Silver Swans Winter Course

Our ballet and repertoire classes are offered at three distinct levels of increasing pace and challenge: Gentle, Steady, and Dynamic. We encourage participants to select the level that best reflects their current experience, confidence, and physical ability.

If you have questions about which level is best suited to you, please don’t hesitate to contact the team at participate@rad.org.uk before completing your booking.

The Pilates and Move to the Musicals classes are open to all levels. Please note, Pilates classes must be booked in combination with a ballet and repertoire class. However, Move to the Musicals classes can be booked as a stand-alone class.

The fees listed for each class level are the total price for the entire five-day course and are not charged on a per-day basis. Dancers who are members of the RAD will receive a discounted price. Please enter your RAD ID when prompted to do so during the booking process to receive this discount.

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Please note, there may be changes to faculty prior to course commencement.

Kate Swainston
Ballet and Repertoire Faculty (Gentle and Steady)

Kate Swainston (PDTD RTS, ARAD AISTD), professional dancer, now teacher and examiner for The Royal Academy of Dance.

She trained to teach at The Royal Academy of Dance, where she passed the Professional Dancer’s Teaching Diploma with Distinction. She then went to the Royal Ballet School to complete an Intensive Character Dance Teaching Course.

Kate is a member of the ballet faculty at London Studio Centre. She is a third year Classical Ballet tutor, and first year Repertoire tutor.

In 2020 she joined the faculty of the Royal Ballet School, to teach Character Dance as a specialist subject to all year groups at White Lodge, then moved to Upper School in 2021 where she currently teaches first and second year students.

In 2025 she joined English National Ballet School, and was responsible for introducing ‘Character for the Classical Stage’. A course of study for both Main School and Associate students

She has also taught at the Royal Academy of Dance School, Central School of Ballet, DanceEast (a Centre for Advanced Training), London Studio Centre Associate programme and Pineapple Dance Studios London.

Kate continues to Examine, deliver Repertoire Workshops, Intensive Coaching Courses, and Summer Schools both in the UK, and internationally.

Wendy Jardine
Pilates Faculty

Wendy has taught Pilates for Dancers at the Royal Academy of Dance for eighteen years.  She also creates and presents courses to ballet teachers in the principles of Pilates to enhance the experience of training for dancers. 

Wendy is trained to Master Level and has been teaching Pilates since 2007. She has her own brand and uses Pilates to empower dancers in all of their movement.  Pilates gives dancers the conscious awareness of their strengths and imbalances and equips them with the tools to self-care, rebalance and avoid injury.  They enhance and improve their strength, mobility and flexibility, by knowing how and where every muscle is, and why each muscle group makes a move, big or small, or is a deep stabilising muscle. By isolating, engaging and feeling, which muscles are creating what, the dancers can consciously call upon them in their training and performance, which takes their work to another level.  Within these sessions, which flow from one move to another, the dancers learn how to use their breath to stabilise, connect, emote and relax.  This tool enriches life skills, exam technique, and allows for deep muscular, emotional and musical connection, and is deeply calming. 

When Wendy is not at the Academy, she teaches in West Dulwich and many sessions over Zoom.  She has an online library of over a hundred and fifty sessions and zoom recordings, too:  www.pilates-instructor.net 

Hannah Bailes
Move to the Musicals Faculty

Hannah is a community dance educator, and dance teacher. She achieved a Performing Arts degree at St Martin’s College, Lancaster, and a MA in Dance Studies at Trinity Laban. Hannah also qualified as a teacher of dance at Middlesex University. Her teaching practice includes work within community settings, and in primary and secondary education, FE and HE, spanning 21 years. Hannah recently visited the European Parliament to discuss Dance and Wellbeing in Mental Health, and contributed to the Dance for Lifelong Wellbeing research and conference held at the Royal Academy of Dance in 2013. The Dance for Lifelong Wellbeing research led to Hannah beginning to teach regular weekly classes at RAD Headquarters for Older Learners on behalf of the Faculty of Education. These classes moved to the Dance School and were named ‘Move to the Musicals’. Hannah has taught these classes, based on Musical Theatre and Dance for Lifelong Wellbeing, for 12 years. Hannah is a regular mentor to BABE507 RAD students, at RAD Headquarters, working with them to develop and improve their teaching skills in a community setting. Hannah has taught on the Silver Swans Summer School since 2022, teaching Musical Theatre.

Hannah has performed in the opening/closing ceremonies of the London Olympics in 2012, and the closing ceremony of the Paralympic games with the Rio Handover cast. Hannah has since performed in the opening/closing ceremonies of the Birmingham Commonwealth games in 2022. In the same year, Hannah was one of the performers in the Platinum Jubilee Parade in June. Hannah performed in the opening segment of Strictly Come Dancing in 2016 with London School of Samba and in Dancing on Ice in 2018 with the same group.

Royal Academy of Dance
188 York Road
London
SW11 3JZ

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