Visiting Royal Academy of Dance for a children’s The Gruffalo dance workshop
The other Sunday I packed a tutu, ballet shoes and a magazine in a bag. I was picturing myself sitting on a chair reading a magazine while three-year-old Big Girl would practise her ballet moves at The Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in Battersea.
Twenty minutes later I was lying on the floor in a dance studio pretending to be a snake. I hadn’t quite realised the one and a half hour workshop we’d been invited to attend was for mums and children to dance together, but since I have a tendency to take the easy way out now that Big Girl is getting older and watch from the sideline, it was probably good to get stuck in and spend some quality time with Big Girl without Baby Boy demanding my attention.
The magazine could wait.
We practised being snakes, owls, foxes–bringing Julia Donaldson’s classic The Gruffalo to life with music and dance–before the professional and friendly instructor let us choose a role and gave us fun props. Big Girl decided we should be owls, flying with big wings and settling by our home near a pretend stream.
This was most definitely three-year-old Big Girl’s idea of a brilliant day out, and she gladly put on black round pretend glasses to be a more convincing owl when we performed our dance routine at the end.
After the workshop, we had to do some exploring at RAD since I was surprised I hadn’t noticed the building off Battersea Square before, and when we found the unique RAD dance shop Big Girl spent the pocket money she’d saved up on a cuddly Royal Academy of Dance Jellycat bunny wearing a tutu.
RAD was only 10 minutes from our home in Sunday traffic, and attending the special The Gruffalo children’s workshop was a lovely way to spend a Sunday morning. Big Girl keeps asking if we can go again, and I’ll be sure to look out for any upcoming events.
The Royal Academy of Dance held The Gruffalo children’s dance workshops in partnership with Macmillan Publishing, and the session we attended were for kids aged between 2.5-3 years and involved parents. There were other sessions for children aged 4 years and over. The Royal Academy of Dance is hosting Sleeping Beauty and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe children’s workshops in other locations in the UK, as well as musical theatre workshops for older children
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