THEY will be aiming for a first – but happy with a tutu. Scotland's first degree in modern ballet will be on offer to the country's most talented young dancers from next year.
Scottish Ballet, Scotland's national dance company, and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama have joined forces to launch the academic qualification to stop talent draining away to London and other European capitals.
Until now, young ball
et dancers were forced to leave Scotland to progress their dance education and their careers at degree level at the age of 16. From September next year, they will now have the option to stay north of the border to study.
The move also means that young talent from other countries will be attracted to continue their careers in Scotland as part of a programme to set up a world-class centre of ballet education.
The three-year full-time degree course is the realisation of a long-sought dream for a Scottish Ballet "school" first conceived of by the company's founding artistic director, Peter Darrell, and aims to provide training for students who have the appropriate physical and artistic abilities and wish to pursue a career in professional dance.
Ashley Page, the artistic director of Scottish Ballet, said: "It is a privilege to have realised the vision that the Company's founder, Peter Darrell, set out 40 years ago. This new degree means that we will be able to nurture and develop the exceptional talent that already exists in Scotland in a way never before possible, as well as attract brand new talent to the country from elsewhere."
While Scottish Ballet's Associate programme provides supplementary ballet training to young dancers from Primary 5 through to Secondary 4, there currently remains a critical gap that sees young dancers of 16 having to leave Scotland to seek tertiary education elsewhere.
Daniel Davidson, one of the current dancers working for Scottish Ballet, said the degree course would help keep talented youngsters in Scotland.
Edinburgh-born Davidson, now 23, trained at Knightswood Secondary in Glasgow, but had to move to London at the age of 17 to further his career.
"At the time there was nothing up here for me so I had to leave Scotland to make further progress. This will change things in that there will now be no need for young dancers to do that. If it had been around when I was 17 I would have preferred to stay here."
Steinvor Paulsson, the programme adviser at Edinburgh's Dance Base studios, added: "This is a very welcome move because up to now there has been nothing like this in Scotland. This new course will put Scotland on the dance map."
Entry to the BA Modern Ballet is by audition only. Preliminary auditions will be held early next year in London and Glasgow. Successful candidates will be recalled to a final audition in Glasgow in March.
The full article contains 491 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
