Karen Forbes School of Dance

Dance Classes

Fun, Safe Learning

Ballet & Dance 

The Karen Forbes School of Dance runs a wide selection of dance classes for all ages. Classes are held on weekdays and Saturdays in Merton, easily accessible for young dancers from Merton, Morden, Wimbledon and all surrounding areas. Find class locations.

Ballet

We start with very young children where the magic and fun in a package with  the very beginning if technique is introduced. Our main aim is to encourage children to have beautiful posture with lots of fun and to impart our passion and knowledge for ballet. As the children grow we have classes, where  the music is varied to encourage, enjoyment and inspiration. Classes are not enormous to enable us to give personal and individual attention which enables us to give quality teaching and to enable our children to notice fine detail. We follow the ISTD syllabus, although Karen Forbes’s  main training has been RAD, Which enables her to marry up the technical side of the RAD and the artistic side of the ISTD, which makes classes more interesting and fun.

Learn More

Modern

Modern dance is a big heading, which is so much fun and really good for the body. Modern covers jazz, lyrical and is funky with lots of limbering, which is important for ballet too. Today’s dance companies are a fusion of ballet, modern and contemporary. We follow the ISTD syllabus, and most dancers who have landed up in West End musicals are ISTD trained. Our classes are modern and we use a lot of current popular music which again is varied to encourage inspiration and motivation.

Learn More

Contemporary  & Stretch

Contemporary dance is very popular, although originally informed by and borrowing from classical, modern and jazz styles, it has come to incorporate elements from many styles of dance. Unpredictable changes in rhythm, speed and direction. Contemporary is so much fun and very good for the body and is very important for dancers. For dancers who want to have a professional future contemporary dance is important as nowadays dance is a fusion of classical, modern, and contemporary.

Learn More

Testimonials

What They Say

Charmaine Thorpe

"At the young age of 7 my son, started at Karen's school of dance. As a parent this was a new world for me especially being that I had a son! Rio was one of 3 boys in his class but this did not deter him and Karen was amazing with him, always pushing him to reach the top.

Rio consistently got distinctions in all his exams he took and then secured a full scholarship in a boarding dance school, still maintaining the high standards set from Karen.
He has gone from strength to strength and we have remained in contact with Karen.

Rio's journey definitely would not be one of success without the support, love and dedication from Karen, her team and the other fellow dancers.

Thank you Karen and team

"

Veronique Channevy

"My daughter loved dancing with Karen and Daisy. It gave her the opportunity to learn Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Tap AND Musical Theatre. Karen has nurtured and guided her, and given her the most amazing opportunities having successfully auditioned for National Youth Ballet, London Children’s Ballet and Matilda the Movie. My daughter is now at full time vocational ballet school and I really don’t think she would be there without Karen. But most importantly, she had immense fun and made some fantastic friends whilst she was at KFSD."

Ray Donovan-hill

"My daughter started with Karen Forbes School of Dance aged 5 years, learning ballet, tap, jazz and musical theatre, and last year she graduated with a first-class degree in ballet performance. Along the way, she performed five times with the London Children’s Ballet and twice with Surrey Youth Ballet as well as taking part in Karen’s shows, and Young Performers. She is only where is now due to the high standard of teaching at KF School of Dance, developing all her talents and skills at a very early age, building up her confidence and providing lots of opportunities for her to perform as a young person. KF School of Dance will bring out the best in everyone, and I cannot praise it enough."

Jessica Dobbs

"Karen is an exceptional dance teacher and mentor with a dedication and commitment second to none. She saw a potential in my son and never failed to support him on his dance journey, spending hours on the phone with me suggesting ways he could improve or further his talent.

I will be forever grateful for her support and help in getting Jack into the London Children’s Ballet and then into the Royal Ballet School.

Thank you Karen!"

Plié

Try a Free Class

Fill in the form below with your details and we'll be in touch with you ASAP to arrange your exiting first ballet or dance class.