York and National Ballet School become dance partners

By Susan Scott

Veronica Tennant, adjunct professor inYork's dance department, demonstrates proper technique to the next generation of dancers.

"It's a flexible, fast-track program for motivated people," said Norma Sue Fisher-Stitt, Chair of York's dance department. "It combines the advantages of a university education in dance with intensive training for specialized certification within the profession." Building on a model developed by the NBS, students in the new joint program will spend three years at York followed by two years at the NBS - or vice versa.

"What an exciting and compelling collaboration," commented Veronica Tennant, adjunct professor of dance at York, and an alumna of the NBS and the National Ballet of Canada.

After a cooperative arrangement with the dance department at the University of Waterloo ended (when its dance department closed), the NBS approached York's dance department in 1997 about the possibility of designing and implementing a new joint program. At that time, graduates of York's dance program pursued studies at the NBS after receiving their York degree. Similarly, graduates of the NBS's teacher training program attended York to achieve their BA or BFA. Credits attained at one institution were credited by the other on an ad hoc basis. Furthermore, the NBS teacher training program is three years, an honours BFA in dance at York requires four years of study. Taken independently, a student faced a maximum of seven years to receive both designations. Under the new joint program, a student will be able to complete all requirements for the honours BFA and teacher training program in five years.

Students who complete the joint program will have the advantages of a university degree augmented by the NBS teacher training diploma and an internationally recognized teaching certificate with either the Cecchetti Society within the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing, or with the Royal Academy of Dancing. These qualifications will prepare them to teach within a studio setting or at an elementary or secondary school.

"This partnership increases the career options of our students," comments Anuschka Roes, head of the NBS's Teacher Training Program. "This will give them the first of the qualifications necessary to teach in elementary and secondary schools as well as dance studios."

York's dance department is the oldest and largest university-based dance program in Canada. The department is internationally recognized as a leader in dance education and a major contributor to the infrastructure of dance performance and scholarship in Canada. York's dance department offers conservatory training in ballet and modern dance combined with studies in composition, notation and dance science, history, theory and criticism.

Internationally heralded for its training, the NBS is in the forefront of dance education, constantly evolving its programs to fuse ballet traditions with the latest advancements in the science of movement and care for the child. Along with training artists who dance in major companies around the world, the NBS has also devoted itself to training ballet teachers for almost 40 years.