A reflection on 2018...

We hope all our pupils and their families had a very Merry Christmas, and we send everyone our very best wishes for the New Year. As we celebrate our school's 40th Anniversary in 2018, we look back on the year and some of its incredible highlights:

Children's School

• Earlier this year, a student (whom we had trained from a beginner) was successfully offered a place and began full-time training at Elmhurst Ballet School (in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet), Birmingham, with a scholarship. He had only started ballet a little over two years ago. He was also offered a place at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, Hertfordshire, with a scholarship and was on the wait list for the Royal Ballet School's White Lodge. He has also been accepted on the Royal Ballet School's White Lodge summer school in 2019.
• Two students were offered places as Elmhurst School for Ballet (in association with Birmingham Royal Ballet) Junior Associates, alongside other students who were offered places to continue for another year.  This brings it to a total of seven students offered places on this scheme in the last four years.
• One of our Senior students was re-accepted on the Moorland International Ballet Academy's Intermediate Enhancement Programme for a second year.
• Two past students, currently studying at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and Elmhurst Ballet School were cast in English National Ballet's Nutcracker at the London Coliseum, and Birmingham Royal Ballet's The Nutcracker at the Royal Albert Hall, London. It is the second year that both the students have been cast in The Nutcracker at the Royal Albert Hall  and London Coliseum.  Last year, one of these castings was while he was still a student at our school.
• Finalists at the annual ISTD Imperial Classical Ballet Junior Awards, held in Milton Keynes, with one student achieving 3rd place out of 71 entrants from the UK and abroad.
• Finalists at the annual ISTD Imperial Classical Ballet Senior Awards held in Sidcup, Kent. One student achieved a Class Commendation (one of only two awarded), and another achieved the Joan Watts Cup for Musicality out of 69 entrants.
• Two students were awarded the status of ISTD Imperial Classical Ballet Scholars for the year 2018/19. They were then invited to attend a day of training at Laine Theatre Arts in Surrey with the ISTD.
• Success at the UK Dance Class Championships in Liverpool, Bradford, Preston and Sheffield, with multiple medal, trophy and 1st place winners. These competitions are in front of a panel of adjudicators with sometimes over 70 entrants in an age group.
• 100% Distinctions for all ISTD examinations. The highest mark of the year was 98/100 achieved by a nine-year-old student for her Grade 3 ballet exam.
• Multiple students were featured in professional photo shoots for Dancewear Central, appearing on their website and in their catalogues. Our students feature alongside dancers from the Royal Ballet, Northern Ballet and English National Ballet.
• We hosted a day of three in-house workshops with Michael Berkin (ex Royal Ballet School) based on the ballet of Sleeping Beauty.
• Students also attended summer schools at Moorland International Ballet Academy, Ballet Intensive Days at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts, and ISTD Nurturing Talented Young Dancers day.

Silver Swans®

• Now running five classes a week, with over 75 Silver Swans attending.
• Filmed with Dame Darcey Bussell at our dancing school for her BBC documentary, Darcey Bussell: Dancing to Happiness. The documentary was widely advertised with photographs of our Silver Swans appearing in The Telegraph and the Radio Times. After our appearance, we received a letter from the House of Commons congratulating us on our performance in the programme.
• Filmed with BBC North West for their lunchtime and evening bulletin. A social media video was then created, which has now had over 1 million views worldwide. At the end of the year, they shared the video again as one of their favourites of 2018.
• We welcomed Matthew Cunningham and Madeleine Ohman from the Royal Academy of Dance Headquarters in London to our dancing school to observe our Silver Swans classes and discuss future developments.
• Hosted a Silver Swans class for the Royal Voluntary Service's First Time for Everything scheme, sponsored by Prudential. This was featured on That's Manchester TV and BBC Radio Manchester's Drive time show.
• Hosted an event for Silver Sunday UK.
• Appeared on BBC Radio Manchester's Breakfast show, live with Inzy Rashid and Chelsea Norris.
• A photoshoot and interviews by Mercury Press, appearing in The Times, The Daily Express, MSN (UK and abroad), and news sources in China, Asia and America.
• Our Silver Swans were Day 4 in the Royal Academy for Dance's RADvent calendar on Facebook. We were also featured in their RAD e-newsletter sent to members throughout the world.
• Took part in Manchester's Festival of Ageing events, including the opening at Manchester Library, Bury launch in Bury Millgate Shopping Centre, our own Silver Swans event, and the finale, with performances by our Silver Swans at the Midland Hotel.
• Featured multiple times in the Bury Times, Bolton News and related news outlets.
• A Silver Swan successfully auditioned and was cast in balletLORENT's Rumpelstiltskin production at The Lowry, Salford.
• Multiple Silver Swans were cast in Matthew Bourne's New Adventure's Cinderella: A Museum Adventure production at Imperial War Museum North.
• Trips to watch Birmingham Royal Ballet's La Fille Mal Gardée at The Lowry (with exclusive behind the scenes talk for our Silver Swans), Ballet:Masterworks at the Bridgewater Hall, and the Royal Ballet's Swan Lake live stream from the Royal Opera House
• Interviews with our Silver Swans were featured in Dancewear Central's latest catalogue and blog.
• Enjoyed a fantastic Summer party and Christmas party. The raffle at both of these events raised £218.63 and £244.05 for Greenmount Wild Bird Hospital

It has been an amazing year for both the children's school and Silver Swans® and we look forward to returning to classes on Saturday 5th January 2019.