| Bird College – Conservatoire for Dance and Musical Theatre | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Address | |
 | |
Alma Road Sidcup , DA14 4ED England | |
| Coordinates | 51°25′42″N 0°06′20″E / 51.428467°N 0.105655°E |
| Information | |
| Type | Independent further and higher education college |
| Motto | When Performance Counts |
| Established | 1946 |
| Founder | Doreen Bird |
| Local authority | London Borough of Bexley |
| Department for Education URN | 50701 Tables |
| Ofsted | Reports |
| President | Stephen Mear |
| Chairman | Geoff Pine |
| Chief executive | Shirley Coen |
| Principal and artistic director | Luis De Abreu |
| Staff | 130 |
| Gender | Mixed |
| Website | birdcollege |
Bird College – Conservatoire for Dance and Musical Theatre is an independent performing arts school and college,[1] located in Sidcup, South East London, in the London Borough of Bexley.
The college was founded as a dance school by Doreen Bird in 1946[2] and now provides specialist vocational training in dance and musical theatre, at further and higher education level. The college is one of many providers of vocational performing arts training in the United Kingdom. In addition, the college also receives a grant from Bexley Council to provide music services to schools in the borough.[3]
The college prepares students for a professional career in the performing arts and has a reputation of feeding artists into West End and Broadway theatre, dance companies, television, film, pop music and other high-profile areas of the entertainments industry.[2] Key areas of study include ballet, tap, jazz and contemporary dance, singing, voice craft and drama.
Bird College is an accredited college of the Council for Dance Education and Training. Full-time students at the college study for either the Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre, validated by Trinity College, London, or the BA Hons in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre, validated by the University of Greenwich. The college is also an approved dance centre of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), and students can study towards the ISTD dance teaching qualifications.
- ^ "Bird College – Dance and Drama Theatre Performance : Directgov – Directories". Government of the United Kingdom. 20 March 2009. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
- ^ a b "Press release". University of Greenwich. Archived from the original on 9 April 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2007.
- ^ "Press Release" (PDF). Bexley Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2008.