More students in dance studios

There were 3,028 students of dancing in 2000, a rise of 910, or 43 per cent, over the figure for 1999, the National Statistics Office said yesterday.

The figures were issued following a survery of dance schools.

Although not exclusively the domain of women, this activity is certainly dominated by them. Over 93 per cent of all dance students in 2000 were females.

However, in 2000, the number of male dance students increased, though at a slower rate than the number of females. However, increasingly more males are taking ballroom and Latin American dancing lessons, the office said.

Classical ballet was the most popular genre among dance students with a 44.6 per cent share of all dance students. It was followed by jazz, with a 15.7 per cent share of all dance students in 2000.

Most dance students undertook dance examinations held under the auspices of foreign examination boards. In 2000, the ratio of students taking foreign to local dance examinations stood at 10:1, up from 4:1 in 1999.

Dance schools employed mostly part-time staff. In 2000, the schools employed 77 part-time employees in addition to their 18 full-timers. Most were women.

In 2000, the surveyed dance schools had a total income of Lm233,094, up by 26.3 per cent over 1999.

Most of this, or 83.7 per cent, accrued from tuition fees.

On the other hand, the dance schools' total expenditure amounted to Lm176,714 in 2000, up by 20.9 per cent over the figure for 1999.