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Associate
Summer Course
In the last week of August 2002 the Cecchetti Centre ran its annual
combined Associate and Associate Diploma Course.
The course was led by Cara Drower and Eve Pettinger, who from day one
were encouraging of our work and meticulous in attention to detail.
Pam Peters was our pianist for the week providing wonderful accompaniment
and reassuring smiles whenever we needed them!
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| Cecchetti
Centre Associate Course. Morning class for everyone. Photograph by
Cara Drower |
Each
morning began with an Intermediate/Advanced I warm-up class, followed
by a Grade class. The grade work was covered in great depth with relevant
build-ups being discussed as we went along and any queries being resolved.
After a much-needed lunch, we had a teaching session where we put in
to practice what we had learned in the morning. Each day a different
group of young students came in to be guinea pigsę, and were very patient
as we practised our new-found skills. This was also a time when teachers
working towards their Associate Diploma could practise teaching a class
in front of an audience. It was very interesting to see how different
teachers dealt with these situations and good for getting more teaching
ideas. Many thanks must go to Alison Dos Santos who organised all these
students from Vacani and Linda Young.
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| Some
of the teachers who attended Chichester. Photograph by John Donabie |
Each
day ended with a session on enchainements. This was an enjoyable end
to the day when those girls entering the Associate exam demonstrated
their prepared enchainements whilst the rest of us made notes or improvised.
We also discussed different musical styles, time signatures and the
importance of tempo, so by the end of the week every teacher was able
to confidently sing a hoe-down!
As
a newcomer to the Cecchetti work I found the week very enjoyable and
inspiring. It provided me with a solid foundation from which I can work
towards my Associate, and was an essential revision week for those about
to take an exam. I look forward to the next course.
Ellen Jakubiel
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