Shall we dance?

They begin by linbering up. From early in the day they are at the barre stretching and bending in their pink and black leotards. They are students of the ballet and contemporary dance PLC course at Senior College Sallynoggin, Co Dublin.

Each day they arrive at 8.40 a.m. After 20 minutes of preparation, they are ready for their first class in classical ballet. They spend four hours every day learning dance technique.

This two-year dance course was established in 1992. It is an intensive dance programme for students who want to pursue a career in dance and is designed to develop their physical, technical and creative skills.

Students are prepared for external examinations by the Royal Academy of Dancing (RAD) in London and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD). Some of the graduates will work in education, others will become professional performers, others will go into choreography.

The course co-ordinator, Victoria O'Brien, says that in general "dance wasn't recognised until now". She, and the two other teachers on the course, Aisling Doherty and Anne Heery, "all had to go abroad to study". O'Brien says that until recently "there was very, very little tradition in professional dance in Ireland."

At Sallynoggin, all disciplines, from classical ballet to contemporary dance, are equally developed during the students two years. The syllabus covers modern/jazz and character dance. The students study choreography and they also build a repertoire of pieces which they dance at public performances during the two years.

"It is a very, very energetic and demanding course," says O'Brien. Eleanor Cazabon (20) from Galway, who is in her second year, says that she would have gone abroad to study had it not been for this course. "I would probably have gone away because nothing would have stopped me. But I'm very glad that this was here."

Cazabon had been doing drama at her secondary school but she explains that she wanted to concentrate completely on dance. "All my life I've loved to dance," she says., "I hope to teach eventually. At the moment I've just done my ISTD elementary in modern dance. I'm waiting for the results."

ANOTHER second-year student, Michelle Alonzi (16) from Ballinteer, Dublin, left school after her Junior Cert in order to pursue a career in dance "because I knew that dance was what I had to do," she says. "It's brilliant," she says about the course. She aims to audition for a ballet company somewhere in Europe, perhaps in Vienna, she adds.

Fred Meaney, vice-principal of Sallynoggin Senior College, says that "it's a very specialised area". Apart from exceptional cases, applicants should be at least 16 years of age with previous dance training. Candidates are chosen after auditions and interviews.

There are about 30 applicants each year. Up to 14 students are chosen. During the course students take part in performances, acting workshops, dance, theatre and exhibition visits. Public performances also take place. These give some of the students a platform to develop as young choreographers and some develop as performers. Some of the course's graduates, says O'Brien, have gone on to the University of Newcastle to do a BA in Dance.

O'Brien says that it can cost on average around £5,000 and up to £7,000 a year to study dance abroad.

"It was prohibitive," she says. "It's wonderful that we have a facility here. The VEC wanted to provide an opportunity like this to students." The fact that this is a Post Leaving Certificate course means that the students, all female, who come from all over Ireland, do not have to pay any fees.

For further information about this course phone Sallynoggin Senior College at (01) 285 2997.