Southdowns College | Enlightened Minds

Southdowns Dance Academy

Amelia van Ryneveld and Debra Gush launched Southdowns Dance Academy in 2012 with the vision and mission of providing specialised tuition in Ballet and Contemporary methodologies. Since its pioneering year, the Academy has grown progressively and now boasts a wide variety of dance styles and techniques.

In Addition to being a service provider to Southdowns Preparatory School and Southdowns College, the Dance Academy also opens its doors to the wider Centurion area, including both Government and Private schools.

The Academy uses the internationally recognised Royal Academy of Dance syllabi as the mode of tuition in ballet while their modern section utilises the South African Body of Dance syllabi (SABOD). Pupils enter for these prestigious exams every year.

Open classes in Contemporary and Jazz are an additional inclusion for the pupils of the Academy. Body Conditioning and specialised stretch classes are also available for the pupils. Recently, the Academy started open ballet and Repertoire classes on Saturdays that have proved to be very popular.

Pupils of the Academy take part in an annual Eisteddfod of the Performing arts and a biennial showcase at the SAX Arena in Southdowns. They are welcome to enter any other competitions and bursaries if they wish to.

Inge van Rensburg offers adult Pilates classes on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Irish Dancing is offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

We are incredibly proud of the development of the Academy in the past eight years and delighted with the quality of teaching we offer. Our pupils are always raising the barre and it is a supreme privilege for us to see these children growing up in front of us.

We look forward to more development in 2019 and hope to add Tap dance to our offerings.

Amelia and Debra also run the IEB Dance Studies at Southdowns College. This intensive subject boasts one of the biggest IEB portfolios in the system. Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz and Body Conditioning form the practical component while the theoretical side covers Anatomy, History of Dance and Music for Dance.

The Grade 12 Dance Studies results speak to the success of the Dance Department. In 2018, Grade 12 Dance pupil, Michelle Ehlers was ranked in the top 1% for Dance Studies in IEB schools within South Africa.

For any queries please contact the following:

Amelia@southdownscollege.co.za

Debra@southdownscollege.co.za