. We will also enter children for exams as soon as they are ready rather than wait for a whole class to reach the required level or to complete the recommended study time advocated by Examining Boards.

We will provide you with feedback if your child is not engaging or finding aspects difficult, the same as we will provide feedback to parents of children who have potential towards Diploma/Graduate level. All feedback given will be confidential and either in writing or verbally. We will also provide feedback to a parent of any child upon request.

We recognise most children will be doing classes for many reasons other than a future occupation, such as purely fun, fitness, and confidence, which is why we also have a yearly Dance Show at the Beck Theatre and Dance Festivals.

However there will be occasions that children wish to pursue their learning into Diploma and Graduate level which they may decide upon at any age. We would ask that parents of these children then discuss their ambitions with us so that we can provide a pathway for them to realise their ambitions at the age of 18 years into full-time Academies, full-time Ballet Schools.    

For these children we will provide regular feedback to include strengths and weaknesses as a minimum at the end of each term.

We are also committed to ensuring your child is in a safe place and a fun and friendly environment which is fully inclusive for all. We have had for many years now a very diverse school of children and are proud of this inclusivity.

Teachers
All of our teachers are fully qualified but also have experience in performing at the highest level on stage. Our staff include two former full-time Royal Ballet School pupils who have both performed with the Royal Ballet Company and the English National Ballet Company, as well as in the West End in Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera.
Please see our 'Teachers' page for further information on all of our teachers.  

Studios
We have 2 fully mirrored, ventilated Dance and Stage studios with wall mounted ballet bars and purpose fitted flooring for pointe work and Tap dancing. The Royal Academy of Dance stipulate mirrored studios are essential for pupils to observe their body alignment, posture, and technique. We also have stage lighting which pupils love to use during classes to create a fun atmosphere.

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Successes
Our successes include pupils gaining entry into the Royal Ballet School, Elmhurst (Birmingham Royal Ballet), Central Ballet, and English National Ballet, as well as into West End productions of Les Miserables, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Mary Poppins, The Phantom of The Opera and Matilda.
As a Ballet School we have had particular outstanding success with 7 full-time entries into The Royal Ballet School White Lodge in Richmond Park: Rachel Ware 2003, Leanne Morris 2004, Georgia Ware 2005, Anna-Rose O'Sullivan 2005, Lauren Porter 2008, Mia Bailey 2013, and Jasmine Whitford 2014. 

  Dance Festivals

Our Dance School participates in many Dance Festivals throughout the year, some of which qualify for the All England Dance Finals. Pupils are carefully selected from our classes to represent our school based on their ability and work ethic. We have a very high standard and are extremely proud of all that our pupils have and do achieve. Please see our 'Dance Festival' page for further information on our latest results. We wish to thank Louise Thomas for collating the results and providing the collages of our dancers. Thank you.
Our latest results are now published from the Ealing and Ruislip festivals.