For immediate release: 18/05/2015
Royal Academy of Dance and The Sarasota Ballet to train
Professional Dancers to become Dance Teachers
The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is delighted to announce a new and exciting
programme for professional dancers wishing to prepare for a career in teaching, in partnership
with The Sarasota Ballet. In the 40th Anniversary year of the RAD’s Professional Dancers’
Teaching Certificate, the partnership with The Sarasota Ballet will bring the Academy’s worldwide
teaching qualification to dancers across the United States of America.
The Professional Dancers’ Postgraduate Teaching Certificate: Sarasota (PDPTC) is the latest addition
to the RAD’s portfolio of programmes designed specifically with the needs of professional dancers
who are considering a career in teaching. This follows upon the success of the PDPTC in Berlin
delivered in collaboration with the Berlin State Ballet.
Ian Webb, Director of Sarasota Ballet says: “I am delighted that The Sarasota Ballet will
partner with the Royal Academy of Dance to provide teacher training for professional dancers
throughout North America.”
Margaret Barbieri, Assistant Artistic Director adds: "The transition from a professional
dancer to a teacher can be a difficult one. Completing this wonderful RAD programme for
professional dancers, gave me the confidence to have a second career in teaching and staging
ballets.”
Darcey Bussell CBE, RAD President says “I am thrilled that Iain Webb and Margaret Barbieri of
The Sarasota Ballet are collaborating with the RAD on this exciting new programme.”
The PDPTC: Sarasota is a one year part-time programme, combining distance learning with an
onsite intensive study period held in Sarasota, Florida, in collaboration with The Sarasota Ballet.
Starting in January, this flexible programme of study accommodates dancers’ rehearsal, performance
and work schedules or teaching commitments, and provides a secure platform for a career in
teaching.
The programme begins with an onsite induction seminar, followed by a period of distance learning.
For four weeks in June, students attend an Intensive Study Period in Sarasota.
The Intensive Study Period comprises practical sessions, lectures, seminars, discussion groups and
tutorials. Students also undertake a teaching placement in a dance school or teaching context of
their choice, supported by a Mentor and Practical Teaching Supervisor.
Press Contact: Nick Pearce, Press & Communications Officer, Royal Academy of Dance
020 7326 8047 | npearce@rad.org.uk
Those successfully completing the PDPTC will be eligible to become Registered
Teachers of the RAD, and will benefit from the exclusive right to enter candidates for RAD
examinations as well as becoming part of a highly respected international community of dance
professionals.
- Ends Notes to Editors
Royal Academy of Dance
With about 14,000 members spread across 83 countries, the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) is one
of the largest and most influential dance education and training organisations in the world.
Established in the 1920s, to improve standards and re-invigorate dance training initially within the
UK, the Academy helps and encourages its teachers to perfect their teaching skills and pass on this
knowledge to their students. There are currently over 1,000 students in full-time or part-time
teacher training programmes with the Academy and each year the examination syllabus is taught to
thousands of young people worldwide, with around a quarter of a million pupils per year going on to
take our exams.
For more information about the RAD, visit www.rad.org.uk
Sarasota Ballet
The Sarasota Ballet was founded by Jean Allenby–Weidner in 1987 as a presenting organization with
the goal of becoming a full resident ballet company. This was achieved in 1990 with the appointment
of their first Artistic Director. In January 2007, The Sarasota Ballet announced the appointment of
Director, Iain Webb and he has taken The Sarasota Ballet to a higher level of national and
international recognition. Together with his wife Margaret Barbieri, Assistant Director and former
principal of The Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, Mr. Webb has introduced 102 new ballets into the
repertoire, including ballets by Sir Frederick Ashton, George Balanchine, Dame Ninette de Valois, Sir
Kenneth MacMillan, Antony Tudor, Matthew Bourne, Hans van Manen, Christopher Wheeldon,
Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Will Tuckett, and Johan Kobborg to name a few. Many of these ballets
have rarely been seen before in America.
In 2010, Mary Anne Servian, the former Mayor of Sarasota, joined the team as Managing
Director. Since then, the Company has formed a sound foundation to secure the future of The
Sarasota Ballet and has fulfilled Mr. Webb’s vision of giving the Company its own unique identity,
carving a place in the history of American dance.
For more information about The Sarasota Ballet, visit: www.sarasotaballet.org
Press Contact: Nick Pearce, Press & Communications Officer, Royal Academy of Dance
020 7326 8047 | npearce@rad.org.uk