The Harrogate performing arts school helping students shine

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A former pupil at Harrogate Ladies' College has founded a dance, gymnastics and performing arts centre, to give the next generation 'the importance of opportunity'.

Dance Educational has been founded by Ruth Dodds, a performing arts specialist who has decades of industry experience - after landing a place at the revered Italia Conti School of Theatre Arts in London.

While completing her diploma in musical theatre there, she was offered a part-time job teaching younger students at one of the Italia Conti Associate Schools, igniting a love and passion for teaching, which she never expected.

Later, she completed an honours degree in dance performance followed by a PGCE with the Royal Academy of Dance, specialising in 14-19 pedagogy.

In the years since, she has pursued her passion for excellence in performing arts and has many years of experience teaching in both London and North Yorkshire schools.

She has helped many young people gain places at some of the country's leading performing arts schools and several of her pupils now have careers in the dance and the arts.

For over 15 years, Ruth taught children and young people aged between two and 19, alongside which she became an experienced examiner and moderator. She also worked as a trainer for teachers as part of CPD courses offering workshops on creative strategies for teaching dance in the school curriculum.

Now, Ruth has taken a step she long dreamed of and has opened her own performing arts school, Dance Educational, in Harrogate.

As well as dance and musical theatre, she plans to offer training in music, gymnastics, singing and more, using contacts from her years in the industry. She is also developing plans for a company which will perform, go to auditions, and develop its young members’ skills as far as possible.

Ruth said:

Ruth has already explored local interest by running musical theatre summer and Easter courses at Harrogate Ladies’ College, Ashville College and Brackenfield School. The classes have proved hugely popular with the students who have taken part – so much so that the number of participants doubled this year.

She said:

From January, a wider range of weekly lessons will be on offer at venues around the town, including Harrogate Ladies College, Highfield School , Wetherby Road Methodist Church Hall, and Brackenfield School. Those classes will be open to anyone who wants to take part.

The upcoming auditions for the DE Youth Dance Company will be the first step in putting together a young group of aspiring dancers. Ruth is already exploring opportunities for its members to perform at events around the country next year.

It is clear Ruth has big ambitions for her students and plans to bring in specialists to teach all aspects of performance, including acting for TV, scriptwriting and an agency for performers – all drawn from her contacts established over the years in the industry.

Among them could be her husband, who has worked as a writer and producer on some of the biggest TV shows in the country.

They have both managed to sustain creative careers in the arts, in very different ways, while raising children and living a normal life in Harrogate.

Ruth said it is important that students are aware of the many opportunities available to them in the arts, beyond the high-profile celebrities they see in films and on the stage.

She added:

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This story is sponsored by Dance Educational.

For more infomation and to book classes, visit the Dance Educational website. You can also get in touch via email at: info@danceedhg.com.