This collaboration, unique to Nord Anglia schools, launched at BIS HCMC in 2016 with our enhanced Music Curriculum and went on to include the Juilliard-Nord Anglia Drama Curriculum from September 2018. Over the past few years, our music and drama departments have gone from strength to strength. Our students not only have access to a repertoire of core music works designed and hand-selected by Juilliard, but they've also benefitted from workshops with Juilliard alumni and curriculum specialists.
As we move into another academic year we are excited to begin the third stage of our collaboration; introducing the Juilliard-Nord Anglia Dance Programme. Through this, students will learn the history and movement behind influential dance pieces, while improving their own physical coordination and self-expression.
Learning from the best
To launch our dance curriculum at the British International School HCMC a selection of our teachers attended the South East Asia and Middle East Region Music and Dance Professional Development Training in Hanoi alongside 20 other dance, drama and physical education teachers.
This was a 3-day workshop introducing teachers to the Juilliard approach in teaching performing arts to primary and secondary students. Christine de Ubago, F1 Teacher explains more, “Juilliard Curriculum Specialists Salla Saaringkangas (Dance) and Richard Mannoia (Music) led the course and performed demonstration classes showing us ways to use the Juilliard Creative Classroom resources in our practice. The approach focuses on success for all, exploratory learning, encouraging creativity and ownership, and reflection.”
The Juilliard approach through the Creative Classroom enables knowledge, skills and understanding to be taught in a structured way allowing our students to be continually reflective. “Students are given ownership of their learning through opportunities to explore, create, reflect and problem-solve,” says Fiona Yard, F3 Teacher at BIS HCMC who also attended the training in Hanoi.

The Dancer’s Toolbox is a unique resource available only through Juilliard Creative Classroom. Sharing the expertise of Juilliard Dance, the Dancer’s Toolbox is a collection of original resources specifically designed for teaching dance and to better understand a dancer’s needs. Dancer’s Toolbox focuses on how to move with mindfulness, creativity, and physical safety, along with strategies to enjoy and better understand movement practices.