School life
The living conditions of the “petits rats” are far removed from those that earned them the nickname that continues to pursue them.
The building
The school is divided into three buildings interconnected by a huge central glass roof:
the dance building, comprising ten studios, a multipurpose room and fully-equipped auditorium used by the students to prepare performances
the accommodation building, including a cafeteria and 50 rooms over 4 floors for 2 to 3 students, each fitted with a shower room, washbasin and toilet,
the general teaching building which includes 12 classrooms and administrative offices.
Support to students
Safety
The building complies with all the norms for establishments organising public performances and comprising student accommodation. An alarm system alerts the full-time safety personnel in case of fire or intrusion.
The reception personnel check movements in and out of the school according to various exeats issued at the start of the year by parents for boarders and non-boarders.
Health
The school provides preventive healthcare throughout academic life. The medical team includes a specialised sports doctor, a nurse, a physiotherapist and a dietician.
Beyond any treatment given, healthcare aims to teach dancers to manage their own health from a long-term point of view. This is not only a case of monitoring physical development but also of learning how to lead a healthier life in direct relation to professional activity. Eating properly, training properly, knowing one’s body and limits to avoid deficiencies, overweight and injury are key objectives to avoid making classical ballet a physiological risk but rather a source of well-being and longevity.
As such, healthcare monitoring, an integral part of the curriculum, aims to give the student a ever-greater sense of responsibility.
Discipline
Behind this easily bandied about word lies a quite simple reality: the students' communal life within the school, mainly as boarders. Learning responsibility is here again the key idea. The collective and individual respect for rules linked to the smooth running of the various activities is the requisite condition to finding room for freedom and autonomy. The school always appeals to the student’s intelligence before punishing excessive behaviour. Punishment, in the last resort, is the ultimate reminder of the necessities of group life and the expectations of the School vis-à-vis its students.
Activities
The day’s timetable does not leave much time for extra-curricular activities. However the school sets out times for study, rest, walks in the garden, leisure activities (table tennis, badminton, etc.) and audiovisual broadcasts focusing on dance, music and drama.
