About Us
The Amanda Restell Academy of Dance is based in Glendale Gardens, Leigh on Sea, Essex and is the county’s largest and most successful dance and theatre school. We teach all aspects of theatrical dance, boasting a very experienced and highly qualified team of dedicated teachers. We offer classes in all aspects of dance, singing and musical theatre and our motto “Giving Every Little Star The Chance To Shine’ is at the forefront of our teaching. Although our school is large, we strive to maintain the personal touch with all of our pupils, students and parents; every child is important to us. We offer a nurturing and encouraging environment within which to learn to dance as we believe that children respond well to this positive technique and we ensure that all classes are fun and enjoyable whilst also maintaining high levels of technique. We closely monitor every child’s progress as we want to make sure that every pupil is happy with us - we will address any problems (no matter how small) to ensure that everyone happy and progressing as they should.
The Academy has 3 fully equipped dance studios boasting floor to ceiling mirrors, wall barres, fully sprung harlequin floors, professional sound systems and air conditioning. We participate in events in conjunction with our local community as we feel it is very important for the children to be a part of where they are growing up.
We hold multiple exam sessions a year with the IDTA offering the students the opportunity to progress as and when they are ready. We only put a child in for an exam when we believe they have reached the correct standard and are very happy to discuss any child’s progression with a parent or guardian. We put on a dance show every two years and a Musical Theatre and Singing show in the year in between thus offering all our pupils and students many performance opportunities. All shows are held at the Basildon Towngate Theatre where we have a lovely rapport with the staff; we are usually the theatre’s second largest show (Panto being their biggest) and we pride ourselves on the quality and professionalism of the shows we put on. We also take part in many festivals and competitions and have had huge success at local and national levels. Many of our students have performed in the West End, major TV drama series, children's TV characters and films. The Academy had a 100% success rate with our seniors achieving places at full time theatre colleges including Performers, Bird, Urdang, Tiffanys Theatre College, Masters, Millenium, Tring Park, PPA and LPA college.
We pride ourselves in being able to offer something for everyone – if your daughter/son wants to dance once a week as a social activity then we welcome them with open arms. We also cater for those who wish to take dance to a higher level and possibly make it their career – everyone is welcome and treated equally.