Urdang Academy started as a dream of one woman and has continued to fulfil the dreams of students who have passed through our doors since 1973. Urdang Academy has since built itself up to be one of the finest performing arts colleges in the UK and is known in the dance world internationally.

Passion is what defines our approach to students and their education. It was a passion for The Russian Ballet that drove Leonie Urdang to start the Academy. The focus has since expanded to cover dance and musical theatre. It was a passionate contempt for what apartheid represented that shaped her policy to support minorities and to break down barriers to development.

This founding ethos continues today in our commitment to the development of 'talent'. We look at potential and have a knack of spotting it and releasing its quality. We bring out the skill if the hunger is there.

That's what gives us our motivation, watching young people from all over the country and abroad, representing a mix of backgrounds, discover their own creativity, refine it, and then express it on the stage in shows that thrill audiences.

This does not mean we are indulgent. Quite the reverse. Students are expected to work hard, to drill, to train, to sweat, and be passionate.