Dancing with the Stars…
Taking a new direction… and All that Jazz!

The aim of the Easter Course is to give young students the rare opportunity to work with world class dance professionals and learn from the skills they have gained from dancing in the great opera houses around the World, the West End or Broadway theatres!

As an ex-dancer with The Royal Ballet and soloist with the Boston Ballet, I have been fortunate to work with some great choreographers and dancers around the world. Whilst dancing, I always took an active interest in sharing my passion for dance with youngsters in outreach work and indeed taught at the Boston Ballet School and Company.

I used to manage Wayne Sleep's Dance Workshops around the UK and abroad. Not all professional dancers have the desire to pass on something to younger generations but Wayne certainly does, and brilliantly too, inspiring thousands of kids every year through his workshops.

It was at one of Wayne's workshops that the seed was sown for my Easter School. Wayne unfortunately pulled his calf muscle during the first session one Sunday morning "Andrew by next week I will be fine but today either we cancel the rest of the classes or I do the talking and you do the demonstrating". Well not only did I enjoy the teaching but Wayne kindly said I was good and should do more… it all came flooding back to me how much I had enjoyed teaching whilst dancing with the Boston Ballet.

After researching various summer and easter schools it was clear to me that I should be taking a step forward and talking to my friends in the dance world… the rest is history.

2012 brings a new direction for Dance Forward. Since I started Dance Forward 8 years ago, students, teachers and parents have been asking me to add Jazz, Tap, Funk and Hip Hop to the mix. Well here we are and I hope you enjoy what promises to be a very exciting addition to the course.

The new venue is simply fabulous and I would like to take this opportunity to thank my long standing friend, Wayne Eagling, for offering his company's studios to Dance Forward.

I look forward to welcoming you to the 8th Dance Forward Easter Dance Course, and All that Jazz.

Andrew Ward, Director, Dance Forward