Motto | When Performance Counts |
---|---|
Established | 1946 |
Type | Independent further and higher education college |
Principal & Chief Executive |
Shirley Coen BA (Hons), FRSA |
Deputy Principal & Artistic Director |
Luis de Abreu AISTD, MA, PGCE |
Chairman | Geoff Pine |
Founder | Doreen Bird |
Location |
Alma Road Sidcup DA14 4ED Kent Coordinates: 51°25′42″N 0°06′20″E / 51.428467°N 0.105655°E |
Local authority | London Borough of Bexley |
DfE URN | 50701 Tables |
Ofsted | Reports |
Staff | >50 |
Gender | Mixed |
Website | www |
Doreen Bird College of Dance, Music & Theatre Performance, commonly known as Bird College, is an independent performing arts school and college, located in Sidcup, South East London, in the London Borough of Bexley.
The college was founded as a dance school by Doreen Bird in 1946 and now provides specialist vocational training in dance and musical theatre, at further and higher education level. The college is considered one of the leading providers of vocational performing arts training in the United Kingdom. In addition, the college also comprises a junior dance department and music services supported by the local council.
The college prepares students for a professional career in the performing arts and has a reputation of feeding artists into West End and Broadway theatre, dance companies, television, film, pop music and other high-profile areas of the entertainments industry. Key areas of study include ballet, tap, jazz and contemporary dance, singing, voice craft and drama.
Bird College is an accredited college of the Council for Dance Education and Training. Full-time students at the college study for either the Diploma in Professional Musical Theatre, validated by Trinity College, London, or the BA Hons in Professional Dance and Musical Theatre, validated by the University of Greenwich. The college is also an approved dance centre of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD), and students can study towards the ISTD dance teaching qualifications.