Guides
Now Reading
Performing Arts Centres In Abu Dhabi – A Guide
Arts, Music and Drama
0

When a child feels valued and significant they are more likely to take care of themselves and make good choices about their friendships. They are more equipped to face and overcome everyday challenges in healthy and positive ways. A child with low self-esteem feels hesitant in social situations and will be disinclined to step outside of their comfort zone, which limits their perspectives, opportunities and prospects.

When it comes to a child’s school life, having social, emotional and inner confidence is vital to their ability to control their learning, to develop their social savvy and is a key factor in motivating the choices that they make.

Albert Bandura has had a long and prosperous career in the study of social and cognitive behaviour and is considered to be one of the leading experts in the self-efficacy within education arena. He said:

“Self-efficacy is the individuals belief about their capacity to influence the events in their own lives.” (Bandura, 1977, 1944)

A myriad of research into the psychology of education has been conducted since Bandura’s, with varying outcomes, however one thing that the researchers agree on is that self-belief has an immense influence in the success of one’s school career and has a massive impact on the happiness of their entire life.

The more confident a person is the more likely they are to have better health, a better social life, enhanced protection against mental health disorders and social problems.  They are more likely to be able to cope generally and have better mental wellbeing.  This is especially the case in young children with high confidence, who consistently perform better in school and have higher job satisfaction and happiness later in life.

Based on finding such as these, modern education has seen much emphasis placed on building confidence in young students over the last 25 years, and the good news is that self-confidence can be taught and developed.

As the intense competition for limited places in coveted schools, colleges and universities increases, parents are turning to extra curricular activities to give their children an edge over the opposition.  This trend has led to a massive upsurge in the number of students receiving supplementary Private Tutoring to help them with the core school subjects. And now with the fundamental importance of self-confidence being realised, enrolment of students into performing arts centres has also seen a huge acceleration.

Kings_Interhigh_InArticle

 

The Link Between Confidence And The Performing Arts

A recent 3-year study by the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education (UK) has shown that a child’s participation in performing arts has a direct and positive bearing on their self-esteem.

The study of the arts and the presentation of them in front of an audience allow children to contribute their ideas, it also allows them to express their emotions and their personality, which in turn boosts their confidence and gives them a greater sense of who they are.

  • Performing reduces social anxiety: Acting can be used as a form of ‘drama therapy’, which allows the student to essentially practice using their emotions in a safe environment.
  • Emotional Intelligence: Learning how to ‘project’ an emotion means understanding it. This helps to create a stockpile of a range of emotions, which develops social insight, social interaction skills and individual empathy.
  • Creativity: Discovering new talents and emerging abilities builds confidence and children who find success in creative accomplishments are more likely to seek out and successfully navigate new challenges.
  • Community belonging: Solving problems in a team, taking and giving feedback and learning to traverse through social norms is a beneficial, life long skill.
  • Higher academic achievement: Research shows that the performing arts have a direct positive impact on overall scholastic attainment. (As outlined in the recent SchoolsCompared article detailing the diverse benefits of performing arts attendance).
  • A sense of pride: The positive feedback and feeling of accomplishment that comes with passing a drama exam or dance recital creates a steady build up of achievements that are a huge motivation to continue to seek further adventure to push limitations and boundaries.

Louise Angel from the U.K turned to performing arts to help her daughter improve her overall confidence, which had been knocked by learning difficulties.

“We discovered fairly early in my child’s educational career that she was Dyslexic, which had a huge effect on her confidence.  She simply believed that she was not as clever or capable as her peers and her self-esteem took a real nose-dive, to the point where she stopped trying.  With a bit of research I discovered that performing arts is supposed to help with confidence, so we enrolled her into a dance and theatre club. The transformation has been immense. Her confidence is definitely up, she speaks up in class now and she doesn’t give in when she gets things wrong. Her grades have improved too.”

 

So where can you take your child to give them a big confidence boost (or just to have fun)?

There are a many clubs and academies that specialise in a single category from the performing arts genres. SchoolsCompared has created a guide to the performing arts hubs in Abu Dhabi that combine a varied spectrum of classes and courses that include dramatics or theatrical studies, a variation of dance, music and singing lessons. The list is arranged in no particular order.

 

Performing Arts Centres In Abu Dhabi

 

Music Hub

A well-known music institute in Abu Dhabi, the Music Hub’s objective is to inspire a life-long love of music through the delivery of fun, life-enhancing, confidence-building music lessons.

The Music Hub has partnered with a number of schools across the U.A.E to develop grass root music programmes in a British Curriculum.

The centre branched out from offering a variety of music lessons such as Clarinet, Piano, Guitar, Drum, Flute and Saxophone (to name just a few) to include the Glee Club, inspired by the hit TV show Glee and high school musicals, which focuses on theatrical studies, including drama, dance and singing. The Music Hub also offers exotic Argentinian Tango dance lessons.

 

DANCE DRAMA MUSIC/VOCAL ART/CRAFTS
 

AGES

 

Glee Club

 

Glee Club

 

1.5

 

n/a

 

EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

n/a

 

 

FEES: Classes start at AED150 for a 30-minute lesson.

CONTACT:
Tel: 02 632 7888
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.musichub.ae

 

Gulf Star Sport – Performing Arts Academy

Gulf Star Sports in an expert after school activity centre that offers a huge variety of classes, courses, lessons and summer camps for kids of all ages. The resident Performing Arts instructors hail from prestigious schools in the U.K.

Its Performing Arts Academy is a well-established arm of the company that provides Dance, Drama and Singing Programmes in Schools, Nurseries and venues across the U.A.E. Classes include Ballet, Hip Hop, Mini movers and Musical theatre.

 

DANCE DRAMA MUSIC/VOCAL ART/CRAFTS
 

AGES

 

All

 

All

 

 

All

 

Grades 1 to 6

 

EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS

 

n/a

 

n/a

 

n/a

 

U.S.A certified instructors

(In Jebel Ali School)

 

FEES: Prices vary from programme to programme.

CONTACT:
Tel: 056 114 4392
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.gulfstarsports.com

 

Motion Studios Performing Arts

The first performing arts studio to be solely owned by an Emirati, MSPA was launched in 2015 as the flagship performing arts studio located in Abu Dhabi. With the proud ambition of providing a sustainable future for performing arts opportunities in the U.A.E MSPA, is focused on building on Abu Dhabi’s reputation as a cultural hub.

MSPA offers a smorgasbord of services from acting classes to Zumba, delivered by an international team of well-qualified instructors.  All ages are catered for with adult classes in acting, karate and palates available.

The MSPA facility is state-of-the-art and boasts a small café where parents are able to watch their children practice and perform on TV screens.

 

DANCE DRAMA MUSIC/VOCAL ART/CRAFTS
 

AGES

 

5+

 

 

5+

 

5+

 

n/a

 

EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS

 

Trinity

RAD

 

Trinity

 

Trinity

 

n/a

 

FEES: AED100 registration per annum per student.

MSPA offers membership plans starting from 1 month to one year, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond membership prices vary in accordance with the number of classes per week. One class per week is AED85 (Bronze package).

CONTACT:
Tel: 02 8006772
Email: n/a
Web: www.mspa.ae

 

Drama Scene

Ferne Reynolds Lategan is the founder and creative director of Drama Scene, which was established in 2008 as a platform for children from 3 to 18 years to develop a full dramatic skill set and has grown to become the largest skill based performing arts school in the Middle East.

Their comprehensive programmes include, acting, singing, musical theatre, dancing and public speaking. Drama Scene is now the largest LAMDA exam centre in the UAE and they have maintained a 60% distinction rate for all exam students since 2009.

Taking part in exams is optional.

 

 

DANCE

 

DRAMA

 

MUSIC/VOCAL

 

ART/CRAFTS

 

AGES

 

8 +

 

3 +

 

8 +

 

n/a

 

EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS

 

LAMDA Musical theatre exams

 

Trinity accredited

 

LAMDA solo musical theatre and public speaking exams

 

n/a

 

FEES: Prices vary from programme to programme.

CONTACT:
Tel: 00971 04 341 4777, Ext 225, 00971 55 310 0984
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.dramascene.com

 

Expressions of Dance and Drama

Focused on quality classes for kids and adults Expressions puts great emphasis on the student’s wellbeing. It promotes a non-competitive, socially aware environment, created to allow the arts to enrich the lives of the students, their families and the community at large through cultural awareness.

Expressions have a holistic approach to a student’s development, working towards developing attainable goals so that each child feels a sense of achievement to encourage self-confidence, work ethics and self-discipline.

Mainly offering Ballet classes Expressions also provides Musical theatre, Jazz, Hip Hop, Gymnastics and Modern in their dual locations of the Corniche and Khalifa, Abu Dhabi.

 

 

DANCE

 

DRAMA

 

MUSIC/VOCAL

 

ART/CRAFTS

 

AGES

 

All

 

All

 

 

 

n/a

 

EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS

 

RAD

 

Trinity

 

Trinity

 

 

n/a

 

FEES: Prices vary from programme to programme.

CONTACT:
Tel: 00971 567397721
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.expressions-dance.net

 

International Music Institute

Founded in 1994 with the objective of nurturing musical education, IMI’s primary focus is on delivering professional music lessons of an enormous variety of instruments (piano, strings, winds and percussion) in individual and group sessions. IMI has the resources and qualified instructors to provide lessons for beginners to near professionals.

A range of dance and singing/vocal classes including Ballet, Modern, aerobics and Belly dancing are also on offer.

All lessons are available in various school-based locations throughout Abu Dhabi.

 

 

DANCE

 

DRAMA

 

MUSIC/VOCAL

 

ART/CRAFTS

 

AGES

 

3+

 

5+

(Theory and aural)

 

5+

(Pre Music 3-5)

 

 

3+

 

EXTERNAL EXAMINATIONS

 

RAD

 

 

 

ABRSM

Trinity (rock and Pop)

 

n/a

 

FEES: Prices vary from programme to programme.

 

CONTACT:

Tel: 00971 2-6211949 / 6211299

Email: [email protected]

Web: www.imig.ae

About The Author
Jane Talbot
Special Projects Reporter on SchoolsCompared.com, Jane Talbot is a renowned features journalist and researcher recognised for her in-depth and inciteful documentation of key issues facing parents in education worldwide. She brings to SchoolsCompared.com more than two decade’s experience in journalism and an authentic, deeply compassionate commitment to writing that places the welfare of children and families centre stage. “I write to support families facing the hardest decisions in education – whether that is the first day at school or navigating challenges like dyslexia. I see journalism as a vocation that promises, little by little, to change the world for the better. SchoolsCompared gives me the chance to play my part, for parents and children, in that bigger picture.”

Leave a Response