Overview
The School of Dance opened its doors in 1978 as a nationally registered, educational, charitable, non-profit organization designed to provide professional training for dance under the direction of Merrilee Hodgins and Joyce Shietze. Celia Franca, founder of the National Ballet of Canada and co-founder of the National Ballet School, joined as co- artistic director in 1979. The original budget was $11,000, the staff number was 3 and the studios were rented. Today, Merrilee Hodgins directs The School with an operating budget of over $900,000.00 and a growing staff of 52.
Graduates of The School work worldwide as company members, independent dancers, teachers, directors, administrators and choreographers. The School has successfully trained and placed nine young Canadians as cultural workers through Cultural Human Resources Canada programs (CHRC).
The School’s Divisions, though structurally integrated, each have clearly defined artistic roles and policies. The units work together to create the culture which is The School of Dance .
Scholarships and bursaries are available to students demonstrating need.
The dance programmes are driven by The School’s mandate of dedication to quality arts education.
The Leisure Division, 1,000 students, offers high quality recreational programming to enhance the quality of life of our community. The School has written its own base training method for children and also relies on the well-recognized, international training syllabus of the Cecchetti method to create a common language for the students. Programmes in the Leisure Division, are offered to local children and adults in an open, pay-as-you-go registration manner. This division offers 40 courses ranging from creative movement to ballet and contemporary dance technique, jazz, Pilates mat work and health/fitness programmes such as yoga. These programmes are offered to the general public between, the ages of 18 months to 70 plus.
The Outreach Division is composed of three tiers - arts education/accessibility, community programmes and extension services for the professional community. This division reaches over 70,000 people annually through in-school modules, performances, lecture-demonstrations, workshops and specially designed programmes for boys and persons with disabilties. The School consults with a range of professionals in the creation and design of these programmes.
The School of Dance also provides opportunities for Canadian choreographers, whether emerging or established, to research concepts and explore new initiatives.
The School has a catalogued and annotated bank of choreographies which are available to and widely used by the professional community for research. The choreographies, which are commissioned for Collected New Works, are performed as part of the young audiences outreach programme of DanceONTour. Chief among the objectives of the performance workshops is to foster a greater understanding of the creative process in order to contribute to the development of young audiences of today and future adult audiences and their children. The workshops include discussions on the artist’s vision and the research activity included in the creation of the work. Dissemination of the commissioned works to a broader audience is assured as The School of Dance has carved out an important position as a producer of public dance performances. The works of Sylvie Desrosiers are presented at La Maison du Citoyen in Hull or Nouvelle Scene in Ottawa. Several of the newest works have been performed at Dance Advance and the Canada Dance Festival. Merrilee Hodgins’ works have been performed at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Hamilton Place in Hamilton and Place des Arts in Montréal.
In August 2000, The School of Dance purchased the Crichton Street School at 200 Crichton Street, Ottawa, raising $850,000 for the much-needed renovations and restorations through grants and private donations. There are four dance studios and a classroom. The School has custom-built, standard sprung Rosco floors and a superb touring floor for the Outreach programmes. There are change rooms with shower facilities, along with private lockers for personal belongings and water fountains in the halls. There is a lounge for the teaching staff, with a fully equipped kitchen. There is also a student green room. There are three additional studios for the Artists in Residence. The heritage-designated building is located on the edge of a safe, residential area of central Ottawa . Street parking is available. Crichton Street is on the local bus system.
The School maintains a small but comprehensive library of reference books as well as performance videos and recorded music for students’ use. There is a small archive of internal choreographic works/works in progress and a collection of support videos for the history and music courses; a small supply of costumes and props for special performances; simple portable sound equipment, and video (camera, VCR and television), CD and Tape equipment for use in classes; and exercise mats for the Pilates and somatic programmes.
The School uses the latest computer technology to create timetables, track teachers, maintain records, manage finances, maintain communication with parents and students, maintain communication with the Board of Directors, National Advisory Council and donors, and for desktop publishing purposes. The School uses software donated by Microsoft Canada to run its annual fundraising events and software donated by Adobe for its desktop and web-based publishing.
Finally, The School has a comprehensive team of medical professionals on call, covering the fields of nutrition, general medicine and physiotherapy.
The Director welcomes feedback. Please contact The School to set up an appointment or leave a message.