Acro Dance Exam Weekend on 5th, 6th and 7th of June, 2020!

Ready to take an Acrobatic Arts Examination?

We would like to offer our dancers the opportunity to take an exam at

LA Dance Acro’s

‘Acrobatic Arts’

Examination Weekend.

Last years exams were great fun and the dancers achieved fantastic results!

Taking an Exam is an excellent way of allowing our dancers to recognise their recent hard work in class and to feel a sense of achievement.

We also feel they will enjoy the excitement of the exam day with their class mates and that the experience will help prepare them for success in their future lives.

This Years Exams will take place at

The Royal British Legion

Queensway

Petts Wood

on

5th, 6th and 7th of June 2020.

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Exam Etiquette

Groups of around 6 dancers at a time are expected to line up outside the classroom door, and wait to be welcomed in by the facilitator.

Dancers should greet the examiner and the facilitator at the beginning of the exam.

During the exam, students can expect a class setting with the facilitator directing the class and the examiner making notes throughout.

Dancers should perform the skills asked of them while remaining respectful throughout the exam.

Following the exam, dancers should thank the examiner and the facilitator before leaving the classroom.

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Exam Attire

Girls: Students are required to attend examinations in LA Dance Acro set uniform (black leotard, shorts and black footless tights. Hair must be neatly tied back in a low bun or french braid, no fringe.

Boys: Students are required to attend examinations in LA Dance Acro T-shirt black shorts or tights. Hair must be neat and out of the face.

*Dancers should be free of all jewellery (necessary medical jewellery permitted)
*Dancers should appear neat and tidy

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Bonus Skill

The dancer will have an opportunity to demonstrate one Bonus Skill.

This should be a skill that is safe for the dancer to perform, and shows off the dancer’s unique or advanced abilities in a particular skill area.

This skill is worth 5 additional points on the exam.

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Marking Scale

The 28 required elements, exam etiquette and grooming will be marked as either 'Incomplete', 'Fair', 'Good', or 'Excellent'. The exam will be graded as 'Retry', 'Pass', 'Commended', ‘Highly Commended', 'Excellent' or ‘Distinction'.

Successful students will receive a certificate to commemorate their achievement. Students who receive the grade 'Distinction' will also receive a custom Acrobatic Arts medal.

All students will receive a report card complementing areas of excellence and suggesting areas for improvement.

All exams are marked against the standard for the level and skill being performed.

Acrobatic Arts Adjudicators receive extensive training and are required to attend update courses to ensure consistency throughout the program. The Adjudicator’s mark is final.

Each skill is marked out of 5 points:

Incomplete 0 Fair 1-3 Good 4 Excellent 5

Retry 0-75 Pass 75-96 Commended 97-107 Highly Commended 108-118 Excellent 119-129 Distinction 130-150

The accumulation of all points determines the grade:

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Exam Fees

£45 (Primary, Level 1 and Level 2)

£55 (Level 3 and 4)

Fees due no later than March 20th 2020.

If you would like to participate in the exam, please fill out the form below.

Exam Results

Exam Results are in!!!

It was such a pleasure to completing our first set of Acrobatic Arts exams at the end of July, we had a really enjoyable couple of days with all the dancers that took part and were over the moon with the results!!

Out of 76 exams, the dancers received 61 Distinctions and the rest were all Highly Commended or Excellent! We could not be prouder!!

Well Done Dancers, Superb!!!

Exam Time July 2019

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Exam Time!

Taking an Exam is an excellent way of allowing our dancers to recognise their recent hard work in class and to feel a sense of achievement.

We also hope they will enjoy the excitement of the exam day with their class mates and that the experience will help prepare them for success in their future lives.

Exams will take place locally at Crofton Junior School on 19th-20th July 2019.

Please arrive for your exam 30mins before your time slot to enable time to get ready and warm up.

Exam Attire

Girls: Students are required to attend examinations in LA Dance Acro set uniform (black leotard, shorts and black or tan footless tights. Hair must be neatly tied back in a low bun or french braid, no fringe, no wisps.

Boys: Students are required to attend examinations in LA Dance Acro T-shirt black shorts or tights.

*Dancers should be free of all jewellery (necessary medical jewellery permitted)
*Dancers should appear neat and tidy

If you need any new uniform please order as soon as possible by filling in the following form.

Exam Etiquette

Groups of around 6 dancers at a time are expected to line up outside the classroom door, and wait to be welcomed in by the facilitator.

Dancers should greet the examiner and the facilitator at the beginning of the exam.

During the exam, students can expect a class setting with the facilitator directing the class and the examiner making notes throughout.

Dancers should perform the skills asked of them while remaining respectful throughout the exam.

Following the exam, dancers should thank the examiner and the facilitator before leaving the classroom.

---

Bonus Skill

The dancer will have an opportunity to demonstrate one Bonus Skill.

This should be a skill that is safe for the dancer to perform, and shows off the dancer’s unique or advanced abilities in a particular skill area.

This skill is worth 5 additional points on the exam.

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Marking Scale

The 28 required elements, exam etiquette and grooming will be marked as either 'Incomplete', 'Fair', 'Good', or 'Excellent'. The exam will be graded as 'Retry', 'Pass', 'Commended', ‘Highly Commended', 'Excellent' or ‘Distinction'.

Successful students will receive a certificate to commemorate their achievement. Students who receive the grade 'Superior' will also receive a custom Acrobatic Arts medal.

All students will receive a report card complementing areas of excellence and suggesting areas for improvement.

All exams are marked against the standard for the level and skill being performed.

Acrobatic Arts Adjudicators receive extensive training and are required to attend update courses to ensure consistency throughout the program. The Adjudicator’s mark is final.

Each skill is marked out of 5 points:

Incomplete 0 Fair 1-3 Good 4 Excellent 5

Retry 0-75 Pass 75-96 Commended 97-107 Highly Commended 108-118 Excellent 119-129 Distinction 130-150

The accumulation of all points determines the grade:

---

Did you know….

Dancers who successfully complete all 12 levels of the Acrobatic Arts Syllabus are eligible to enter the Acrobatic Arts Graduate Teachers Study as part of their in studio exam process. Successful candidates will be granted Module Two Certified Teacher status.

Acrobatic Arts believes that successfully completing all 12 levels in the Acrobatic Arts Syllabus is an amazing accomplishment, and we are very proud of the dancers who are able to do so.

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Summer Holiday Dance Acro Workshops

We are running a few workshops over the summer, please register your interest here….

Gold Class Dance Exams 2019

Ready to take an Acrobatic Arts Examination?

Taking an Exam is an excellent way of allowing our dancers to recognise their recent hard work in class and to feel a sense of achievement.

We also hope they will enjoy the excitement of the exam day with their class mates and that the experience will help prepare them for success in their future lives.

Exams will take place locally (venue and time to be confirmed) around 14th-20th July 2019.

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Exam Etiquette

Groups of around 6 dancers at a time are expected to line up outside the classroom door, and wait to be welcomed in by the facilitator.

Dancers should greet the examiner and the facilitator at the beginning of the exam.

During the exam, students can expect a class setting with the facilitator directing the class and the examiner making notes throughout.

Dancers should perform the skills asked of them while remaining respectful throughout the exam.

Following the exam, dancers should thank the examiner and the facilitator before leaving the classroom.

---

Exam Attire

Girls: Students are required to attend examinations in LA Dance Acro set uniform (black leotard, shorts and black or tan footless tights. Hair must be neatly tied back in a low bun or french braid, no fringe.

Boys: Students are required to attend examinations in LA Dance Acro T-shirt black shorts or tights. Hair must be neat and out of the face.

*Dancers should be free of all jewellery (necessary medical jewellery permitted)
*Dancers should appear neat and tidy

---

Bonus Skill

The dancer will have an opportunity to demonstrate one Bonus Skill.

This should be a skill that is safe for the dancer to perform, and shows off the dancer’s unique or advanced abilities in a particular skill area.

This skill is worth 5 additional points on the exam.

---

Marking Scale

The 28 required elements, exam etiquette and grooming will be marked as either 'Incomplete', 'Fair', 'Good', or 'Excellent'. The exam will be graded as 'Retry', 'Pass', 'Commended', ‘Highly Commended', 'Excellent' or ‘Distinction'.

Successful students will receive a certificate to commemorate their achievement. Students who receive the grade 'Superior' will also receive a custom Acrobatic Arts medal.

All students will receive a report card complementing areas of excellence and suggesting areas for improvement.

All exams are marked against the standard for the level and skill being performed.

Acrobatic Arts Adjudicators receive extensive training and are required to attend update courses to ensure consistency throughout the program. The Adjudicator’s mark is final.

Each skill is marked out of 5 points:

Incomplete 0 Fair 1-3 Good 4 Excellent 5

Retry 0-75 Pass 75-96 Commended 97-107 Highly Commended 108-118 Excellent 119-129 Distinction 130-150

The accumulation of all points determines the grade:

---

Did you know….

Dancers who successfully complete all 12 levels of the Acrobatic Arts Syllabus are eligible to enter the Acrobatic Arts Graduate Teachers Study as part of their in studio exam process. Successful candidates will be granted Module Two Certified Teacher status.

Acrobatic Arts believes that successfully completing all 12 levels in the Acrobatic Arts Syllabus is an amazing accomplishment, and we are very proud of the dancers who are able to do so.

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Exam Fee = £45

Please tick the exams you wish to take part in..

Acro Dance Exams 2019

Ready to take an Acrobatic Arts Examination?

Taking an Exam is an excellent way of allowing our dancers to recognise their recent hard work in class and to feel a sense of achievement.

We also hope they will enjoy the excitement of the exam day with their class mates and that the experience will help prepare them for success in their future lives.

Exams will take place locally (venue and time to be confirmed) on 19th-20th July 2019.

---

Exam Etiquette

Groups of around 6 dancers at a time are expected to line up outside the classroom door, and wait to be welcomed in by the facilitator.

Dancers should greet the examiner and the facilitator at the beginning of the exam.

During the exam, students can expect a class setting with the facilitator directing the class and the examiner making notes throughout.

Dancers should perform the skills asked of them while remaining respectful throughout the exam.

Following the exam, dancers should thank the examiner and the facilitator before leaving the classroom.

---

Exam Attire

Girls: Students are required to attend examinations in LA Dance Acro set uniform (black leotard, shorts and black or tan footless tights. Hair must be neatly tied back in a low bun or french braid, no fringe.

Boys: Students are required to attend examinations in LA Dance Acro T-shirt black shorts or tights. Hair must be neat and out of the face.

*Dancers should be free of all jewellery (necessary medical jewellery permitted)
*Dancers should appear neat and tidy

---

Bonus Skill

The dancer will have an opportunity to demonstrate one Bonus Skill.

This should be a skill that is safe for the dancer to perform, and shows off the dancer’s unique or advanced abilities in a particular skill area.

This skill is worth 5 additional points on the exam.

---

Marking Scale

The 28 required elements, exam etiquette and grooming will be marked as either 'Incomplete', 'Fair', 'Good', or 'Excellent'. The exam will be graded as 'Retry', 'Pass', 'Commended', ‘Highly Commended', 'Excellent' or ‘Distinction'.

Successful students will receive a certificate to commemorate their achievement. Students who receive the grade 'Superior' will also receive a custom Acrobatic Arts medal.

All students will receive a report card complementing areas of excellence and suggesting areas for improvement.

All exams are marked against the standard for the level and skill being performed.

Acrobatic Arts Adjudicators receive extensive training and are required to attend update courses to ensure consistency throughout the program. The Adjudicator’s mark is final.

Each skill is marked out of 5 points:

Incomplete 0 Fair 1-3 Good 4 Excellent 5

Retry 0-75 Pass 75-96 Commended 97-107 Highly Commended 108-118 Excellent 119-129 Distinction 130-150

The accumulation of all points determines the grade:

---

Did you know….

Dancers who successfully complete all 12 levels of the Acrobatic Arts Syllabus are eligible to enter the Acrobatic Arts Graduate Teachers Study as part of their in studio exam process. Successful candidates will be granted Module Two Certified Teacher status.

Acrobatic Arts believes that successfully completing all 12 levels in the Acrobatic Arts Syllabus is an amazing accomplishment, and we are very proud of the dancers who are able to do so.

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Exam Fee = £45

Due no later than April 30th 2019.

If you would like to participate in the exam, please fill out the form below.

Our Training with Acrobatic Arts

My Thoughts

We completed our Acro training in April 2018 and received expert tuition from both Jen and Sandra. We both loved the training and got high scores in our exams, Lisa particularly well... 100%!! Very impressive!👌🏻 I am so pleased that we picked the Acrobatic Arts curriculum.

The Acrobatic Arts programme is so much fun for the Dancers, we had the pleasure of taking a handful of our own dancers along to help us learn spotting techniques etc. They had a fabulous time but they also learned such a lot. We could see that after just a few days, their strength and flexibility had already improved and we know that if they carry on with this programme, their dance ability will go from strength to strength but what has impressed us most of all about the curriculum, is how safety conscious it is towards the dancers.

The programmes huge success is progression. Simply, if the dancer is coached correctly through each and every progression at their own individual pace, they will be able to achieve their goals without the risk of injury.

All dancers begin at primary level and work through the levels at a pace suitable to them. It depends a little on age but more so on ability as to how quickly they work through the levels. Once they can perform a progression perfectly and for the required amount of time, it is added to their achievement card and at that point, they are able to attempt the next progression. The dancer themselves will, by then, feel confident and strong enough to move on as well as having a great sense of achievement.

Once the dancer has found their suitable level, they will normally spend around year or so working at it, with every small achievement recorded along the way.  Ultimately, they will be offered the option to take an exam in that level. 

There is also a great deal of care taken in the teaching of Acro that both sides of the body are worked evenly, which as a Pilates and Ballet teacher, this really does please me!  So often I come across dancers with notable misalignments in their posture due to overwork on their 'favourite high kicking leg' or they may have a best side for a cartwheel for another example. Dancers studying the Acrobatic Arts programme will be required to display their work on both sides of the body equally before progressing to the next level. By emphasising this even way of working, the Acrobatic Arts programme is excellently designed to give the dancers, grace, strength, flexibility and a beautifully, even aligned posture that they will be able to carry through to adult life. 

As a Pilates teacher, I can not recommend this programme highly enough! It is so incredibly well researched and designed and is one of the best exercise programs for children and young adults that I have come across!

Module 2

Acrobatic Arts Module 2

Over the half term Angela went to Cambridge to attend another 'Back Handspring and Aerial' workshop with Acrobatic Arts and also completed her 'Module 2' Acrobatic Arts certification.
This means that LA Dance Acro can now teach and enter dancers for exams at all levels from Primary to level 8and Pre Professional 1-3.

Angela was required to take two level 6 dancers to help with her assessment. We would like to say a special thank you to Amy Watt and Lily Routledge for giving up their time and working so hard, they did us proud!! 
Here they are with Sandra, Katie and Vicky, Examiners and Instructors from Canadian Acrobatic Arts.

Valentines Challenge

Valentines Challenge

💜💜💜💜
We had a great time in all our classes in the week leading up to Valentines day.
We gave the dancers 10 minutes to come up with a way to make the shape of a heart with their bodies. On Valentines day we posted the best hearts on our Facebook page.
Our winner with the most likes was this one.

Here are all the others!!

Care Home Show

Care Home Visit

In December some of our gold class were invited to do a small display of their work at Rivermere Care Home in Sevenoaks.
I'm not sure who enjoyed it more... the residents or our dancers!  It was such a lovely thing to do and the good news is they have asked us to go back in the Summer!
We will have to get cracking on some more routines!

Progress Cards

Progress Cards

Helping Dancers Progress Safely, Building Healthy, Strong and Balanced Bodies!

At LA Dance Acro, building a “Foundation of Technique” really means: establishing a baseline of strength, flexibility, and motor skill development that will allow us to safely and effectively start introducing basic acrobatic tricks. The amount of time this takes, and the difficulty of this process, is different for each dancer.

Each of our dancers has been issued with their own appropriate level of progress card to work on.

There are 12 levels of progress cards and it is possible to take an ‘Acrobatic Arts’ examination at each level if the dancer wishes. Each card has up to 30 skills to achieve before the dancer is ready to move on to the next level. 

Some of the skills on cards may look easy to the dancers but to receive a star for a skill, it needs to be performed to technical perfection to prove that as well as achieving the skill, they have also acquired an appropriate level of strength and control performing that skill.

For example a technically correct bridge, should have straight arms, flat parallel feet with shoulders placed over the wrists.

A handstand against the wall for 25 seconds must be unassisted, with correct alignment and not loose postural form.

Cartwheels must have stretched knees and pointed feet that start and finish with control and be performed in both directions.

Acrobatic Dance is Hard Work!

It takes a lot of hard work, strength, discipline and dedication to be a skilled acrobatic dancer! Cardiovascular fitness is required, core strength and balanced flexibility.

We try and make this body conditioning as much fun as possible but it is tough work!

While bodies are getting into top acro shape, wrists may get sore from increased pressure on the hands (while upside down); necks may feel tight as the weaker muscles are gaining strength and sometimes bumps and bruises may appear while stumbling through the process of muscle memory development. In fact, the simple act of falling and getting right back up, trains the body to move more smoothly and efficiently!

So when a dancer finally gets a star for a single skill on their progress chart, there is a real sense of achievement and when their charts are completely filled with stars they get to celebrate their success by taking their completed charts home and moving on to the next level.

(We will make allowances if a dancer is finding the odd skill unachievable allowing them to move on but carry the particular skill with them over to the next level).

We understand that our dancers can’t wait to get cracking on the exciting stuff like back handsprings and aerials and honestly, that is exactly what we want them to eventually achieve but to acquire these skills safely, it is necessary to build up a strong foundation of technique in the first few years of their training.

Aches, pains, bumps and bruises are to be expected, it actually takes a huge amount or hard work to be strong enough to hold just a hand stand or bridge but the process of building a slow, steady and safe foundation of technique results in long-term success with healthy, strong, balanced bodies that are able to perform exciting Acrobatic tricks and skills safely and with ease!

Once a dancer has completed all the progress cards up to level 6, this will have safely conditioned their bodies to easily achieve aerials and back hand springs with grace and control.

It will be worth it!

We can understand dancers may feel a little impatient, wanting these  “fun tricks” to come quickly and easily, maybe a little fed up with regularly feeling sore and tired with the amount of conditioning we do in our classes.

We have been so impressed with all the dancers, they have worked really hard and are achieving so much, so very fast! We really hope that they are having lots of fun but at the same time, learning how to be focused and disciplined in the art of Acrobatic Dance.

We feel that the addition of the progress cards will be encouraging for the dancers, help them understand the process and allow them to celebrate their efforts along the way!

If you would like to see a copy of your dancers card to find out what level they are and how they are getting on at any time during the term, please just enter your details and click on the link below and we will send you an update as soon as possible.

If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please contact us at…

info@ladanceacro.co.uk

First Aid Course

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2 certificates in 1 Day

Emergency First Aid at Work
Paediatric First Aid . 

Sunday 10th February
10am - 5pm
at
The Royal British Legion in Petts Wood 

£85!!
(Half Price)

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Would you like to learn or update First Aid Training??

Due to popular demand, Health Care Training Services and LA Dance Acro are teaming together run a half price first aid course at the Royal British Legion in Petts Wood!
Perfect for professionals needing to update their qualification but also essential knowledge for anyone wanting to know how to help save somebody's life!
Great for parents or grandparents wishing to know how to respond in an emergency or young adults/teens wanting to enhance their CVs or D of E awards!
We believe that everybody should learn these skills and want to make this qualification more accessible. 
Please feel free to pass this information on to anyone you know who might be interested?

Full details of the course below...

Health Care Training Services: delivers high quality, good value first aid training to a wide variety of clients ranging from Blue Chip, NHS Primary Care Trusts; Schools; Dr's and Dental Surgeries to small local businesses. 

1 Day Emergency First Aid
Course Overview

A tailored First Aid workshop delivering practical and useful information specifically covering First Aid issues which you may encounter at low risk areas such as offices, libraries or fitness class, gym etc.

This workshop will include the legal aspects and dangers of First Aid, cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR), circulatory problems including allergic reactions, respiratory problems and asthma, fractures, muscle injuries, strains and sprains, and other medical problems such as diabetes and epilepsy.

The course will give2 certificatesthe 1 Day Emergency First Aid at Workand the 1 Day Paediatric course certificate. It would be beneficial to anyone who is involved with children, the public or would like to learn First Aid. The qualification is valid for 3 years and recognised in a working environment. Basically, everyone should learn whats on this course, you never know when these skills might save a life, not just at work but also at home. 

To Sign up please enter your details in the form below…

Some the fun we have had in the last 2 months

Thank you to all our dancers and parents for attending LA Dance Acro Classes this term, we hope first and foremost that the dancers have had fun at the classes so far, there are always a lot of smiles!

Some of the fun we’ve had over the last 2 months!

Postponed Tuesday Bronze/Silver Class

We are very sorry for any inconvenience caused by our late cancellation of the Tuesday Bronze/Silver class on October 2nd, due to unfortunate circumstances and thank you for your understanding.

The dancer in question has received treatment and is recovering well. Thank you for all your get well wishes, we have passed them on to her.

We have looked at running a replacement class during half term or the Christmas holidays but are unable to find a date where both the room and ourselves would be available. Instead we can offer a refund or deduct the cost of the class from next terms fees.

October Stretch of the Month

Ideally to be practiced every day for the month of October and then be amazed as you watch your position in bridge improve along with more mobile and beautifully performed forward and backward walkovers.

A printable copy can be requested from your teachers!

(Prize at the end of the month for the dancer who has practiced this stretch and demonstrated the most improvement!!)

Please send us your photos of you practicing at home!!

Sign Up to a Class

Classes work out at £8 per hour. Please note, the timetable is temporary and could be subject to small changes over time.

To register your dancer for a class, please fill in the form below...

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Dancer Registration Form (September 18)

Dance Acro Workshop Photos

 

Thanks to all our lovely dancers for joining us on our first workshop! We had a very successful day learning new tricks and creating two fantastic dances, choreographed mainly by the dancers themselves.

A few awards were given out.....

Choreography Superstars were, Evie and Laura, Balance Superstars were, Maddie and Abigail and Gold raffle prize winners were Jessica and Lily. All our dancers took home one of our brand new LA Dance Acro T-Shirts designed by vade-invader as a special thank you for coming to our first workshop.

Morning Group

Afternoon Group

If that wasn't a good enough day already, amazingly, we had some huge success with dancers getting their aerials for the first time!

Up In the air!!

Congratulations to Katie, Sophie and Sofia for achieving their side aerials and huge congratulations to Abigail for achieving her front aerial! If you would like to see this in action, please just hit the button....

First term progress!

First term progress!

We wanted to say a big thank you to all our dancers and their parents for being there for us at the start of LA Dance Acro. We have enjoyed teaching Acrobatic Arts so much, mainly because we have such a lovely group of hardworking dancers to work with. We really hope that the dancers have got as much out of it as we have. 

We are amazed by the progress that has been made in just 2 months and wanted to share with you just a few examples. Check it out!!

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Square Splits

Dancers attempting square splits in early May 2018 (keeping your hips in a square alignment while sliding into splits is extremely difficult achieve). 

Same Dancers pictured in June 2018

The same dancers photographed in early July 2018 after 2 months of 2 classes of Dance Acro per week.

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Side Splits

Case 1

May 2018

July 2018

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Case 2

May 2018

July 2018

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Case 3

May 2018

July 2018

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Straddle

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Case 1

May 2018

July 2018

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Case 2

May 18

July 18

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Case 3

May 18

July 18

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Bridge

May 2018

July 2018

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Left Handed Cartwheels

Please click on link 

LA Dance Acro Pre School!!

Designed to introduce physical literacy, coordination, creative movement and basic acrobatic skills to little ones aged 2 - 5!

Class Times 

info@ladanceacro.co.uk

Sign Up

Trial Classes and Summer Holiday Dance Acro

To maintain the good work achieved so far, we have decided to run some classes at the British Legion over the summer including some trial classes for younger students aged 2-7 as requested. Please check out the form below and if you would like to book your dancers in just tick and submit?

Please note, any classes with 5 or less students, won't go ahead and booked classes will need to be paid for in advance.