ISTD tap and modern theatre from five, Primary to Grade 6, with Lisa on Mondays and Wednesdays
Tap and modern
ISTD tap and modern theatre dance from five, in graded classes from Primary to Grade 6 with Lisa Parry, who trained at Laine and taught in the West End before coming home. Tap is rhythm and sound; modern is strength, contraction and the musical-theatre style. Most dancers do both, back to back on the same evening.
Tap is the class that makes a noise and the one that teaches rhythm better than anything else we do. Modern theatre is the one that makes dancers strong and gets them into musical-theatre colleges. They sit together in the ISTD syllabus and they sit together on Monday and Wednesday evenings here, so most dancers do both.
Tap starts at five with Primary: shuffles, ball changes and the first time steps, in tap shoes we fit at registration and that will need replacing every year until about twelve. Grades 1 to 6 follow the ISTD syllabus a grade a year: set amalgamations, improvisation and from Grade 3 a dance to a piece of music the class chooses. Lisa teaches the rhythm with the mouth before the feet, and a Grade 4 class in full flight is the loudest and happiest thing in the building.
Modern theatre, the ISTD's contemporary-influenced style with the Graham contractions and the jazz lines, starts at the same age and runs to Grade 6 alongside. It is the class that builds the strength ballet needs and the performance quality that the show needs, and it is the examined style that musical-theatre colleges look for. Bare feet or jazz shoes, black leotard, black shorts or tights.
Exams are the ISTD sessions in June and November, examined here in Studio 1 with the dates on the exams page; they are optional and about three in four dancers take them. The marking is out of a hundred with a distinction at eighty, and Lisa's dancers have had a pass rate of a hundred per cent in the last four sessions, which she would like us to say is luck and is not.
Classes are in Studio 1 on Mondays (Primary to Grade 3, tap then modern) and Wednesdays (Grades 4 to 6), with each grade's tap and modern back to back so a dancer does both in one trip and pays £14 for the pair. Adults who want to tap have their own class on Monday nights at eight.
What is included
- ISTD tap and modern theatre from Primary (five) to Grade 6, a class per grade
- Tap and modern back to back on the same evening, £14 for the pair
- Tap shoes fitted at registration; the second-hand rail for outgrown pairs
- Optional ISTD exams in June and November, examined here
- A dance to the class's own music from Grade 3
- An adult tap class on Monday nights
What it costs
Primary to Grade 3 £7 for forty-five minutes; Grade 4 to 6 £8.50 for an hour. Tap and modern back to back on the same night are £14 for the pair. 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 tap and modern
Do we need tap shoes for the taster?
No. Come in trainers or school shoes with a hard sole and we lend a pair of taps for the class if the size is on the shelf. Buy shoes after the taster if they are staying; we fit them and a new pair is about £30.
Is modern the same as contemporary?
Not quite. ISTD modern theatre is the examined, musical-theatre-facing style with jazz lines and Graham-based floorwork. Contemporary is the looser, concert-dance style, which the Seniors meet in the summer school and the vocational classes.
Can my child do tap without modern?
Yes, and some do, but they sit together on the timetable for a reason: the modern class builds the strength and the stretch that the tap grades from Grade 3 need. Most dancers who try both keep both.
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.