About Us
The vision of the Ladybird International Arts Academy is to be a provider of music, visual and dramatic arts education for students who wish to excel in a highly competitive and rapidly changing arts industry.
The mission of the Ladybird International Arts Academy is to provide education through excellence in the music, visual and dramatic arts.
Our Values
To ensure a high level of excellence in arts learning with English as medium of instruction.
To provide a secure learning environment in which creative imagination can be kindled, intellectual curiosity aroused, industry rewarded, and academic potential fulfilled.
Our Business Commitment
Maintaining a business and fee structure based on the principles of affordability and sustainability. To this end fees will remain market-related in South Africa.
Our Students
To develop each individual student to his or her full artistic potential.
To focus on cognitive development by challenging each to student to think, reason and debate, to be able to form personal opinions based on their unique interests, cultural environment and to incorporate this into their performance experiences.
To encourage in students a sense of community arising from service as means of personal growth and civic responsibility.
To develop in students a sense of personal style and self-worth by providing a strong ethos, a Christian value-system and a sense of history and tradition of the arts.
To provide every student with life skills to enable him or her to focus on clear attainable personal goals for performance or exhibitions.
Our Origins and Educational Philosophy
Founded by Ronél Henning in 2003, the Ladybird International Arts Academy is a small non-formal arts education business based in Ladybrand, Free State, South Africa. Since inception we have received a wide range of arts students, educators and performing artists from across the globe. Our creative team of arts educators provide a learning service rooted in a democratic stance and based on the choices our students make, inspired by their unique environments, interests, and experiences. This preferred learning approach has flexibility as one of its main characteristics, motivates innovative thinking and supports the development of artistic citizenship.
Our International Footprint
Since 2003 we’ve had the privilege to receive students and arts educators from around the world: Lesotho, Namibia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Nigeria, USA, UK, Ireland, Canada, Denmark, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Zimbabwe, Hungary, Russia, Taiwan, China, India, Pakistan, Jordan, Australia, New Zealand, and Philippines.
Our Management
Director – Ronél Henning BMusEd, HonsBMus, MDS
Head of Dramatic Arts – Katleho Mothae – Piano, Percussion, Music Theory, Conductor
Head of Visual Art – Thandi Sliepen
Finances & Administration – Letitia HenningOur Educators
Digital Design – Pinkie Thulo
Strings – Ilona Knot
Guitar – Rudi Viljoen
Clarinet, Saxophone – Galen Green
Flute, Clarinet – Joané Beukes
Our Key Partners
Our key partners are a network of cooperative affiliations with international arts boards of stature. These external examination boards offer support by delivering accredited certificates to add integrity and value to our commercial service. Our preferred partners for music are the ABRSM, Rockschool and for dramatic arts Trinity College London.
Our Patrons – our 'Archangels'
Hugo Roodt
Artistic Director St. Peters Prep Boys School
Johan Estherhuizen
Director ATKV National Youth Projects
Emily Dangwa
Almunus – Director ED Music Academy Windhoek Namibia, soprano
Betty Ashley-Botha
Retired Drakensberg Boys’ Choir School
Sanet & André Koekemoer
Amakoekoe Guesthouse & Conferences, Visual art, Percussion JPO
Petra Venter
Retired Choral Director
JD & Madeleine Naudé
Alumni - Sempre Music School
Vaughan van Zyl
Artistic Director Drakensberg Boys’ Choir
Caleb Cindano
Director CamelEye Productions
Hessie van der Merwe
Friend
Lieve Decoster
Basel Symphony Orchestra, viola
Pieter van der Linde
Friend
Werner Stander
Director Bloemfontein Children’s Choir, Lecturer UFS, Head of Music Oranje Meisieskool
Wilna Leech
Retired Headmaster and Friend
Lesley Jennings
Alumnus – GIG Culture, saxophone, bassoon
Rikus Coetsee
Alumnus - music teacher saxophone, clarinet Pretoria Boys’ High
Johan van Heerden
Friend
Letitia Henning
Friend
Simon Vander Plaetse
Alumnus
Joané Beukes
Alumnus
Ladybird International Arts Academy © 2024
Designed by Legacy Live
