Nicola Gaskell, Hayley Winnington and Laura Moore set up ActiveDance in April 2006. Their aim was to provide a safe environment for children to come and learn to dance. Street & Freestyle Classes started in local church halls and community centres and soon proved extremely popular with the need for a permanent base becoming obvious very quickly. In September 2009 ActiveDance opened their state of the art Elton Studios and also took over the Spirals studios from Nadine who had run the successful Radcliffe based dance school for nearly 20 years!
With their new bases ActiveDance extended their dance styles and introduced Ballet & Tap, Drama, Ballroom & Latin, Competition Classes & Cheer to their timetable and now have an excellent core of teachers who work at all centres. As well as the studio classes ActiveDance also work with numerous schools and children’s Centres within the Bury area.
ActiveDance now have nearly 1,000 pupils attending classes each week ranging from 2 years old right up to adults.
Our ethos is that ‘everyone is equal’. Although nothing is compulsory we include every single pupil who wants to take part, in exams, shows, performances etc. Everyone is welcome, whether it is to attend a weekly class as a hobby, compete or to make dancing a career we have classes to suit every dancer.
We pride ourselves on being ‘more than just a dance school’ by offering more than a weekly dance class. We offer exciting holiday clubs that parents rave about! “they enjoyed it that much they have already asked if they can come back next year so thanks sooooo much, it’s a real weight off your mind when you know your kids are going somewhere where they are happy, once again thanks” and Fantastic Birthday parties that enable parents to sit back and relax knowing that their child’s special day is all being taken care of in a professional manner whilst the children have a blast!! “Thank you so much for a great birthday party on Friday evening. Natasha, Eleanor and their friends had a great time – some said it was the best party ever!”
Our shows are also legendary! We feel it is important to allow the children to show their parents what they have been learning in class and to reward their hard work and excellent exam results with a presentation evening. In July 2011 we turned our stage into the ActiveDance County Jail and performed an array of show stopping dances! “Thanks so much for another fab show the girls loved it and so did we!”
ActiveDance are ever expanding and our new centre in Heywood opened in September 2011.
Now we have all these amazing pupils our aim going forward is to offer experiences that enrich our dancers. In October 2011 we took 47 of our high school dancers to London to watch the hit Musical Wicked and then attend a workshop at the famous Pineapple Dance Studios with one of the professional dancers from Wicked. We also managed to fit in a bit of sightseeing and shopping on Oxford Street! All the dancers who attended absolutely loved the experience “thank you soooo much for taking us to London it was amazing!!” We are now planning the next trip and are in talks with a number of professional dancers to come to our Elton studios and provide professional Master Classes for our pupils.
It has been a very busy time for ActiveDance over the past 5 years but we have no intentions of slowing down! We are all about pushing forward and taking on the next challenge!
So what are you waiting for? Come and dance at the studios everyone is talking about!!!