Ballet dancers help launch school's £300k dance studio - This is Trowbridge

Ballet dancers help launch school's £300k dance studio

8:10am Tuesday 23rd March 2010

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Professional dancers from the Balletboyz opened a new £300,000 dance studio at St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon yesterday.

The building, funded by the school, the St Laurence School Association (SLSA) and Wiltshire Council, hosted an opening ceremony with performances by students, followed by a Balletboyz workshop.

The studio was designed by Warminster-based architects BTA and has a sound system, grass-covered eco-roof, and a special ventilation system designed to monitor carbon dioxide levels.

Headmaster James Colquhoun said: “The studio will put dance on a similar footing with music and drama, and is a basic need of a specialist performing arts college.

“It will also relieve pressure on Trinity Hall and free up the gym and sports hall for PE, and it fills in an eyesore at the front of the school with a fine building.”

Dance is compulsory for pupils up to Year 10, and can be continued to A-level.

The London-based Balletboyz performed their new show, The Talent, at the Theatre Royal in Bath at the weekend. The group holds dance workshops with schools around the country.

Manager Kerry Whelan said: “These are fantastic facilities, and it is very heartening that dance is being put front and centre.

“The excellent performances we saw show how this will be bringing the new generation of dancers forward.”

Head of dance Stacey Macnamara said: “The new facilities are amazing, I have worked in dance studios at other schools before but this one is particularly special and well equipped.

“The kids love it. They are working towards their GCSEs and A-levels at the moment and are very lucky to have the opportunity to dance, and this environment to work in.”

Charlie Levender, 17, who is hoping to dance professionally when he leaves the school, said: “This is an amazing building, a real step up from Trinity Hall. It raises the status of dance in the school and gives it more prestige.”

The school also officially unveiled a new canopy to protect lunchtime diners from the elements, funded by the SLSA.

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