Elite Ballet Academy launched at top School

Top NZ independent boarding school, Wanganui Collegiate, has launched a Ballet Academy and is holding auditions for its first intake in October.
Headmaster Tim Wilbur explains; “NZ is crying out for a ballet academy in a boarding school environment where the ballet students will not only get an excellent international education but also world-class ballet tuition.”
The Ballet Academy will provide an environment which fosters a fusion of natural talent and creativity combined with fine teaching and support.
“What we will offer here is unique. Talented young people will benefit from an excellent standard of teaching in ballet, reinforced by a very high level of academic education,” says Tim.
Dean of the Ballet Academy is Karin Wakefield, who danced with the Royal NZ Ballet from 1979 to 1996. She rose to principal dancer and later taught ballet in Britain and Asia.
Initially Collegiate will only recruit Year Seven and Eight dancers. They will board at Wanganui Collegiate, attend academic lessons at the St George’s Campus, and ballet lessons with Dance Mistresses Anna Chandulal and Fay Wilbur.
Anna Chandulal, a graduate of the Royal Ballet School’s teacher training programme, believes passionately that in teaching ballet there is a correct path which must be followed.
She explains, “If the foundations are not in place, the building crumbles. Each stage is as important as the other – more than any other dance form, ballet requires correct technique and patient correction from a trained teacher.”
Fay trained at the Royal Ballet’s junior school at White Lodge in Richmond Park, London.
She later had two years at the acclaimed Rambert Ballet Academy, where she gained her diploma in dance at the age of 18.
Fay advocates a solid classical training for those wishing to go towards contemporary dance, as the classical strength and technique provide the necessary solid grounding.
A combination of the two disciplines provides a wide range of choices for furthering a career in dance.
Interviews and auditions will be held in the week beginning 18th October, 2010.
For more information and a prospectus, contact Alan Richardson, Director of Admissions, Wanganui Collegiate School, email alan.richardson@collegiate.school.nz