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May

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Dance College Tutor Spotlight: Beverley Moreland

In this new series, we’re interviewing our amazing dance tutors… We’re proud to have such a wealth of experience available from some of the most highly-skilled, qualified and respected dance professionals working in the dance industry today.

Every single member of staff is dedicated to imparting their extensive knowledge, techniques and artistry, nurturing each college student with the rigorous dance training needed for a long and successful professional dance career.

Today we focus the spotlight on Beverley Moreland.

Beverley has been teaching on our full-time dance college course since 2015.

She teaches Jazz and Commercial Dance and, today, shares her experience as a teacher and dance artist – read on for expert dance career tips, audition advice and much more…

Hi Beverley, thanks for taking the time to chat with me today. 

You’ve worked for 3 different cruise liner production companies – Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises – can you tell me a bit about what life is like as a dancer performing on such prestigious cruise liners?

Performing onboard is great, the theatres are beautiful and are built with some of the best technology! Contracts normally range from anything from 6 months to 1 year with rehearsals included, this means you normally learn a variety of shows so each evening onboard the passengers can see something different.

Life as a dancer onboard cruise liners is fantastic, it gives you a chance to see the world and perform a variety of different shows. Rehearsals can be hard work with lots of material to learn in a short amount of time – you are expected to pick up quickly and retain choreography with detail so you can perform each show to a high standard.

The costumes are absolutely beautiful, they were some of the best pieces I have worn in my dance career! They are fitted to you by seamstresses that come onboard at the beginning of your contract, the costumes are designed to fit in with choreography and the concept of each show and then set and lighting design are the finishing touches.

Our dance college tutors prepare our graduates for a diverse range of dance careers, with many achieving success and landing dance contracts for cruise liner production companies, including P&O, Costa, Princess, Celestyal, Seacruise, Ibero Crueros, MSC, Disney, HNA, Carnival Cruises… Read more Graduate Success stories…

You also performed at the Olympics. What was it like performing at the Olympics in 2012?

Opening the London Aquatic Centre for the Olympics was brilliant, we performed a contemporary piece poolside and wearing Speedo’s new swimwear range.

It was a fantastic experience and the atmosphere was amazing, a real adrenaline rush as we walked out to perform.

How long have you been teaching at DFA?

I’ve been teaching at Dance For All for nearly 4 years now, it was really exciting joining the team of teachers as I knew the journey the dancers were about to embark upon.

What do you love about teaching Jazz and Commercial dance here at Dance For All’s College?

Jazz is one of my favourite styles to dance and teach. Jazz Dance is so diverse and with so many techniques and styles, it always keeps classes exciting!

Commercial Dance is something I learnt along the way in my own dance career, having worked with different choreographers in LA, I picked up a love for the Commercial style.

It’s really great getting inspired by a piece of music and then letting your imagination and creative side take over.

I love watching students push themselves to achieve the things we are working on in class, motivation and drive are a key to being a successful dancer and it’s great to see improvement in students.

Why are Jazz and Commercial Dance important for professional dancers to learn?

Being a versatile dancer is crucial, technique should be a given and anything else you can bring to the table is an extra.

It is important to keep up to date with what is current in the dance industry, perfecting Jazz technique is something every professional dancer should be working on as this would be expected at most auditions.

Commercial has become more popular in the dance industry so I think it’s good that all students take this class in order to widen their dance vocabulary.

Beverley Moreland started dancing at the age of 3 at her local dance school in York, where she studied both in International Dance Teachers Association (IDTA) and Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) in all genres of dance. Beverley has always been passionate about dance and at the age of 16, she attended Phil Winstons Theatreworks in Blackpool, where she spent the next 3 years training professionally before graduating with a Diploma in Dance and Musical Theatre. She got her first job straight after graduating from college and spent the next 9 years travelling the world and performing in different shows and venues.

Some of the companies she worked for included Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Costa Cruises and Princess Cruises, this gave Beverley the opportunity to work alongside very well known choreographers and directors in the industry and to experience dancing on green screen in Los Angeles.

After spending lots of time at sea and travelling Beverley moved to London where she performed in the opening of the Olympics in 2012 and various different film extra roles. She was also part of a TV documentary for ITV about life at sea as a dancer.

Beverley is now very happy to be living and teaching in Edinburgh and passing on her talent and skills to others, she hopes to deliver the passion and love for dance that she has had since such a young age.

Beverley, who are your all-time favourite choreographers, performers &/or dancers?

Mia Michaels, Fred Astaire, Bob Fosse and Brian Friedman.

What music videos, albums &/or singles are you loving or listening to on repeat right now?

I love all genres of music, I try to stay up to date with current music so that students enjoy dancing to things they’ve heard before but I do often go to my Michael Jackson album for Jazz classes.

What do you enjoy most about the choreography process?

Watching a piece unfold from beginning to end, starting with just an idea and translating it through steps until it’s ready for stage.

It can be a hard process, with lots of choreography changes and pattern and direction, but I love it and the dancers can also help with the process.

Our Award-Winning Professional Dance Training Course gets better every year. What makes DFA’s college course so different from other courses? What’s so special about DFA?

It really is a friendly place – it’s like a big family here at DFA.

We offer everything you need to take your step in the direction to be a qualified teacher and or professional dancer.

Why should dancers audition for DFA’s full-time dance course?  

The tutors are so dedicated to what they do and have so much experience and knowledge to give, if you apply yourself in the right way DFA has everything you need!

{Download your FREE Audition Tips + Checklist!}

What qualities are you looking for in your students?  

Passion, drive and pure determination… You need to live, eat and breathe dance to fully submerge into this wonderful world of performing.

Apart from talent, what skills/abilities does it take to succeed as a professional dancer?

Dedication, perseverance and confidence. To keep trying no matter what setbacks we may have along the way, not every job or role will be right for us but when one door closes another one will open.

Anything else you’d like to add?

You only get out of life what you put into it, so work hard and you will succeed… having a dance career is the most amazing thing, something that I will always cherish!

Thank you so much, Beverley!

Find out more about life here at DFA… Meet our inspiring faculty, find out more about professional dance course, read our graduates’ success stories or audition & apply for DFA’s full-time dance course.