The School
History
Brooks Dance Academy was founded in 1995 by Jackie Brooks AISTD CDE.
After training with Miss Elizabeth Hodgshon, Miss Jackie then went on to study dance at Arts Educational dance college in London and has been teaching young people how to dance ever since.
The school was initially based at St Mary's Church hall in Shoreham before moving to Victoria Road Primary School. In 2016 the school moved to its own premises on Broadway Road in Lancing just over the Shoreham roundabout.
We also use other venues in Lancing, Shoreham, Southwick & Steyning.
The academy offers a huge range of training in all different styles of dance, such as: Ballet, Modern, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Acro, Lyrical, Street/Hiphop, Commercial & Heels.
Regular exam sessions are held with the ISTD. We also run a huge variety of other classes and run a very dynamic competition team.
Everyone is invited to take part in our much-loved bi-annual dance show at Attenborough Centre for the Creative Arts, Brighton in July.
Many of our students are also encouraged to audition and perform in local pantomimes, festivals, competitions and shows.
Our senior students are encouraged to audition for pre-vocational programmes to further their education before applying to professional dance college.
The types of pre-vocational courses our students attend include: The Place CAT, Trinity Laban CAT, Central School of Dance Ballet Associates, Performers Elite, Sol Dans Youth, Prima Associates, Ballet Boost & Ceyda Tanc Youth.
We invite the most dedicated and talented students to join our performance troupes.
Dancers work on choreographed routines in styles such as Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Modern, Lyrical and Street to be performed throughout the year.
Pupils must take a minimum of three classes a week in relevant styles along with their troupe class.
We compete locally at Competitions, Youth Platforms and Festivals. Pupils who have been part of our competition team for over a year and are confident performers will also be invited to learn solos, duets and trios.
Head to the Competition Team section to find out more.
Ethos
While we strive to produce well trained dancers, many of whom go on to study dance in further education, our main priority is for students to keep fit, enjoy a wonderful creative hobby, make friends and build confidence for later life.
We believe in pushing students to be creative, to find out what they love about dance and celebrate their unique strengths.
Each year we run a Choreography Competition where students can create their own dances in groups. They are awarded on the basis of their idea, creativity and execution and all students are awarded for taking part.