96 Educators providing Courses in Nottingham

The Nottingham Ballet School

the nottingham ballet school

5.0(2)

Nottingham

Laura is founder and principal of the Nottingham Ballet School. She is an experienced artist, teacher, director, mentor, and choreographer who trained on the BA (Hons) Ballet Education course at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in London. Whilst training, Laura also obtained her Licentiate (LRAD), Associate (ARAD) and Registered Teachers Status (RAD RTS). She began dancing at the tender age of 3 years with Janina Gieralt in Nottingham. Here she was inspired by her teacher and from the age of 10, knew she wanted to be just like Miss Gieralt. Her teachers challenged and motivated Laura to pursue a long term career in Dance Education. Laura has worked in private, public and community dance sectors around London teaching Ballet, Contemporary Ballet, Creative dance and Pilates to people of all ages; with a passion to provide access to dance for all. She has also choreographed for many dance productions, both on film and on stage and has worked on live streamed shows, video and photography projects. She has collaborated with many filmmakers, photographers, choreographers and artists on multiple community funded and private projects. Laura is enthusiastic and encourages diversity and creativity in dance; she is a youth mentor working alongside LambethELEVATE, has taught and examined for the worlds first Muslim Ballet School (Grace & Poise) and taught and developed the Associate programme at Marble Hill Dance Studio, alongside dear colleague and mentor Abigail Cova. Laura has also mentored RAD undergraduate students on their teaching placements. Her pupils have gone on to gain places at the Royal Ballet School (White Lodge), Royal Ballet School Junior Associates, Central School of Ballet Associates, Ballet Boost, The BRIT School, Arts Ed., Performers College, Bird College and The Urdang Academy. Whilst studying at the RAD, Laura performed alongside Darcey Bussell, for the Queen and members of the Royal Family, in celebration of Her Majesty’s 90th Birthday. She was also a Soloist dancer with the Semaphore Ballet Company and later went on to be Director of the Company; here she managed, organised events, collaborated with dance artists, choreographed and taught undergraduate dancers studying at the RAD. Laura acknowledges the importance of continued professional development and is delighted to be a student on the MA (Hons) Education (Dance Teaching) at the Royal Academy of Dance. She is also a Founding Partner of The Dance Teacher LLP, a peripatetic dance education service which offers classes across the Midlands, London and Hampshire. With a wealth of experience and ever expanding knowledge of teaching Ballet, Laura looks forward to welcoming and educating the next generation of dancers at the Nottingham Ballet School.

Expectancy - complementary therapy courses for midwives

expectancy - complementary therapy courses for midwives

Derbyshire

Yet again, mainstream media has sensationalised what they perceive as “witchcraft” – the use of “alternative” therapies by midwives. The Sunday Times has now waded into the melee, castigating midwives’ use of aromatherapy, acupuncture, reflexology and “burning herbs to turn a breech baby” (moxibustion). The article by Health Editor Shaun Lintern also denigrates practices which are not classified as complementary therapies, such as water injections for pain relief, hypnobirthing for birth preparation and counselling sessions following traumatic birth. Some of the accusations focus on their (inaccurate) statement about the lack of complementary therapy research, whilst others deplore trusts charging for some of these services. A letter to the Chief Executive of the NHS has been sent by a group of families whose babies have died in maternity units that have now come under scrutiny from the Care Quality Commission and the Ockenden team. Amongst those spearheading this group is a consultant physician whose baby died during birth (unrelated to complementary therapies) and who has taken it on himself to challenge the NHS on all matters pertaining to safety in maternity care. That is admirable – safety is paramount – but it is obvious neither he, nor the author of this latest article, knows anything at all about the vast subject of complementary therapies in pregnancy and birth. The article is padded out with (incorrect) statistics about midwives’ use of complementary therapies, coupled with several pleas for the NHS to ban care that they say (incorrectly) is not evidence-based and which contravene NICE guidelines (the relevant word here being guidelines, not directives). The article is biased and, to my knowledge, no authority on the subject has been consulted to provide a balanced view (the Royal College of Midwives offered a generic response but did not consult me, despite being appointed a Fellow of the RCM specifically for my 40 years’ expertise in this subject). I would be the first to emphasise that complementary therapies must be safe and, where possible, evidence-based, and I am well aware that there have been situations where midwives have overstepped the boundaries of safety in respect of therapies such as aromatherapy. However, I have not spent almost my entire career educating midwives (not just providing skills training) and emphasising that complementary therapy use must be based on a comprehensive theoretical understanding, to have it snatched away because of a few ill-informed campaigners intent on medicalising pregnancy and birth even further than it is already. For well-respected broadsheets to publish such inaccurate and biased sensationalism only serves to highlight the problems of the British media and the ways in which it influences public opinion with untruths and poorly informed reporting.