Ballet Dance Workshop Unveils Hidden Talents in Claremont Senior School Athletes

A ballet dance workshop led by professionals from the Royal Ballet aimed to enhance the athleticism of football players and skill set of exam students at Claremont Senior School, fostering appreciation for dance and providing transferable skills.

Beth Eckhoff, Head of Dance, said: “Recently, there was an unexpected collaboration with our football players and exam dance students at Claremont Senior School. They were led through a ballet dance workshop by professionals from the prestigious Royal Ballet, Mica Bradbury and Leo Dixon (see biographies below). The initiative aimed to provide our athletes and dance students with a unique perspective on understanding their bodies, ultimately enhancing their athleticism on the football field and enhancing exam students’ skill set through the art of ballet. 

Under the guidance of  Mica and Leo, our students delved into the intricacies of movement phrases, balance and flexibility. The workshop not only fostered a newfound appreciation for the art of dance but also equipped the players with transferable skills that promised to elevate their performance during football training.

The collaborative opportunities that unfolded between the football players and their fellow dancers at Claremont Senior School were nothing short of inspiring. Students from different disciplines discovered common ground, fostering a sense of unity and shared passion for physical expression.

The resounding success of the event echoed through Claremont Senior School, with all participants expressing their enjoyment and gratitude for the unique experience. The football players, in particular, are enthusiastic about the prospect of repeating such workshops in the future, recognising the invaluable insights gained from this cross-disciplinary experience.”

The Head of Dance at Claremont Senior School expressed her pride in witnessing the participants engage wholeheartedly and gain substantial benefits from the workshop. The success of this collaborative venture has opened doors for future explorations into interdisciplinary training, promising a holistic approach to nurturing well-rounded and successful athletes and dancers at Claremont Senior School.

Mica Bradbury

British dancer Mica Bradbury is a Soloist of The Royal Ballet. She trained at The Royal Ballet School and joined The Royal Ballet in 2016 from Ballet Vlaanderen. She was promoted to First Artist in 2019 and Soloist in 2023.

Leo Dixon

British dancer Leo Dixon is a First Artist of The Royal Ballet. He trained at The Royal Ballet Upper School and in 2015 graduated into The Royal Ballet’s Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme, going on to join the Company as an Artist in 2016, promoted to First Artist in 2019, to Soloist, 2022. In the 2019/20 Season, along with his Royal Ballet commitments he performed Tadzio (Death in Venice) for The Royal Opera.

Jim Colson, Director of Claremont International Football Academy:

“I felt the boys really bought into the whole idea. All of them said they enjoyed it and saw the benefit of flexibility in their game. 

They would like to do more of it and as such I am considering bringing it into the programme in the future.  From my point of view, I was very impressed to see how the session broke down all barriers and enabled everyone involved to try something new.”

Kai (Dance student):

“To have the opportunity to have a class and private lesson with Royal Ballet members was inspiring and also beneficial to my ballet technique, useful for inside and outside of school. It was also interesting and enjoyable to share some of this time with the Football Academy and see the beneficial links between both sports.”

Rohan, Kabr, Ore, Shaun, Faisal (Football Academy students): 

“Really enjoyed it. Can we repeat again in the summer term? Excited for this to happen again!”

“This was out of our comfort zone. By the end of the lesson it was starting to feel normal.”

“When you hear the dancer speaking, they gave connections to how dance applies to football and we could connect it to our training. It will have a positive impact with balance, flexibility and strength.”

“From a football perspective, ballet can improve our ability, increase our movement vocabulary which gives us more range in our movement on the pitch. The use of ‘turn out from the hips’ transfers to the passing of the ball so the exercises, although it feels hard, can be used to further enhance the use of the hip joint.”

“Coming from Nigeria, I have never experienced ballet before. Honestly, it helped me become aware of stiffness in my joints so helped me realise I need to become more agile. I want to do it again!”

“Team building exercise, enjoyment, team cohesion.”

Eliza (Dance student):

“Experiencing the Royal Ballet workshop with such high calibre professional dancers was not only a fantastic help to my own balletic technique but it was certainly interesting to be in a class with the football academy as well as my fellow dancers!  It was interesting to see how the workshop was focused around them and the transferable abilities between ballet and football. For me personally, the workshop created a space for me to focus on my clarity of movement and alignment which is a crucial aspect of dance, especially for my BTEC course as physical skills like this and our overall technique is highly important within our examination pieces.

I had never pondered the correlation between ballet and football before, yet the workshop helped me to understand this and how dynamic movement, agility and mobility can be conveyed within both sports. Additionally, I found that having mixed two separate groups within the school was a new and fascinating experience as dancers and the football academy rarely integrate into each other’s realms of sport.

By having this workshop with both dance students and footballers, I believe that this has also helped in regards to some people’s perspectives on dance as I think that there is a newfound respect towards the dancers and our craft after the workshop and for the hard work and dedication that gets put into dance at Claremont that rarely gets seen by those outside of the performing arts sector.”