Performers College
Encyclopedia
Performers College is an independent, co-educational college specialising in performing arts
Performing arts
The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

. It is based in Corringham
Corringham
Corringham may refer to:*Corringham, Essex, England*Corringham, Lincolnshire, England...

, Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

 in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 and is recognised as one of the leading performing arts schools in the UK.

Overview

Performers College is an independent college, providing professional vocational training in dance and musical theatre. Key areas of study include ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

, tap
Tap dance
Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sound of one's tap shoes hitting the floor as a percussive instrument. As such, it is also commonly considered to be a form of music. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses more on the...

, jazz
Jazz dance
Jazz dance is a classification shared by a broad range of dance styles. Before the 1950s, jazz dance referred to dance styles that originated from African American vernacular dance. In the 1950s, a new genre of jazz dance—modern jazz dance—emerged, with roots in Caribbean traditional dance...

 and contemporary
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...

 dance, singing
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

 and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...

. The college operates a three year professional vocational course leading to the National Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre, a further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...

 qualification validated by Trinity College, London and placed at Level 6 on the National Qualifications Framework
National Qualifications Framework
The National Qualifications Framework is a credit transfer system developed for qualifications in England, Wales and Northern Ireland....

.

Performers College is recognised as one of the leading performing arts schools in the United Kingdom, and has a history of feeding artists into West End theatre
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

, dance companies and other areas of the entertainments industry. In recognition of its standards, it is one of only 21 schools selected to allocate Dance and Drama Awards
Dance and Drama Awards
The Dance and Drama Awards are a scholarship scheme which subsidises professional vocational training at some of the leading performing arts schools in the United Kingdom...

, a government funded scholarship scheme to subsidise the cost of professional dance, drama and musical theatre training at leading institutions.

The college is also an approved centre for the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing
Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing
The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing is a leading dance teaching and examination board based in London, England and operating internationally. Established on 25 July 1904 as the Imperial Society of Dance Teachers, it changed to its current name in 1925 and is now a registered educational...

 and is authorised to offer nationally recognised qualifications in dance teaching. The college is accredited to the Council for Dance Education & Training and is inspected by Ofsted
Ofsted
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills is the non-ministerial government department of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Schools In England ....

 as part of its role as a provider of Dance and Drama Awards.

Notable graduates

  • Aimee Lewis, cast member of the West End production of Wicked
    Wicked (musical)
    Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...

  • Dominic Shaw, dance captain for the West End production of Hairspray
    Hairspray (musical)
    Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...


See also

  • Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing
    Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing
    The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing is a leading dance teaching and examination board based in London, England and operating internationally. Established on 25 July 1904 as the Imperial Society of Dance Teachers, it changed to its current name in 1925 and is now a registered educational...

  • Dance and Drama Awards
    Dance and Drama Awards
    The Dance and Drama Awards are a scholarship scheme which subsidises professional vocational training at some of the leading performing arts schools in the United Kingdom...

  • Trinity College, London

External links

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