Melanie Dudman

Dip RBS TTC, BIC Dip, AISTD, BBO RTS, RAD RTS

Since the age of fourteen, when I realised that teaching would be my real passion, I focused my attention on striving to be the best teacher I could be, working on my personal skills and continuing my professional development in order to be able to provide the best training I can for my students. I believe in dance education that embraces ballet as both an art form and a lifelong love, with a positive learning environment where imaginations can be enriched, and bodies can be carefully trained to enhance every child’s experience.

Having been a Junior Associate and then a pupil of Susan Robinson and Julie Rose, I was delighted, at the age of sixteen, to be accepted onto the Royal Ballet School’s own teacher training course, under the expert and watchful eye of Valerie Adams. It was three years of joy and hard work, and I loved every second. The day after graduation, I flew out to Germany to start my first job covering maternity leave, teaching ballet to students of all ages. This was a year of discovery, of investigating new methods, of finding my own way in the world, and learning to understand the way young children learn through creativity and imagination, which fired my enthusiasm for teaching recreational dancers.

I returned to the UK to take up a teaching post at Allied Schools of Dance, the school my mum founded, quickly becoming joint Principal, and in 2007, I became the owner and sole Principal, responsible for the welfare of both the smallest dancers and those with ambitions to perform as a career. This year will be the school’s 42nd anniversary, and I’m delighted that we have weathered the Covid-19 storm and the school is flourishing again. We have lots of new students joining us from a young age, some of whom are the offspring of our former pupils, and I’m very happy that they still cherish the link with their own dance experiences.

Royal Ballet School ATAP

In 2022, I was given the opportunity to train in the new and innovative Affiliate Training and Assessment Programme (ATAP) method within the first cohort. The dance school was at the end of a cycle of exams and performances, and the students were ready to move on to new things, so the timing seemed perfect for us. I was very excited about the prospect of a new venture, particularly one linked with The Royal Ballet School, which is so close to my heart. I was eager to be able to teach in such a creative and imaginative way without the pressure of ever-stressful exams looming over us, and the Royal Ballet School’s new course seems to be very much in tune with my own aspirations for my students.

The Intensive ATAP training course was possibly the most inspirational CPD course I have ever attended. To be amongst a group of like-minded individuals with such a high level of understanding and teaching ability was an incredibly positive experience. Taking morning class every day was both inspiring and a reminder of how much we love to dance, so much so that I now participate in a recreational class of my own each week. The professionals that guided us throughout were kind and informative and made us feel worthy of our place in The Royal Ballet School.

The students have four key learning areas of study: classical ballet vocabulary, body awareness and conditioning, creative practice and repertoire study.

We are now working towards the end of two years of presenting the ATAP training to our students and they all show so much confidence in their newfound choreographic skills and they continue to amaze me with their creativity.

I had always tried to educate our students with the use of relevant videos and pictures of repertoire in our classes, but more recently we have discovered the students and their parents taking more interest in live performance with many of our students bringing in programmes of performances they have been to and also joining me on regular trips to the Royal Opera House amongst other theatres.

Throughout my 33 years of teaching, I have never stopped learning. There is never a dull day and I still find great pleasure in seeing the students achieve new things. The first time they skip with both legs or understand how an exercise fits to the music or when a student tells me how much they love to dance, brings me great pleasure and fulfilment. I am thrilled with the way ATAP has allowed me to teach the way I want to without the tie of syllabus work.

Not all students want to take up ballet as a career, but by giving students a real love of dance I’m hoping to educate the audience of the future.