2010 is the decade of dance. It is officially "cool" to dance and everyone wants to do it. With the established success of Strictly Come Dancing, Britain's Got Talent and new multi-disciplinary dance shows appearing on our screens such as So You Think You Can Dance and Got To Dance there is no doubt that the interest of the nation has been excited. The number of pupils choosing dance as an option within schools has risen by 83% in four years, and a third of these are boys*. The number of students taking GCSE dance increased by 169% between 2001 and 2007** and over 13% of the population now attend dance performances of some kind***.
Youngsters are eager to participate in dance lessons or training, but with thousands of dance schools and academies throughout the UK, some of which have been established for years and others just launching in order to meet growing demand, how do the parents of young people ensure that their children are receiving quality training in a professional and safe environment? Somewhat worryingly, until now there has been no means of confirming that pre-vocational schools meet even the most basic standards of professional practice.
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The Council for Dance Education and Training (CDET) has taken the initiative and responded to these concerns by launching Recognised Schools or the "RS Mark"- a national benchmark of dance training.The award, developed in association with Dancing Times and The Stage, is designed to help parents choose safe, good quality dance, drama and music training for their children. Schools must be able to show that they meet terms and conditions set out by CDET and any complaints from students about institutions failing to live up to their claims will be referred to a special CDET panel, that can withdraw the status.
CDET has been established for over thirty years and is the national standards body of the professional dance industry.As a forerunner in the accreditation of professional training programmes in vocational dance and musical theatre schools, CDET is well positioned to drive forward the initiative to ensure that all schools and academies providing dance classes meet this standard.
It is now possible to ensure that young people receive lessons from qualified teachers and staff who have been properly vetted thorough the Criminal Records Bureau enhanced disclosure procedure, that students and children are taught in environments which meet Health and Safety standards, and that there is adequate insurance should a student have an accident of some kind. Students and parents need this platform of assurance for the standard they can expect.
One of the schools which has applied for and achieved the RS mark is Stagecoach. Stagecoach Theatre Arts founder Stephanie Manuel said: "I am very pleased that some kind of regulation is now in place for training establishments and I think this will push up standards across the sector. We all know how necessary it is that there are basic standards of safety in any educational establishment, which is why we have applied for RSS."
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Sean Williams, director of CDET says "A school holding the RS mark will clearly offer much more assurance as to the quality of its service than one without it and we shall be actively encouraging students, parents and carers to ask at the time of enrolment if a school holds the mark and if not, why not. RS is the first stage in the development of a national standard upon which students can rely and to which all pre-vocational dance and musical theatre schools aspire."
What is clear is that with the growing interest in the dance industry now is the time to address the issue of regulation with dance training establishments.And you can take an active part in this.Ask whether the dance establishment that your child has or is about to enrol in has received the Recognised School mark.If not, ask why not.
More and more schools are now applying for the RS award and those that do not apply are likely to be left behind.Some schools have already reported that they feel they have "missed out" on obtaining potential students by not having applied for the award. The award can be achieved by meeting the nine basic requirements set out by The Council for Dance Education and Training, completing a short application process, and paying the annual fee of £100.This will allow the school or educational establishment or teacher to display their RS Certificate and be listed on the directory of RS-awarded schools.Any establishment, training college, school, teacher, individual or group of individuals working on a regular basis with an identified group of dance students in one or more hired or owned premises is eligible to apply for the RS award.For more information, or to download an application form, visit www.cdet.org.uk.
Sources
* Arts Council England
**The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance
www.aqa.org.uk/index.php
*** Arts Council England
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