If you are googling for top dance schools in Singapore, chances are that you are looking at schools that offer more than the usual classes and examinations. You are probably looking for dance schools that produce top dancers and provide plenty of opportunities to build your child’s portfolio for her DSA application. We took the liberty to filter through many good schools and present to you the top schools that are in a league of their own.
Last year we have compiled a list of top 5 dance schools in Singapore as recommended by parents and industry experts. We have updated our list based on results of major dance competitions in Singapore this year.
Before you disagree with our selection, we would like to put up a disclaimer. Our selection is based on the amount of exposure and the average standard of the students in the school. Unfortunately, schools that participate sparsely in local competitions and those that only produce a couple of good dancers will not make it to our list. Don’t worry because we have an honourable mention list for them. Since we are recommending dance schools for young children, we have also focused on the performance of children aged 12 and below.
There is very little separating these schools that we have listed, they could all have made it to the top of the list by their own rights. Presenting to you the crème de la crème!
1. Taneo Dance Academy
Taneo Dance Academy’s competitive troupe is named the Rising Stars and it could not be more apt. This young school has improved by leaps and bounds and established themselves as a powerhouse, growing rapidly both in size and quality. Such is their dominance that we expect to see them placed in every category that they participate in. With presence only mostly in the junior sections, they managed to walk away with 3 Get The Beat Finals Gala Group Championship titles. With arguably the most competitive course fees in Singapore starting at $180/term, Taneo Dance Academy is the most value for money and gets our vote as the best dance school in Singapore.
759 Woodlands Ave 6 #01-32, Singapore 730759 | 270 Bishan St 24 #B1-198 Singapore 570270,
Tel: (+65) 9271 4762, www.taneodanceacademy.com
2. Dance Thrilogy
Dance Thrilogy is the most consistent top performers over for the past few years, never failing to occupy a spot in the top positions in most of the categories that they participate in. It is all the more amazing considering that the school has one of the biggest competitive troupe in Singapore. Few will argue that Dance Thrilogy has produced the most number of outstanding versatile dancers and that the standard of the average dancer is extremely high. If you would like your child to receive high quality training in various genres of dance such as ballet, lyrical, jazz and tap, you definitely have to check out Dance Thrilogy.
08-01 Parkway Centre, 1 Marine Parade Central, Singapore 449408,
Tel: (+65) 6440 5515, www.facebook.com/DanceThrilogy/
3. City Ballet Academy
City Ballet Academy has had a very active year, making appearances in all the major dance competitions in Singapore. They have taken big strides in the competition scene by dominating the ballet sections across different age categories in various competitions. They have made it high up on our list purely with their dominance in Ballet. The ballet instructors are of the highest caliber, many were ex-professional dancers with exceptional achievements. Now that they are growing and expanding to new genres and opening up new opportunities to its students, we expect to see City Ballet establishing themselves as one of the top dogs in the next couple of years.
22 Orchard Road #03-01 Singapore 238885,
Tel: (+65) 6336 1387, www.cityballetacademy.com
4. Jody Marshall Dance Company
Jody Marshall Dance Company has had a very good run of results in various dance competitions this year, notably their performance in the CSTD Singapore Regional Competition and improved performance in Get The Beat Singapore and Get The Beat World Finals. They are delivering good results for their group categories and have also produced a couple of outstanding young soloists that consistently made it to overall Solo Champions and Runner Up at Get The Beat. The ability to produce young dancers of the highest quality is no doubt the best indication of a school’s pedigree. Their dancers are powerful and versatile in various dance genres such as Jazz, Lyrical, Ballet, Hip Hop and Tap.
3 Temasek Boulevard, Suntec City Mall #03-327 / 328,
Tel: (+65) 6337 7177, www.jmdcsingapore.com
5. Jitterbugs Swingapore
Jitterbugs Swingapore was our top ranked school for 2017. They are the standout school at the CSTD Asia Pacific Dance Competition, featuring dance schools from various countries and sweeping up major solo and group awards. Unfortunately we are unable to make a good comparison of their performance against the best schools due to the small scale of the APDC. We have contentiously placed them lower due to other schools’ relative stronger showing in the biggest dance competition in Singapore: Get The Beat. Jitterbugs is still one of the best in the industry and we would love to see them more often in the biggest stage such as Get The Beat World Finals.
20 Havelock Road #01-20 Central Square Singapore 059765,
Tel: (+65) 6887 0383, www.jitterbugs.com
Honourable Mentions
On to the honourable mention awards, these are all great schools that you should also consider sending your child to. Some of them provide plenty of opportunities, participating frequently in competitions, such as Dance Point Academy, Stepping Out Studios, Attitude Performing Arts Studio, Artist Quotient, The School of Dance, Sissonne Dance Art, Jazz Cats, The Ballet School, Crestar School of Dance, Tru’Dance, Elevate Dance Academie, Young Dancers Academy, Step Studio, All That Jazz & Step Up Learning & Dance.
Last advise to all aspiring dance moms and dads. Do not think that your child will receive the best training just because you are sending your child to one of the schools that we have listed here. Some schools have more than one centre, do your homework to find out which is the main branch. It is common for dance schools that have multiple branches to concentrate their best teachers and students in a particular centre to maximize results for branding purposes.
Also speak to the staffs to indicate your interest in grooming your child professionally so that they can advise you on the courses available. Find the opportunity to speak to the parents of award winning students to find out how many hours they put into their training every week, what is their practice routine at home and if they attend additional classes in the school or externally. Determine what is the outcome that you are expecting from the training. Do you only want competition opportunities or do you want your child to be among the best in the country? The commitment is going to be vastly different.
4.5