Is your young dancer dreaming of a future in ballet?
Intensive ballet training typically begins around ages 7–8, and Birmingham offers plenty of opportunities to start that journey. At Happy Feet, our unique multi-day class offerings go beyond the typical once-a-week schedule—giving your child the chance to take multiple classes each week and progress more quickly toward their goals.

Our experienced instructors and dedicated volunteers are here to support every step of the way. We’re committed to helping your child succeed in their dance journey.

Looking for extra ballet support?
There are a variety of enrichment options designed to complement your regular ballet training and IDTA exam preparation. These additional resources include when and where everything takes place—making it simple to plan and enhance your dancer’s development alongside their weekly classes at Happy Feet.

Workshops

Many ballet companies will have one off workshops you can pay to attend with set age groups. In these workshops your little one will learn a certain dance/choreography for a show such as Swan Lake or Cinderella as they are usually taught by experienced ballerinas from that show. Elmhurst will occaisionally do master classes.

Annual Shows

Happy Feet offers a regular mini shows for it’s classes and a larger show less frequently. However, some ballet companies (e.g. Midland Theatre Ballet) will allow auditions from as young as 7 years old to start performing in real shows with them. These cost money to participate in, as they will hold regular classes for the show throughout the year proceeding. For larger companies like the Birmingham Royal Ballet, auditions are held internally through Junior/Mid Associate programmes.

Online Training

You tube offers a range of short and easy to follow ballet training videos to help you strengthen your ballet at home and get more practice time in. In addition, The Royal Ballet Online and English National Ballet feature a range of online workshops and classess to do at home.

Summer Schools

Happy Feet has 2, week long summer school programmes this year for your budding dancers to learn and have fun with a mixture of ballet, freestyle, theatre and games. There are also more intensive ballet summer schools available. Midland Theatre Ballet does regular day intensives and a 3 day summer programme. The English National Ballet does an advanced youth 5 day summer intensive (14+), and the Royal Ballet does a 1 month summer programme in London for 10+ years.

Junior Associates

Junior associates is a big leap into the world of ballet careers. Junior Associate programmes provide regular bi-weekly classes during term time from ages 7/8 up that are usually 2.5 hours long and include some contemporary work. These associates programmes are your “foot in the door” for many large ballet companies and they will accelerate your ballet learning with an intensive programme. Junior associates have a highly competitive audition programme to attend (£30-£60), thier own unique uniform (£40-£100) and standards and the fees for classes are usually around £1000 per year. You can attend multiple associates programmes if you wish. Here’s a handy guide so you don’t miss out if you think associates training is right for your little one:

• Midland Theatre Ballet – 7 years plus. Applications: May Auditions June
  2.5 hours. 1 hour Ballet, 1.5 hours Conteporary
• Ballet Boost – 8 years plus. Applications/Auditions: Rolling programme
  2 hours. Ballet, Contemporary, Body Conditioning, Pilates
• Elmhurst Associates – 8 years plus. Applications: December Auditions: March
  1.5 hours. Ballet
• Birmingham Royal Ballet – 7 years plus. Applications: February Auditions: June
  2.5 hours. Ballet & Contemporary

Funding

Some programmes offer funding but unfortunately most do not until you reach high school age. We have had student success in the past with National Youth Arts Trust. They will often provide direct financial help for classes but do not usually cover the full costs of an annual programme. If you need help filling in an application form let us know.

Midland Theatre Ballet | Birmingham Royal Ballet | English National Ballet | Royal Ballet Online | Elmhurst Dance School | Ballet Boost