Teaching the Fundamentals
Veronica Peters on the Philosophy of the British Dancing Academy
By Madison Huizinga, DWC Blog Editor
Photo by: Mandy McMahon
In Veronica Peters' life, dance has always been a family affair. Since she took over the British Dancing Academy from her mother in 2014, Veronica has continued carrying out her mother’s legacy and providing students with a thorough dance education that encourages them to be the best dancers they can be and learn life lessons along the way.
Veronica’s mother, Sandi Baca, moved from England to the United States in 1967. After meeting Veronica’s father, the couple moved around quite a bit before eventually landing in Washington in 1973. Following the move, Sandi started the British Dancing Academy where three-year-old Veronica began taking classes herself. She stuck with her dance training, eventually dancing ballet professionally throughout the country. Veronica worked for Sandi at the British Dancing Academy for around 25 years before her mother retired and she bought the school from her.
Since its origin, the British Dancing Academy has strived to “not only instill the love of dance in each and every student but teach the fundamentals as well.” The main focus of the school is to teach the technical aspects of ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance and have dancers compete with themselves to improve, rather than seek competition with others.
BDA typically begins teaching students as young as four years old in creative movement dance classes. After a few years, when students are in second grade, they start BDA’s exam program in which students learn directly from a syllabus and perform combinations in front of an examiner. However, Veronica shares that when it comes to examinations, “it’s not just about the feet and the technical stuff.” The students get graded on their technique, but also their performance ability, musicality, ability to follow directions and put steps together, and more. Sandi is typically the examiner for the British Dancing Academy, as she is an examiner for the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing and Teacher Trainer for The Royal Academy of Dance. “She goes all over the world to educate other schools and students, and she trains other teachers as well,” Veronica shares.
Photo by: Mandy McMahon
Veronica points out that a benefit of BDA’s exam program is that it allows students to have a goal to work towards throughout their training. Further, students gain practical skills that are transferable to life outside of the dance realm, such as working quickly under pressure and being able to communicate with new people. “This past year we probably had about 13graduates of kids that have been with us all the way through [the program],” Veronica says. “It’s always kind of fun because...you watch them grow. It’s kind of like a family.”
In addition to classes in a variety of genres, the Academy also offers students the opportunity to perform in a large dance production every June. Past productions have included Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, and The Little Mermaid. Senior dancers also perform in an annual Holiday Showcase each December, in which they show off some of their original choreography. BDA also uses the Holiday Showcase as an opportunity for attendees to donate to Northwest Harvest and give back to the community.
The experience of teaching dance during COVID-19 was an exhausting process for Veronica and many other studio owners and dance instructors alike. After taking a break from classes for a while, Veronica describes cleaning out the entire studio and setting up big monitors to teach online classes. She collaborated with the instructors to work out hybrid schedules and made sure students wore masks and were physically distanced so everyone’s comfort needs were considered. “I think we did pretty good,” Veronica says of BDA’s COVID-19 protocol. She also says it was nice to bond with other studio owners over the confusion and strain that the pandemic caused on all of their work.
Photo by: Mandy McMahon
In the larger dance world, Veronica hopes that the general population becomes more appreciative of the ballet art form. “My true passion is ballet. Everything about it,” Veronica says. “The original [purpose] of ballet was to tell a story, and I feel sometimes that’s missed...There’s a simplicity to ballet that is so underrated...I wish that there was more of an appreciation for the artistry.” Through her attentive work of teaching students the fundamentals of dance at the British Dancing Academy, Veronica will continue to pass this love of artistry down to future generations, just as her mother did with her.
