Being a CDC Cadet is a privileged position, which we only offer to a few young people whom we feel are both reliable team players and flexible individuals, who have made it apparent to us that they are hoping to embark on a possible career as a dance teacher. From our perspective, we feel that if you are sure this is what you want for your future, instead of waiting until you are at least 18 years of age (which is normal), you should be able to have the opportunity to experience “studio life”to see what it is like.

 

How our Cadet Program came into being!

Our studio principal, Phil explains. “Personally – I knew from about the age of 7 what I wanted to be – a dance teacher. I wanted to follow in the footsteps of my first dance teachers, Martin & Elsie Farley (or as I was always encouraged to call them "Uncle Martin and Auntie Elsie"), a lovely couple whom I had enormous respect and admiration for. Even though, when looking back, I can now see they were part-time teachers with a small and very typical dance school, running a couple of nights a week from hired halls. However, they were my first exposure to the dance world, and the lessons I learned and the respect for them that I had have stayed with me for a very long time as I moved upwards to what I now proudly hold as a former Professional 10 Dance finalist, and current international Examiner and Adjudicator - one of the highest accolades in the dance world.

 

Some days I pinch myself and wonder how it all happened. If only I had known then the journey that I was going to undertake, which far exceeded my wildest dreams! They say you should never forget where you came from, and my early experiences with Martin & Elsie are in no small part the foundation stone of what we know now as the Chelmsford Dance Centre. When they were still alive, I made a point on many occasions of contacting them and thanking them for the early experiences that shaped me and have indirectly shaped so many others. 

 

So, my feeling is that if being a dance teacher is what you know you want to be, then we have the desire to help – and from this, the CDC Cadet Program was created!