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Professional choreographer and dancer Louise Chapman is inviting youngsters and adults to step out and put their talents to the test with the British School of Bahrain’s (BSB) Academy of Performing Arts in Hamala.
The Academy, known for its drama and music programmes, has now added dance to the bill by recruiting the services of the popular teacher who has built a glowing reputation in the kingdom.
Miss Louise, 28, from Saar, is thrilled to be a part of the BSB after-schools project. She said: “I am excited to be teaching here. The facilities are fantastic, offering students a lot of room to move around.
“I have just come back from New York where I learned a lot of amazing dance compositions and had my eyes opened to varied techniques so it will be an exciting time for students to be introduced to new choreography.”
Miss Louise has been teaching dance for 15 years around the UK and Bahrain as well as in Budapest, Hungary, and is a qualified IDTA-recognised tutor.
The IDTA, which stands for the International Dance Teachers’ Association, is one of the world’s largest examination boards, covering the full spectrum of dance examinations on a global scale, with more than 7,000 members in 55 countries.
Now the Academy will become an examining centre for IDTA dance exams in addition to being a centre for ABRSM and Trinity Music Examinations as well as LAMDA speech and drama examinations.
Miss Louise is also working towards becoming an IDTA examiner. The dancing queen first started dancing at the age of nine and soon became an accomplished acrobatics, jazz and hip hop dancer.
She later studied contemporary modern, ballet and tap dancing in order to become a well-rounded artist. After training at Phil Winston’s Theatreworks College in UK, where she developed and nurtured her drama and singing skills, she gained her qualifications as an IDTA teacher.
It was during her years at the college that she was offered the opportunity to take over the Victoria Dance Centre in Bahrain for a year, training more than 150 students.
Afterwards, she moved to Budapest to teach where she also choreographed the Rocky Horror Show for the British School there.
Miss Louise returned to Bahrain to help open the Ballare School of Performing Arts in Saar where she worked with more than 300 students between the ages of three and 18. She also choreographed the dances for West Side Story that was successfully performed by the BSB’s Academy of Performing Arts and Mask Theatre Company.
Now, Miss Louise returns to the BSB full-time teaching ballet, tap, hip-hop, jazz, lyrical, acrobatics, music theatre, body conditioning and commercial theatre as well as holding classes for tiny tots.
She said: “Parents can expect that their children will become more confident and agile by taking part. I have also set combo classes so a student can spend half-an-hour on ballet and the other half on modern jazz.
“The one reason I have introduced this is because usually students take one subject and I feel that it is not enough to be a rounded dancer. I aim to share my love for dance with my class.”
To attract newcomers to the programme, Miss Louise staged a series of free trials this week.
Clare Gregory, 30, a housewife from Saar, brought her three-year-old daughter Isla, a British Propriety School student, to try-out the Tiny Tots class. She said: “Isla loves to dance. Actually, we all dance a lot around the house.
“I think this is a fantastic academy and a really good opportunity for the kids. It’s good to start the children young. Isla had a lot of fun and she will be coming back.”
St Christopher’s student, Maria Clara Duarte, three, from Hamala, also attended the session in her pink ballerina outfit. Her mum Liliane, 35, a housewife, said: “I just arrived in Bahrain and have been looking for classes for Maria to attend. It’s our first time at the British School and Maria’s first time dancing here.
“She loves to dance so this will be a good idea for her to gain experience.”
During the sessions, Miss Louise was assisted by one of her past pupils, Georgia Ditchfield, 15, a BSB student from Janabiya, who said: “I have been dancing with Louise for a year and I think her classes have helped me to improve.”
Official classes start on Saturday and are priced between BD60 to BD72 for a term. Prices vary depending on the type of dance.
For more information, call 17610973 or 17610943.
