About Us

Dancing Bear Academy of Music has two separate ‘wings’ or modus operandi, each of which exist in a symbiotic relationship to the other.

‘Academy’ is the overall umbrella term encompassing all of our groups and operations. However, Dancing Bear is both a non-profit making organisation and a profit-making business.

The groups which constitute Dancing Bear Musical Society – ie the two choirs, the orchestra, the opera group and some of our courses - constitute the non-profit making part of Dancing Bear.

Consequently, subscriptions are kept at a minimum and only cover rehearsal space and (currently) office hire. A percentage of proceeds from concerts etc are fed back into the Society to assure its preservation, growth and development, and the rest of any income is distributed to local, mainly lgbt charities.

The Musical Society has a written Constitution with named officers, including a Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. The Society holds a separate bank account and we are taking advice as to how we might become a charity.

Our other activities, which include tuition on an instrument (all instruments) or voice, accredited and non-accredited courses, workshops, teaching and consultancy work in schools/the community, the writing of music and opera reviews, the development of courses for other institutions, freelance work in composition, arranging and performing, the provision of holistic (mostly musical) therapies, the training of music professionals - including teachers, ofsted consultancy, music publishing and the such-like are all part of Dancing Bear Academy – the business.

The business wing of the Academy has its own Administrator – Mr. David Robinson - funding bodies, an accountant and a separate bank account. Naturally, many members of our non-profit making groups also access aspects of our profit-making activities, and vice versa. We see this as a healthy symbiosis.