News and Events

"Lianne Carter, Assistant Principal of the dance school worked tirelessly to direct and produce this stunning show. Her passion for dance and infectious energy inspires all the performers to be the best they can be. It is little wonder that Turning Pointe School of Dance continues to turn out bright young stars, underpinned by their excellent record of success of helping students achieve places at prestigious institutions such as White Lodge, the ENB and the Brit School, as well as roles in the West End."

Go to the GALLERY page to read the full review of RAZZLE DAZZLE.

About 2 months ago I found, along with some others from English National Ballet Youth Company, I would be performing in Petrushka, which is part of 'A Tribute to Rudolf Nureyev'. I was so excited when I found out that we would be performing at the London Coliseum with the rest of the English National Ballet company! There are 5 performances, 2 on the 25th July, 1 on the 26th and 2 on the 27th. We have 7 rehearsals in London starting on the 19th, of which, 2 finish at 10pm!

I have been dancing since I was 3 and joined Turning Pointe when I was 4, doing mainly ballet at first, until I was introduced to contemporary dance, which I now really enjoy and started Intermediate Modern in January. I am currently attending Central School of Ballet's associate program on Saturdays where we do contemporary and ballet, and in September we are going to be starting Pilates and character dance as well. On Friday nights I go to ENBYouthCo where we do ballet and contemporary from 6:30 - 8:30pm which is quite tiring but great fun! In March (aged 15) I gained a Distinction for the Grade 8 Ballet Award.

Polly and Kester Parish are bored of first days. This is their fifth new school in five years thanks to Mum’s job. This school seems a bit different though. Every student seems to have suffered a random freaky accident. Some of them enjoy snapping their limbs and slamming their fingers in doors. That Head Mistress is definitely not all there, not to mention the creepy caretaker. Welcome to The Other School - once you’re part of the system it’ll never let you leave!!

A 'psycho'logical new musical from the writer of Departure Lounge and the associate director of Matilda.

Lizzie trained in Ballet, Modern and Tap with Turning Pointe from the age of 2 to 18, achieving her Grade 8 Ballet last year with Distinction. Having done Musical Theatre since the age of 6, she has played many memorable roles including Wendla in 'Spring Awakening' at the Brighton Fringe Festival, Tracy Turnblad in 'Hairspray' and Dorothy in 'The Wizard of Oz'. She now studies Ancient History and Egyptology at UCL and continues Musical Theatre as a hobby, having just played Florence in 'Chess' with UCLU Musical Theatre Society. As a member of the National Youth Theatre from the age of 13, 'The Other School' will be her first performance with the National Youth Music Theatre and she is absolutely thrilled to have gained the lead role of Polly in this new musical.

Summer School 2013 will be held at Plumpton village hall from Monday 19th - Friday 23rd August. An energetic and inspiring week of dancing and fun from 10am - 3pm, culminating in a performance of your work on Friday 23rd August. Students will be able to work on the different styles performed in our Summer show 'Razzle Dazzle'.

Students from age 6 are invited to apply, with older, more experienced pupils and past pupils being grouped according to age and experience. Classes will be held in a variety of dance styles with the emphasis on performance. So come along if you would like to be part of the creative process, learn new skills and have fun with your friends, teachers and NEW GUEST TEACHERS.

£135 for the week.

If you would like to book a place at Summer School 2013 please contact Julia Canneaux.

Aged just 12, Mirabelle Seymour has been chosen by resident Royal Ballet choreographer Wayne Mcgregor to create a solo role in his new ballet ‘Raven Girl’, on stage at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Raven Girl is a collaboration between Author Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveller’s Wife) who has written the modern-day fairytale, Choreographer Wayne Mcgregor (‘Machina’ from Metamorphosis, Chroma) and Composer Gabriel Yared (The English Patient, The talented Mr Ripley). It tells the story of a Raven Girl – her father is a Postman, her mother a Raven he rescues after falling from the nest as a fledgling bird, he takes her home and they fall in love.....

Mirabelle has been rehearsing with Wayne McGregor and her partner Ed Watson (Principal dancer with the Royal Ballet) for 3 weeks to prepare for the role of the fledgling bird. The World Premiere was performed last night to a sell –out audience and Miss Canneaux was there to watch in awe as Mirabelle appeared from beneath a cloak at the foot of a huge rock, a terrified, tiny, weightless, bird, lifted tenderly in one arm by the postman (Ed Watson) who takes her home to recover. She sits watching the postman striking a series of beautiful, frightened, birdlike poses. Gaining in confidence she performs a series of intricate, delicate steps and movements moving up to the table she balances posed on one leg before appearing to flutter around the postman’s head as he throws her expertly around his neck before letting her fly away.

At the end of the ballet Mirabelle stood in line with Royal Ballet stars Sarah Lamb, Eric Underwood, Olivia Cowley, Ed Watson and Thiago Soares, she was the first soloist invited forward to take the first of many curtain calls until Wayne McGregor appeared onstage to take his bow, holding her hand and inviting her forward to receive her applause once again.

CONGRATULATIONS MIRABELLE – you are the most beautiful young ballerina we have ever seen!

Mirabelle will be dancing in 3 more performances of Raven Girl – Wednesday 29th May at 2pm, Monday 3rd June at 7.30pm and the final performance on Saturday 8th June at 7pm, tickets are available from the Royal Opera House.

Julia Canneaux

One Monday in April, Kevin Ellis was invited along to the studio in Barcombe to take photos of the youngest children during their ballet class with Miss Carter and assistant teacher Jessica.
Go to the gallery page to see how adorable they were.

Turning Pointe students get ready for show term!
Over the Easter holidays a small group of Turning Pointe students went up to Pineapple Dance Studios with Miss Carter, and were put through their paces in a Jazz class with Alex Turner that involved lots of stretching, sit-ups, press-ups, and a routine packed with pirouettes! All of the students really went for it and despite the exhaustion were buzzing after the class. Their hard work was rewarded with an afternoon of shopping in Covent Garden, followed by a DVD night watching previous Turning Pointe shows. A fantastic day was had by all, and the students couldn't wait to get back into rehearsals for Razzle Dazzle!

We are delighted to announce that Katy Mills has won the Dame Beryl Grey Scholarship to Legat. After 2 auditions, presided over by Dame Beryl Grey, Katy was announced as the winner of the coveted award and will start full time at the dance school in September this year. Katy has been a pupil at Turning Pointe from the age of 3 and has acheived Distinction for all exams, including most recently Grade 5 and Intermediate Foundation.

WELL DONE KATY - we are all so proud of you.

In January I auditioned at the London Contemporary Dance School (The Place) for a BA Hons degree studying contemporary dance. I recently got the news that I had been accepted into the school for the three year course and will start in September.

I have trained in many styles of dance such as Freestyle, Tap, Latin, Ballroom, Street, Ballet, Jazz and Contemporary. Even though I enjoy all of these styles my main focus is on Ballet and Contemporary, for this is what I see myself doing in the future. The course I will be starting in September consists of dance and theory work for five days a week, along with some evening and weekend rehearsals. This will help me reach my ultimate goals in dance; dancing with a contemporary company before going on to teach others.

I am extremely grateful to the teachers and staff at Turning Pointe. When I joined in 2008, aged 13, I had had no ballet training whatsoever. In order to stand any chance of getting into a Conservatoire I needed to learn quickly and work hard to make the grade in ballet. There is no doubt that Turning Pointe played a vital part in bringing me up to standard. Last year I completed Grade 7 with distinction, something I could barely have dreamed of a few years ago.

Written by Phoebe - We are delighted with your success and wish you all the best for the future. WELL DONE PHOEBE!

Turning Pointe is celebrating as both the RAD Ballet and ISTD Tap and Modern exam sessions held in December have yielded excellent exam results, with every student achieving a Merit or Distinction. Achievements include Katy Mills who achieved Distinction for Intermediate Foundation Ballet, Libby Mills who achieved Distinction for Intermediate Ballet, and Molly Walker who achieved a fantastic score of 94 (Distinction) in her Grade 6 Modern exam. Particular congratulations to Martha Gardner and Abigail Lambert who both took exams in all three dance disciplines. Abigail achieved Distinction for both Grade 6 Modern and Grade 5 Tap, and a Merit for Intermediate Ballet. Martha achieved the school's highest ever result of 96 (Distinction) in Grade 6 Modern, 93 (Distinction) for Grade 5 Tap, and a Distinction for Intermediate Foundation Ballet.

Congratulations to all of the students on their exam results, we are very proud of you all!