Kate Stanforth Academy of Arts — Highlights

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(We spend a lot of our energy teaching, but here is some of our news from the academy. Our latest will be on our socials @katestanforth and @katestanforthdance)

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The Academy

• Registered Community Interest Company / non-profit

• Founded and led by disabled dance artist Kate Stanforth

• Provides inclusive performing arts training online and in person

• Has built a worldwide community of disabled dancers

• Offers regular weekly online dance training

• Provides group classes, private tuition, workshops and professional development

• Provides opportunities from recreational dance through to professional development

• Employs a predominantly/entirely disability and chronic-illness experienced teaching team

• Has created paid employment opportunities for disabled artists

• Classes designed to be accessible for dancers participating standing, seated, using mobility aids or from bed

• Provides recorded/subtitled options and individual adaptations

• Developed a “Movement, Not Improvement” approach to inclusive participation

• Provides low-cost and subsidised opportunities to reduce financial barriers.

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The Royal Ballet School

• Official partner of The Royal Ballet School

• Delivers accessible ballet sessions at the Royal Ballet School's Covent Garden studios

• Sessions available in person and via livestream

• Classes jointly led by Kate and Royal Ballet School faculty

• Gives disabled dancers access to high-quality classical ballet training

• Initial sessions attracted significant demand, with free places filling rapidly

• Dancers have travelled internationally to participate

• Participants have worked on classical repertoire including Giselle

• Partnership featured in a major Guardian feature in June 2026.

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Industry collaborations

• The Royal Ballet School

• Matthew Bourne's New Adventures

• National Youth Ballet

• Rambert Grades

• Can You Dance?

• Christopher Tendai / Wonderland in Alice

• Allied Mobility

• Capezio

• Snag Tights

• Loopwheels

• Naidex

• Disability Expo

• International Dance Supplies

• Professional guest teachers, choreographers and artists from across the industry.

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Performance & professional opportunities

• Academy dancers have performed on BBC One

• Featured on The One Show

• Featured on The Last Leg

• Featured on Steph's Packed Lunch

• Featured in CBBC's My Life: Leading the Dance

• Academy dancers have performed at Naidex

• Performed at Allied Mobility events

• Created online performance opportunities accessible from dancers' homes

• Created an online performance troupe

• Enabled disabled dancers to train with professional guest artists remotely

• Supported dancers preparing for auditions and professional opportunities

• Enabled dancers to undertake dance examinations remotely

• Academy dancers have progressed into further/professional performing arts opportunities.

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Recognition & media

• Named The Guardian's Favourite Cheap Fitness Class, alongside major fitness names including Joe Wicks.

• Named one of Cosmopolitan's best inclusive fitness classes

• Highly Commended at the Together Awards / BBC Newcastle

• Featured extensively across national media

• Featured in The Guardian

• Academy and dancers featured across BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and CBBC

• Internationally recognised for its inclusive approach to performing arts training.

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Accessibility & impact

• Creates dance opportunities specifically designed around disabled people's lives rather than expecting dancers to adapt to inaccessible mainstream training

• Supports dancers with chronic illness, fluctuating conditions and fatigue

• Enables dancers unable to travel to access professional-level opportunities online

• Builds adaptations around the individual dancer rather than prescribing one version of a movement

• Creates social and community opportunities alongside dance training

• Provides breaks and flexibility around medication, fatigue and access needs

• Works to create progression routes for disabled dancers, not simply recreational accessible classes

• Advocates for disabled dancers to have access to high-quality technical training, performance and professional opportunities.

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And recently...

• Over 500 members in our Academy

• Academy dancers securing places to study Musical Theatre

• Academy dancers gaining touring performance work

• Multiple Academy dancers booked to perform at London Fashion Week

• Working with leading organisations to share our inclusive practise and develop our future plans

• Developing professional workshops for disabled dancers, including audition/self-tape skills and choreography adaptation

• Providing teacher CPD in inclusive and accessible dance practice

• Developing CPD around using games with children with SEND and delivering accessible online dance

• Continuing to expand the Royal Ballet School adaptive ballet programme

• Developing new choreographic work exploring disabled people and care, supported through Dance City R&D