Our Saturday Associates programme offers ballet and contemporary dance training for students aged 7-21yrs, who are seeking additional ballet training and have a passion to perform.

Our programme focusses on enhancing balletic technique, whilst also providing an environment for students to develop their musicality, artistic performance levels and confidence during repertoire and creative classes.

Throughout the course students will work with a diverse variety of teachers and choreographers, all of whom have worked, or are currently working, within renowned ballet and performing arts companies around the world.

The aim of our Saturday Associates course is to focus heavily on the foundations of classical ballet technique, with high attention to footwork, lines and posture, whilst ensuring that students have a strong knowledge of classical ballet terminology.

At the end of the programme, students will have the opportunity to demonstrate some of their learnings to family and friends in a small and intimate showcase, where students will perform ballet and contemporary repertoire.

The 21-day programme, based in Birmingham, provides young aspiring dancers with the opportunity to develop their balletic and contemporary technique, to learn new dance vocabulary and to develop their performance, artistry and confidence.

Students will be challenged throughout the course in a safe and enjoyable environment, with teachers and choreographers who have worked, or are currently working, within renowned ballet and performing arts companies around the world.

Students will take part in 2.5 hours of training each week. The contents of each week will change throughout the course based on our curriculum. As a basic outline:

First Half of the Course:

• Students will take part in a 1hr ballet class, focussing on classical ballet technique, strength and flexibility. This will be followed by a 30 minute repertoire class, where students will focus on artistry and performance by beginning to put their technique into practice by learning solos and corps de ballet repertoire. Students will also complete a 1hr contemporary class, where they will learn the basics of contemporary technique and focus on the release of the body.

Second Half of the Course:

• The ballet class and ballet repertoire classes will now share the 1.5hrs, to allow students to continue to work on technical aspects whilst having additional time to work on artistry and performance development. The 1hr contemporary class will continue as before, with a shift in focus towards putting the technical training into practice by developing group repertoire.

Students will train for 20 sessions before taking part in a small and intimate showcase during the 21st session to family and friends.

What is new about our 2023/24 programme?

• This year we are introducing 2x internal assessments throughout the year, which will be conducted by the MTB Artistic Director, Imogen-Lily Ash. These assessments will be conducted in a very supportive and relaxed environment, in which students will be given individual corrections for them to focus on throughout the year.

• Students will be provided with stretches and strength & conditioning exercises, which they will be expected to complete in their own time outside of classes throughout the course. This is designed to support dancers with their training.

• The contemporary aspect of the programme is now compulsory for all students during the course, as we want students on our Saturday Associates programme to be equipped with the capabilities to adapt from classical ballet to contemporary, which allows dancers to express themselves and have more freedom in their movements.

We are passionate about performance and strongly believe that dance education should consist of technical classes alongside repertoire and creative classes.

Not only will students focus on improving ballet technique, but every week they will take part in creative classes, within which students will learn to perform repertoire from renowned ballets as well as unique pieces created by the artistic teaching team.

As well as this, our core aim is to create an environment in which students can learn from a diverse teaching faculty from many different ballet and performing arts backgrounds. This enables students to broaden their outlook and gain a greater appreciation for the different interpretations and contributions that individual teachers and choreographers bring to the studio.

Contemporary allows dancer’s to challenge the brain and express themselves with more freedom in their movement. Contemporary requires a high level of focus and it is allows students to engage with a multitude of senses in order to understand the space around them and how their body moves through that space.

In today’s age, we believe that it is vital for students to be versatile and to be able to adapt from classical ballet to contemporary. Not only is this beneficial for their progress and development as a dancer, but the majority of vocational schools and ballet companies now include contemporary works – so studying this from an early age is greatly beneficial.

At the end of the course dancers will have the opportunity to demonstrate their learnings in a showcase in front of parents and guardians. During this showcase, students will perform ballet and contemporary repertoire.

Please note, this showcase is not open to the public and will be smaller and more intimate compared to the MTB Sunday Performance Programme.

There will be 4 groups, students will be allocated to groups which will be determined based on a combination of age and ability:

Juniors (approx. ages 7-9yrs)

Mids (approx. ages 9-12yrs)

Inters (approx. ages 12-14yrs)

Seniors (approx. ages 14+yrs)

The course will take place on the following Saturdays:

Audition Date: 10th June 2023

2023

September: 23rd

October: 7th, 21st

November: 11th, 25th

December: 2nd, 9th

2024

January: 6th, 20th

February: 3rd, 10th

March: 2nd, 16th

April: 13th, 27th

May: 11th

June: 7th, 15th, 22nd, 29th, 30th (Sunday – showcase)

Please note, timings and groupings are subject to change before the course starts.

All students must take part in both the ballet and contemporary aspects of the course.

Juniors (ages 7-9yrs): 10am – 12:30pm

Mids (ages 9-12yrs): 10:30am – 1:00pm

Inters (ages 12-14yrs): 12:30pm – 3:00pm

Seniors (ages 14+yrs): 2:00pm – 4:30pm

Course Fees: £795.

On accepting a place, a deposit of £100 is required, which will also act as the first payment.

The remaining balance may be paid up front or in 8x monthly instalments.

All fees are non-refundable.

When accepted onto the course, students will be sent a link to purchase the MTB Saturday Associates leotard, which they will need to wear throughout the course.

Additional optional uniform is also available to purchase via our online shop.

Candidates will register in the reception area of BOA Academy. Once registered, we kindly ask that all parents leave the site once children have safely entered the audition. After the audition, students will be brought to the reception area for collection.

Exact timings will be sent across via email once you have submitted your application form. As part of the audition process, candidates will take part in a relaxed and enjoyable ballet class, which will last for approximately 1hr 15 mins.

For the audition, we recommend that dancers arrive with their ballet uniform underneath their clothes, with their hair tied back off the face and with personal presentation in place as there will be no changing facilities available on the day.

Students will be informed of the audition result within 4 weeks after the audition has taken place.

Unfortunately it is not possible for us to accept every candidate onto the course after the audition process as we aim to keep our group sizes at a level that ensures we offer high quality training and attention to students throughout the course.