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Ya Shu began her journey in the ballroom, performing internationally as part of a duo. When she was seperated from her partner, she knew she needed to find a way to continue expressing herself through dance. “When I separated from my partner, I felt quite lost. I didn’t know what I needed to do next because ballroom dancing is all about a collaborative partnership,” she says. “If you lose the connection with your partner, you can’t dance with them anymore.”
That was when she came across Trinity Laban, a world-leading conservatoire where imaginative minds collaborate and create through art. This is a place where creativity knows no boundaries, inspiring all students to unlock their potential and develop their artistic voice – just as Shu has done.
“I’ve improved a lot during my time at Trinity Laban, both physically and mentally,” she says. “I’d never done ballet or contemporary dance before starting at Trinity Laban. Since coming here, I’ve felt my technical skills improve hugely.”
The conservatoire offers a suite of courses that empower students like Shu to forge their own path at whatever stage of life or level of experience. Whether it’s a first degree like the BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance or postgraduate programmes like MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional, MA/MFA Creative Practice: Transdisciplinary, MA/MFA Choreography, MSc/MFA Dance Science, and MA/MFA Dance Performance, all Trinity Laban courses equip you with the tools to break convention and redefine tradition.
The CoLab Festival is where Trinity Laban students unite to create, develop, and rehearse projects. Source: Trinity Laban
“I’m really interested in working with different art forms,” Shu says. “At Trinity Laban, we participate in the CoLab Festival every year with students from the Music and Musical Theatre Departments. The experience has been fascinating, as I think dance doesn’t need to be confined to itself; it can be many different things at the same time.”
When you have an entire school supporting you, you gain the strength to go beyond your comfort zone. Take current Musical Theatre student Lettice Cook, who made her professional debut in “Diana: The Musical” in December 2023 at London’s Eventim Apollo, for example. Prior to performing professionally, Cook did not define singing as one of her strengths until she met fellow Trinity Laban graduate Victoria Mulley.
“My main strength was always as an actor,” she says. “When I worked out that I wanted to do musical theatre, I found a singing teacher in Victoria who was actually a student at Trinity Laban at the time and she was really good. I ended up doing opera for seven years.”
Over at the music department, it’s not serendipity that gets you working with some of the biggest names in the field. It’s part and parcel of the department’s commitment to making the most of the needs, skills, and talent of its students. “Studying at Trinity Laban gave me the opportunity to learn from amazing pianists such as Deniz Arman Gelenbe, Sergio De Simone, Martino Tirimo, and Mikhail Kazakevich,” graduate Giacomo Tora says. Under their tutelage, Tora has gone on to win several piano competitions worldwide and has released a debut album that combines all he has learned, presenting it in his own unique way while still maintaining his Italian roots.
An essential aspect of studying at Trinity Laban is access to the same brand of instruments used by the world’s greatest musicians. Source: Trinity Laban
“Through sensitive pianism illuminated with unfailing vitality and character, Giacomo Tora has brought two of the greatest composers for the keyboard into a fresh conversation that proves both richly subtle and delicately surprising,” says Rupert Christiansen, music critic for the Daily Telegraph and UK and Europe Director of the Robert Turnbull Piano Foundation.
Tora credited his weekly performance classes for shaping him into the celebrated pianist he is today. These classes allow you to try different interpretations and approaches to a work or a specific passage, thus expressing who you truly are as a musician. “This freedom allowed me to understand what works and what doesn’t – something that’s very important for my growth as a pianist,” he says.
Shu, Cook, and Tora’s successes are living proof that Trinity Laban has what it takes to evolve you into the artist you want to be. As a student-centric conservatoire, Trinity Laban has created a place where interesting thinking and innovation have the power to transform society by connecting people and art. Whether you are here to polish your craft or aim to perform on the biggest world stages, the conservatoire is where futures are made.
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