Performance Dance is a holistic way of learning that expresses the body, mind and spirit approach to education that has always characterised St Peter’s, Cambridge. We have an outstanding array of dance opportunities for students of all abilities, top quality facilities, and inspiring, talented teachers.
Our dance curriculum fosters creativity, skills, and understanding across dance styles. It interweaves dance appreciation, choreography and performance so that our students develop the full skill set needed to excel as career dancers. At St Peter’s our dance programme is suitable for boys and girls and offers training in ballet, contemporary, and cheerleading, giving our students breadth of skills and experience. We also explore forms of dance from various cultures, study famous choreographers and their contributions, and learn how to analyse and critique choreography.
Performance dance helps our students to grow skills that are directly transferable to other areas of learning and to their daily lives. Dance gives our students opportunities to express themselves and their cultures through movement. It helps to develop self-identity and appreciation of others and other cultures. Our dance students reap the rewards of self-discipline, commitment, and mental and physical strength. Performance dance also involves a lot of teamwork so our dancers learn to work cooperatively, contributing their ideas and problem solving to work towards a mutually created product.
Our student dancers have outstanding facilities for rehearsal and performance. Our top-quality dance studio in the RSC is designed for 30 dancers. It is air-conditioned with a sprung dance floor, floor-to-ceiling mirrors, a surround-sound music system, and a portable ballet barre.
St Peter’s has a variety of co-curricular dance troupes that are led by inspiring and talented people. These groups provide options for all kinds of students — from beginners to highly experienced dancers, from those wanting a fun activity to those who aspire to be elite performers. All our co-curricular groups help our students to develop in confidence, commitment and teamwork. Several of our dance troupes are led by our senior dancers, giving them leadership and choreography experience and building relationships between year groups. Our junior and senior cheerleading squads are trained by New Zealand’s internationally renowned All Star Cheerleaders. Read more about our co-curricular dance troupes here:
At St Peter’s we have an exciting calendar of dance events throughout the year. These opportunities showcase what our talented students are able to achieve through dedication and diligence. Within St Peter’s the two main annual events are the musical production and Aspire Dance showcase. Our dance troupes also compete in interschool events such as DanceNZmade and Stage Challenge. St Peter’s also regularly hosts dance experts in ballet, contemporary and cheerleading. These events give our dance students amazing opportunities to work with leading professionals, including the New Zealand Dance Company.
