Five days in the last week of July, £165, and a show at the Riverfront Theatre every July that everyone who wants to be in is in
The summer school and the show
Two things that are not classes: the summer school, five days from 9:30 to 3:30 in the last week of July for eight to sixteen-year-olds with guest teachers in styles we do not teach in term, £165; and the show, a full evening at the Riverfront Theatre on the Saturday before, with every class on stage, tickets £14 and £10, and a costume hire of £35 a routine.
The show is the point of the year for most of the dancers, and the summer school is the week they would do all year if we let them. Both have dates a year ahead, both are optional, and both are run so that no child is on stage because a parent paid for it or off stage because one could not.
The show, "Tempo: Lights Up", is at the Riverfront Theatre on Saturday 10 July 2027, with a matinee at 2:30pm and an evening at 7pm. Every class from Pre-Primary to the adults has a number, the Seniors' commercial routine closes the first half, the crew closes the second, and the certificates and medals from the year's exams are presented between. There is no participation fee: the costs are the ticket (£14 adults, £10 children and concessions, two tickets per dancer guaranteed before general sale) and a costume hire of £35 a routine, returned after the show, with a costume fund for any family that asks. Rehearsals are in class time from May, with one Sunday technical rehearsal at the theatre the week before.
The summer school runs from Monday 27 to Friday 31 July 2027, 9:30am to 3:30pm, for eight to sixteen-year-olds, £165 for the week with a sibling at £140. Four guest teachers come in for the styles we do not teach in term, which this year are contemporary, musical theatre, acro and Bollywood, alongside a daily technique class with our own staff, a choreography project that the group makes from nothing, and a sharing for parents on the Friday at 3pm. Lunch is brought from home; the kettle and the fridge are the dancers'. Thirty-six places, usually full by Easter.
A smaller holiday workshop runs for two days in the February and October half terms (£55 for the two days, 10am to 2pm, five to eleven-year-olds) and the Easter week has the exam intensives for the dancers entered for the March RAD session. None of these is compulsory, and a dancer who does nothing in the holidays loses nothing in September.
Tickets for the show go on sale to families on 1 May and to the public on 1 June through the Riverfront box office, and sell out most years. Photographs and the film of the show are by a licensed photographer with consent forms signed at registration; nothing is posted by the school without that consent.
What is included
- The show at the Riverfront Theatre, Saturday 10 July 2027, 2:30pm and 7pm, every class on stage
- No participation fee; tickets £14 and £10; costume hire £35 a routine with a fund for any family that asks
- The summer school, 27 to 31 July 2027, 9:30am to 3:30pm, £165, siblings £140
- Four guest teachers in contemporary, musical theatre, acro and Bollywood
- Half-term workshops in February and October, £55 for two days
- Rehearsals in class time; one Sunday technical rehearsal at the theatre
What it costs
The summer school £165 for five days; the show tickets £14 adults and £10 children, costume hire £35 a routine, no participation fee. Nothing is added. The timetable has every class with its spaces, the term dates and the prices side by side; the exams and shows page has the dates.
Questions about summer school and show
Does my child have to be in the show?
No. About nine in ten are. A child who does not want to be on stage still does the routine in class and nobody minds; there are two or three a year, and some of them are in it the year after.
How much does the show really cost a family?
Two tickets (£28 or £24), one costume hire per routine (£35; a child in two classes has two), and a programme if you want one. Around £65 for a child in one class. There is a costume fund, quietly, for any family that asks Nerys.
Is the summer school only for Tempo dancers?
No. About a third of the places go to dancers from other schools and from none, from eight to sixteen. They need a term of some dance behind them and the stamina for a full day; we check both on the form.
The first class is free. Any class, any age, nothing to buy.
Tell us the dancer's age and the style you are curious about, and the office rings back the same day with a class that has a space. Come in anything you can move in, stand at the back if you like, and decide afterwards. Or ring Bethan in the office.