On Sunday 18th February 2024, Downland Dance welcomed Robert Parker – the Artistic Director of Elmhurst Ballet School – to the dance studio at Aureus School for a unique day of ballet master classes. This was the second time that Robert had visited the students of Downland Dance, yet the buzz and excitement or having him in the studio was as if it was his first!

Robert started the day by delivering a 1.5 hour ballet master class to a class full of wide-eyed 11 – 14 year olds, with some students visiting from other Oxfordshire based dance schools to take part in the event. Though some students admitted to feeling a little nervous before the class started, after a brief introduction, Robert soon had the students smiling, laughing, and enjoying his specially crafted exercises. Amongst the students, and standing at a demonstration barre, was Downland Dance Artistic Director, Adam Harris, who performed the exercises alongside the students and offered them a reminder of the upcoming steps in case they needed one. Of this, Adam later said: “I know it can be daunting for students who are used to following a syllabus to step into an open class environment. I wanted the students to be able to focus on the way they were dancing as opposed to just remembering the steps, so I hoped that by dancing along with them, they could feel confident enough to relax into the movements and just have fun!”.

During the class, Robert guided the students through a barre designed to quickly warm the dancers up and have them well placed on their legs, before moving onto some centre practice exercises, pirouettes, and he soon had them leaping through the space and getting creative with their own finishing poses! Some exercises were performed in small groups, whilst others that travelled through the space were danced in two’s, and one brave student even had the opportunity to dance solo. Being split up into small groups allowed Robert to focus more individual attention on each student, and throughout the class, he offered hands on technical corrections, artistic advice, and tips on how to capture the attention of an audience or audition panel.

Following on from the first class was a Q&A session for students and parents, which was accompanied by tasty treats and refreshments provided by Aureus School. During the talk, Robert spoke about life at Elmhurst – one of the oldest vocational dance schools in the UK. He gave details about what an average school day looks like for an Elmhurst student, and how Elmhurst provides an excellent academic education alongside world class dance training. He also spoke about the outstanding pastoral care that Elmhurst students enjoy, and the first-in-class health and fitness centre that Elmhurst boasts at their purpose-built facility. For the budding ballet dancers in the audience, Robert explained how the audition process works for a school like Elmhurst, and gave an insight into what he would be looking for in a successful candidate. He also talked about the funding schemes available to students at Elmhurst, and made a point of saying that Elmhurst believes that ballet should be a classless art form – if a talented student is offered a place they can’t afford, Elmhurst will do all they can to provide the funding. It wasn’t all talk about school life, however, as Robert went on to delight the audience with tales of his fondest memories on the stage as a Principal Dancer with the Birmingham Royal Ballet, and the joy he experienced throughout his career.

After the Q&A, Robert went on to deliver his final class of the day; this time with students ranging in age from 15 – 60+ years old! The cleverly crafted exercises meant that everyone in the class could participate, learn, and have fun, and the atmosphere in the room was one of both concentration and excitement. The students were able to take from Robert’s vast knowledge and experience, and they showed their appreciation for the ballet master with a wave of applause as soon as the class was finished.

Downland Dance hopes to provide more opportunities like this to the dancers of Oxfordshire in the future, and discounted access will always be available to Downland Dance Members. As a school, Downland Dance are passionate about helping talented dancers progress onto vocational training at a school like Elmhurst. For more information, contact: info@downland-dance.co.uk.

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