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At Mainstream's academy classes:
- find out if you could be a future pop star, prima ballerina or great actor
- enjoy learning new skills that are great fun to learn and to do
- meet lots of new friends
- be taught by specialists with both teaching and performing experience
- improve results in dance or drama at school
- take part in shows
- increase confidence, self-esteem and social skills
- improve physical fitness and health in a fun way
- create great memories and start a fun hobby that could last a lifetime
Mainstream's academies provide high-quality tuition in performing arts skills in a disciplined and fully structured format, with classes designed and delivered to maximise the pupils enjoyment. Children can start from an early age: 3 years for dance and 5 years for classes in all of the major performing arts disciplines. Most classes and workshops allow for complete beginners, and they are held mainly on Saturdays so that most people can fit them in around school and work commitments.
Stagewise Performing Arts
In StageWise, you can take just one great class to learn skills in:
- drama
- jazz and modern pop dance and musical stage movement
- group singing
Stagewise classes are our most popular workshops by far; they combine all three of the major elements that young people particularly enjoy: acting, dancing and singing.
StageWise classes are for ages 5 and upwards. For children aged 5 and 6 years, we have a preparatory 1½ hour class and from 7 years upwards the classes are 3 hours in duration.
Dance
For more specialised dance training, we have classes in:
- ballet & tap
- modern pop
- street jazz
from the ages of 3 years to adult.
Our dance classes have a fully-structured examination syllabus run through the National Association of Teachers of Dance (NATD) with the option to enter for examinations from pre-primary right up to teacher level. Most classes run on Saturdays
Mainstream is the leader in dance; we offer the very best tutors and choreographers, to help you maximise your enjoyment and potential.
Singing / voice coaching
- expert, qualified voice coach
- one-to-one training
- all styles of singing
- qualification programme available
For anyone serious about learning to sing, our private voice coaching sessions can provide much more intense and personalised voice training than our StageWise group singing sessions. Whatever your style or taste in music, our expert voice coach can help you to achieve your singing potential.
A fully-structured qualification programme is available but not compulsory. Lessons are by appointment only.
Teachers
All MTA teaching staff are:
- professional
- qualified
- experienced
All of our teachers have had at least two years of teaching experience, fit our exacting requirements for tutoring children, hold a degree in the arts and have performance experience.
All staff are regularly checked through the Criminal Records Bureau for their suitability for working with children and young people and key staff are trained in first aid.
Many of our teachers also hold additional teaching qualifications from nationally-recognised bodies and some also have technical, directing and stage management experience.
Discipline
At each school we insist on a supportive, rather than a competitive, environment, and we instil a work ethic that helps the students to realise that "maximum effort equals maximum enjoyment" so that the students quickly develop the ability to create and show their best work.
We also maintain a level of discipline in our classes that allows every student the chance to express his or her self and to take risks with their work without fear of ridicule or disruption from others, as well as to ensure the safety of students.
In this way, we ensure that our classes are safe, fun, friendly and rewarding.
Clothing
We do not have a specific uniform for most of our classes, but as dance and drama are both physical activities they should wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothes and jazz shoes or light black pumps. If in doubt, our staff will be happy to advise you.
There is a set uniform for ballet and tap, but initially we ask new students to wear tracksuit bottoms, a tee-shirt top and flat shoes such as black plimsoles. Once they have enrolled, we will advise them on the correct uniform to obtain.
We reserve the right to prevent students from joining in certain activities if we believe that the way they are dressed could be hazardous to them or to others in their class.
Productions
Mainstream regularly mounts productions ranging from short pieces devised in class and presented to an invited audience to full-scale dance musicals with casts of, in some cases, over two hundred students. We are occasionally asked to take part in other events as well, which in the past have included productions at the Millennium Dome in London and the MEN Arena in Manchester and drama pieces for Homewatch local and national conferences, as well as many more local events in theatres, community centres and schools.
We try to give all of our students the opportunity to play a part in at least some of these productions if they wish, as we believe it is important for them to be able to demonstrate their talents and the skills they have learned. However participation is entirely voluntary and rehearsals are kept separate from the regular classes so that those who do not take part can continue to attend.
We expect our students to work hard and be fully-committed to any production they take part in, and they should expect a period of very intensive rehearsals leading up to the performances, especially if they have a leading role. We believe that this instils a professional attitude and a pride in our students towards their work, and encourages them to achieve the highest standard they are capable of whilst maximising the standard of the final production.
Professional work
Mainstream does not run its own agency, but production companies often contact us looking for young people for stage and TV work. We thoroughly check out the work offered, and if we feel it is appropriate for any of our students that fit the requirements we will pass it on to their parents for final approval. Although a number of our present and past students have found auditions and work in this way, we do not guarantee that it will be available to anyone in the future. However with a twenty-five-year history of delivering performing arts education, you can be confident that the profile of Mainstream students remains high within professional casting circles.
Join for enjoyment, a hobby, a career foundation
Thousands of students, past and present, have come to learn with us for many different reasons: as a social activity, to make friends, to become more confident and to learn other life skills, or to take part in productions. Many students have studied further and have become professional dancers, actors, singers or stage managers in theatre, cabaret and television, or have become teachers themselves. Whatever their reasons for coming to us, we endeavour to send them all away with more confidence, professional performance skills and attitudes, many enjoyable experiences and lots of wonderful memories that will stay with them throughout their lives.