Performing Arts
Are you a dancer, a singer, a musician, an all-round performer looking to access an exciting programme of study and engagement in a variety of creative productions?
Read more about our performing arts scene here at King's!
King's College has always enjoyed huge successes in the performing arts. Our music and drama departments are strong, regularly demonstrating the individual talents of our pupils in a variety of settings.
Our concerts provide both small and large ensemble music alongside solos, and our choir goes from strength to strength.
All our yearly shows are fully staged with lighting, costume, music and dance numbers, adding that extra bit of sparkle. We produce performing arts showcases which offer speech and drama, dance and choreography.
Our fantastic performing arts facilities include a state-of-the-art theatre complex that incorporates a dance/drama studio and a 240-seat auditorium; versatile amphitheatre for outdoor perfomances; and a suite of music and music technology studios.
Following the AQA GCSE curriculum, dance pupils will learn to choreograph, perform and appreciate dance as an art form. This holistic engagement with dance informs their development as creative and artistic individuals, and broadens their aesthetic, social and cultural experience.
As well as performing themselves, pupils will have the opportunity to attend a variety of live professional performances.
Click here to access further details about GCSE Dance Dance and Performing Arts Programme
Our regular performances are always a highlight in the school calendar! Our Performing Arts Department is supported by a large number of experienced and dedicated musicians and dance and drama practitioners – individuals who have worked in the West End, and in musical and dance productions across the UK. These members of staff work with our pupils to explore the creative medium of dance, drama and music, and the technical aspects associated with stage management. Many are practising performers who take part in various musicial productions in the UK and Europe.
Next term we will be offering dance sessions as part of our co-curricular offering.
Natasha Ballardie will put you through your tap and ballet steps, as well as delivering Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) to more accomplished dancers.
Kelly Druce will be teaching musical theatre/jazz style dance as well as modern and urban dance. Here she takes you through a dance performance from Chicago, with a step-by-step instructional video.
Follow Natasha as she takes you through this innovative strengthening technique, designed to assist more experienced dancers to develop muscle memory, which helps to improve their understanding of core stability, weight placement and alignment.
Karen has a wealth of dance experience. She started ballet at the age of two at the Bristol School of Dancing, and lessons in tap and modern soon followed. She studied music at university, but never strayed far from the dance world. She has performed in a variety of shows and musicals, made TV appearances, performed alongside TV and sports stars in panto at the Bristol Hippodrome and New Theatre Cardiff and is currently revisiting her roots by taking further ballet lessons with Verity Teal, the Principal of the Mountway School of Dancing at the Tacchi Morris Centre.
Aimee has a background in sport, but also studied ballet and tap for fifteen years. Studying dance at A level sparked off her interest in contemporary dance. Aimee has taught GCSE dance and enjoys watching performances, particularly those by Matthew Bourne
Our staff will be joined by visiting dance teachers including Kelly Druce. Kelly is an ISTD teacher who has performed commercial dance in various music videos and TV shows. Teaching both children and adults, she runs The Kelly Leigh School of Dance, and will be working closely with our staff at both schools. Though traditionally trained, Kelly specialises in urban dance, jazz, modern and Latin American, focusing on fitness, technique, enjoyment and participation.
Natasha is an ISTD and RAD dance teacher with a background in ballet, tap and modern. She has worked with elite dancers in Istanbul, as well as with local dance schools across the region. Natasha recently became one of only three dance teachers in Somerset to qualify to teach PBT (progressing ballet technique), an approach that focuses on body-conditioning and strengthening. One of the important elements used in the PBT method is muscle memory which helps to improve the understanding of core stability, weight placement and alignment.
Open Days are an ideal way of looking around the school to see if you think this might be the one for you and your child.
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