Best is there at every stage of a child’s development – from shortly after birth to adulthood!
With bestbeans children begin to explore the world around them, taking to their feet and learning to express themselves in a safe yet inspiring environment.
When they are 4 they move up to First Class and begin to put their bestbeans-learned skills gently into their first performances, blending acting, singing and dancing in 90 minutes of fun and excitement.
At some stage when they are 6 they will be ready to take another significant step, joining Best where each of the three main theatre disciplines has its own separate class. Now they get the chance to go onto a full stage with all the lights, sound, applause and thrill that brings. They may also want to gain some more formal recognition of their progress through LAMDA exams – these may even eventually help them attain a university place!
On joining Best they go into ‘Green Group’ with others of a similar age, beginning to take even more advanced steps forward and even getting the chance to work with much older children. In year 5 it’s up to Blue Group and the work gets progressively more advanced and challenging. And when they go to secondary school they join ‘Yellow group’, becoming role models for the younger children and leading our public performances.
When they reach year 9 some Yellow Group students decide to join our youth theatre group, TheBYTE, where they get the chance to tackle more grown-up themes and issues whilst growing in technique and adult sociability. TheBYTE is a tight-knit group of individuals from very different schools and backgrounds which creates a fantastic dramatic dynamic!
And just because we become adults doesn’t mean we have to stop having fun on stage! The Feelgood Factor is a weekly musical theatre group for adults taking on classic musical numbers and giving them movement, style and energy. It’s a very sociable group where experience is definitely not a prerequisite!
Some will stay with us for years (we still have students with us from our opening day 12 years ago), others will stay for a short while. But from whatever stage the Best journey begins to where it ends their will be growth – in confidence, communication, self-esteem and ability – and fun!
