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To succeed in the dance world and beyond, dedication is key. Not just to the art of capturing the imagination through movement but to the professional and business acumen needed to turn your craft into a sustainable career as well.
Ranked number one in the 2024 Guardian League Tables for Dance & Drama, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) has a track record of turning students into career-ready graduates. In fact, it has a programme that will ensure you get the best of many worlds. The MA in Dance & Creative Enterprise (DaCE) will develop your artistic identity as a maker and producer.
This postgraduate taught master’s takes one year to complete. It is created for emerging and established choreographers, movement-based artists and performers looking to develop their voice. Ideally, you would have two or three years of dance training at a higher education level, professional experience or equivalent vocational training. The modules include Creative Practice, Arts Project Management and Fundraising for Creative Industries, Technique and Embodied Practices, Marketing, Public Relations (PR) and Digital Representation.
These modules train your practical and theoretical know-how while also letting you put your ideas into practice. For example, the Arts Project Management course includes proposal creation and an exploration of account operations, budgeting, strategy and marketing parallel to artistic content. One student kickstarted BAYT (HOME), an intercultural arts event in Milan comprising a symposium and performance around migration, asylum and integration. Another organised an immersive two-day retreat focused on social activism about global warming.
Such projects show you business planning, fundraising and marketing in action. “The school cares so much about artistic development as well as our ability to project manage and produce work,” says graduate Nga Man Cheang. “Everything we do in class can be directly applied to our future work in the industry.”
The MA in DaCE gives you access to industry-standard facilities to learn, research and perfect your craft. This includes Riley Theatre (the on-site performance venue), eight large dance studios, a lighting studio, a video and sound editing suite, an arts and dance library, a fully resourced Bodywork Studio, Pilates equipment and NSCD VLE (Virtual Learning Environment).
In these spaces, you can create your best work. “NSCD has provided us with many opportunities and a platform to work with other artists during this postgraduate year,” says graduate Yuqing Huang. “During my time at NSCD, we have had many opportunities to create work and perform in front of an audience, and these experiences have enhanced my creativity and expressiveness as a student and also as an artist. In addition to this, the technical classes have improved our dance skills and provided a good foundation for our work.”
Lecturers are still active in the dance scene, still making work and know how to secure funding successfully. Mentorship and guidance from these experienced educators will help you put together and present a portfolio of work which will put you in good stead for future job prospects. “Staff are all sophisticated dancers, producers or choreographers who have been working in the industry for years, and they all have a lot of experience and connections to the industry,” says Cheang. “They can tell you most of the problems that you will face in the industry and teach you how to deal with them. Everything we learn in class is based on reality rather than just academic models.”
Visiting artists and talks by practitioners add greater insights into contemporary creative industries. NSCD also offers classes such as Gaga, pointe work, fitness, men’s ballet vocabulary, yoga, percussion, lighting for dance and gymnastics for dancers. Many of these are free for students while theatre tickets are discounted. On-site injury intervention, English language support, counselling services and more are available too.
The MA culminates in a research project. As a DaCE student, you will have access to projects and research run by staff and the school’s network of partner organisations throughout your programme. Such features are part of NSCD’s package of teaching, learning, course content, feedback and student engagement — the one deemed to be outstanding in the latest Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The TEF assesses the activity, results and experiences of students on undergraduate courses across the country.
NSCD received Silver for Student Outcomes and Gold for Student Experience. “This silver and gold award holds immense significance for us at NSCD,” says NSCD CEO & Principal Sharon Watson MBE. “It serves as a strong validation of our efforts and resounding testament to our unwavering commitment to delivering nothing short of excellence.”
Learn more about Northern School of Contemporary Dance’s MA in Dance & Creative Enterprise.
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