Dance school scraps ballet auditions saying it’s an ‘elitist white art form’

17 July 2022, 12:14

The school has banned ballet from its entry audition process
The school has banned ballet from its entry audition process. Picture: Alamy

By Asher McShane

A leading dance school has dropped ballet from its entry auditions as staff say it is an ‘elitist’ art form.

The Northern School of Contemporary Dance has reviewed the inclusion of ballet in its School entry process, saying it brings with it a ‘contentious nature’ and that the form of dance brings with it ‘white European ideas,’ the Telegraph reports.

The school argues learning ballet is expensive, idealises certain body shapes and physical attributes, and divides roles along gender lines.

Information from the school, based in Leeds, said: “We review content and have removed ballet from our audition day due to its potentially contentious nature.”

Read more: ‘Queen and Charles urged Meghan to try to reconcile with her father,’ book claims

Francesca McCarthy, head of undergraduate studies at the conservatoire, explained to The Telegraph: “It is essentially an elitist form. Young people need to pay to take ballet classes as a general rule and for a vast number of potential students, they’ve not had access to ballet.

“It is a very specific form that is built around particular white European ideas and body shapes that are often alienating to young people who do not fit that aesthetic ideal.”

The NCSD hopes that removing ballet from its audition process will make the school more inclusive and increase diversity.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Used E-Cigarette

Disposable vapes banned from Sunday in bid to improve health and cut 'avalanche' of litter

EuroMillions - Photo Illustration

Lucky EuroMillions winner could snatch up £199m jackpot in UK record

Loretta Swit presents a tribute to 'Mr. Rogers' at the 45th annual Daytime Emmy Awards on April 29, 2018

M*A*S*H star Loretta Swit dies aged 87

The study is funded by the Sarah Harding Breast Cancer Appeal, a charity set up in the name of the Girls Aloud singer who died of breast cancer aged 39

Study led by Sarah Harding's doctor could see NHS offer breast cancer checks to women in their thirties

Exclusive
A prison officer was stabbed with a weapon that may have been delivered to Long Lartin prison by a drone.

Prison officer stabbed with weapon 'likely sent in by drone', union chief tells LBC News as he warns 'it's a risk every shift'

White House AI Hack Triggers Global Security Fears as Voice-Cloning Threat Grows

White House AI voice-cloning hack spark security fears as deepfake of Trump's Chief of Staff triggers global alarm

Sanitation workers load rubbish into an automatic garbage truck in Long Island, New York

Man found dead 'buried under rubbish' after bin he was sleeping in was emptied into bin lorry

Chinese President Xi Jinpingmeets with his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump.

China hits back at Trump after he accuses it of 'totally violating' tariff agreement

Trump has responded to a question from a reporter about the Macrons

‘Not good’: Trump responds to question about video of Macron being 'slapped across face' by wife Brigitte

Levi Bancroft, 22,  was sentenced on Friday, 30 May at Southwark Crown Court for four counts of rape involving three victims

Serial rapist, 22, who raped two 'vulnerable' teenage girls and a transgender woman sentenced to life in prison

Screengrab from CCTV footage showing Jay McGinty, 37, at the entrance to Claridge's Hotel in Mayfair.

Man caught trying to steal jewels worth £190k from Claridge’s Hotel using smoke grenades and sledgehammer jailed

Daily Life In Richmond Hill

Toxic pesticide linked to cancer discovered in tampons at levels 40 times above legal limit for drinking water

Exclusive
Lord Hermer and Sir Keir Starmer

'Out of touch': Attorney General slammed for comparing ECHR doubters to Nazis

Exclusive
The UK’s Oldest Man, Donald Rose aged 110, has been given the ‘Freedom of The Borough’ in Derbyshire.

UK’s oldest man given ‘Freedom of The Borough’ for service in World War 2

Aerial view of Long Lartin High Security Prison near Evesham in Worcestershire.

Prison officer, 25, airlifted to hospital after being stabbed by inmate at high-security prison

Royal Terrace Pier Gravesend

Search for girl missing in River Thames suspended - boy pulled from water treated in hospital