Dance Training in England

An overview of opportunities

Whether your interest is in becoming a professional dancer, dance teacher, choreographer, or dance manager, there are a wealth of full time dance training opportunities currently on offer to students aged 18 years and above.

Performing Arts schools and courses that cater for the development of students as all-round performers now exist in huge numbers, but there are traditionally two types of specific dance training on offer; vocational training, and dance diploma and degree courses. Vocational courses will have more of an emphasis on the development of technical skills in dance and focus primarily on preparing students for a career as a dancer. Diploma and degree courses offer a more flexible approach to studying dance, with the emphasis on preparing students for a wide range of career options - for example, as dancers, teachers, choreographers, notators, or managers.

Vocational Dance Training schools typically cater for students aged 11 years and upwards, with advanced level training provided for students aged 16 years and over. A range of dance styles will be taught, including ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap and musical theatre, choreography, anatomy and history of dance and pilates. It may also be possible to study academic courses alongside the practical dance classes. There are only a few vocational institutions that offer courses for students aged 18 years and over only. London Contemporary Dance School and the Laban Centre London are the two principal training institutions for contemporary dance training at this level, and they have a worldwide reputation. These courses offer a focussed and in dept approach to dance training, with ballet and contemporary dance styles usually underpinning the course content.

Dance diploma and degree courses are now on offer at a rapidly increasing number of colleges and universities in England. These courses offer a wide range of subjects including contemporary, ballet, choreography, notation, analysis and critical appreciation, history and social contexts of dance, dance and film studies, dance and new technology, and marketing and management studies. A growing number of these courses also offer students opportunities to take up extended work experience placements with dance companies and organisations, which provides hands-on real experience and future useful contacts within the dance sector.

There are a small number of courses, which offer dance training in South Asian and African Peoples Dance although at the moment these tend to be modules contained within courses, which offer a wide range of styles. Plans are currently underway to develop courses that focus more specifically on these dance styles and offer in depth training. The Arts Council of England is working with dance companies to address the issue of training for these dance forms. Training for dancers with disabilities is also a priority area for development, and as well as working with school and colleges to make their current courses more accessible, plans are also underway to explore a new training structures in partnership with several leading integrated dance companies.

Funding in the UK for vocational dance training is operated on a school by school scholarship system. This means that 29 schools in England have been allocated a total of 1,560 scholarships places (with funding from the Department for Education & Employment), and each school determines the recipients of scholarships through it's own audition process. You may be eligible for a scholarships but this will vary from school to school. The colleges and universities operate a different system that is in line with the rest of the Higher Education system.

Auditions and interviews will be held at each institution during the Spring, and it is important to have contacted the course administrators well in advance in order to ensure that you are given an audition/interview date. This may be able to be conducted by telephone, or through submitting a video of yourself dancing. In order to find out the exact structure of each course, you will also need to contact the school itself.

For more detailed information about studying dance you should contact the leading body for representing professional dance training. The Council of Dance Education and Training (CDET). The CDET offer information and advice to anyone wishing to study dance in England and can provide contact details for all the schools and training establishments. They can be contacted at Toynbee Hall, 28 Commercial Street, London E1 6LS, Tel: 020 7247 4030, Fax: 020 7247 3404, Email: info@cdet.org.uk; Website: www.cdet.org.uk.

Other useful publications are; 'Dance Education, Training and Careers' available from the National Resource Centre for Dance, University of Surrey, Guilford, Surrey GU2 5XH. 'Work in Dance' and 'Your Creative Future' available from The Arts Council of England, 14 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 3NQ. A booklet of all the courses available at Higher Education level is available from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) via their website at www.ucas.org.uk


Contributed by: Lauren Scholey
Assistant Dance Officer
Arts Council of England.

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