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21
Years of Cecchetti
Junior Summer School at Tring
This year the Cecchetti Junior Summer School celebrated its
21st anniversary at the Arts Education School, Tring.
As
many will know, it had run for 18 years very successfully
under the direction of Kathleen Yates, Betty Nelson and Jill
Payne at The Towers Covent School in Upper Bedding, near Shoreham.
On their retirement in 1982, Cara Drower and Eileen Eagle
took the baton north to Hertfordshire. Pam Peters (pianist)
and I joined them at the start of this new 1983 chapter and
in 1985 I became co-organiser with Cara Drower. Pam Peters
remains the longest standing, vital and well-loved member
of our Faculty. Little did I know the metamorphosis and expansion
this Summer School would undergo, along with the changes in
the public attitudes and expectations of residential courses
world wide.
With
the change of venue and organisers, a new format developed,
based on the timetable running at the Arts Educational School
at that time. Then, and now, the Summer School policy is to
hold the course open to children between the ages of 10-16
years who have achieved the minimum of Standard or Grade 3.
At first only girls attended, but some years ago, the first
boy applied, Ben Rowe, whom we agreed to allow to attend with
his sister. From then on we have had a steady flow of boys.
A more recent inception has been that of the Students’
Course, initiated in 1998 by Cara Drower, for those holding
Intermediate and above. This course has its own faculty and
attracts pre-vocational and vocational students alike.
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Cecchetti
Junior Summer School 2003 Award winners (L-R) Rosanna
Nevard, Sian Archer and Alexandra Holburt
Photograph: Alison Jenner |
In
the beginning the core faculty, like myself, were all staff
at Tring and we all stayed on the premises for the week, both
teaching and providing pastoral care. I remember one year
overseeing the younger children who kept me awake at night.
My daytime hours were spent being in charge of pocket money
and recreational activities whilst fitting in teaching of
Jazz, Greek and Character in the daytime.
In
the early days at Tring in the 1980s, parents would freely
entrust their children with us for the week knowing that as
their teacher recommended the course then all would be well.
Unlike nowadays very few questions were ever asked as to the
course content or children’s pastoral care. Certainly
the amount of paperwork has multiplied beyond belief.
It
is probably the children’s pastoral care that has undergone
the biggest change, as we have to look constantly at current
legislation and trends in children’s welfare. We have
always had a good medical support system, but now we also
have a strong team of helpers whose main role is look after
the well being of each child.
We
advertise mainly to keep a high profile in a competitive and
lucrative market. However most of our clientele still come
to us through recommendation and not only within the Cecchetti
Society. For many years we have been fully subscribed, with
over 100 pupils and long waiting lists.
Currently
all of the dance faculty are specialists in their own dance
genre, coming from vocational and recreational backgrounds.
The logistics of arranging the timetables and travel arrangements
are awesome, however, I do believe we offer a fantastic opportunity
to those children who love to dance to experience a taste
of professional training for a week. The subjects taught have
remained fairly constant, although Jazz, and more recently
Contemporary, are now very popular. These styles now feature
strongly in the children’s own choreographic pieces
shown at the end of the week.
As
Stuart Marsden, one of our now regular staff members, wrote
last year:
‘The
Cecchetti Summer School reminds the students that dance and
the performing arts are passed down through shared experiences
and that the children have their personal place in the lineage
of dance history.’
In
fact, this year a lady brought her grand daughter and proudly
informed me that she had attended the Shoreham Summer Schools
and was delighted to know that it was as popular as ever.
Long may this vital part of the Cecchetti Society ‘opportunities
for children’ be part of the annual calendar. I personally
may not be part of the celebration of the next 21 years but
I hope the Summer School thrives for many years to come.
Alison
Jenner
Organiser
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