Postgraduate Diploma in Arts Learning & Higher Education (in progress)
MA Dance & Creative Enterprise
Postgraduate Diploma in Performance Practice
BPA (Hons) in Contemporary Dance
Additional Qualifications & CPD
Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (In progress)
Clore Fellow – Arts Council England Transform.
Associate Certified Coach (ACC), The International Coaching Federation
Certified Professional Co-active Coach (CPCC), Co-Active Training Institute
Role and responsibilities:
Phil teaches contemporary techniques, improvisation, performance, teaching practices, choreography and provides rehearsal direction during student performance periods. As careers coordinator, Phil offers careers support for students along with personal professional development and career profiling. Phil also assesses and mentors students on postgraduate programmes at the school.
“My story is one of growing up queer, on a council estate in South Yorkshire, with undiagnosed dyslexia and ADHD. I’m here now because of the incredible dance teachers I encountered who believed in me and saw nothing but potential in the sensitive, disruptive, annoyingly rebellious and camp individual that I was.
I was the first in my family to attend university and the first to venture into the dance world when, at the age of 12, dance was introduced to our school curriculum. Everything that has followed has been about the ‘upset’…which is what they call it when an underdog wins.”
Phil Sanger is an established arts practitioner, born and based in Yorkshire. Since 2003 he has worked as an independent Artistic Director, making and performing multimedia artwork as a soloist and within the dance collective Sardoville. His work, in this context, has been supported by various commissioning bodies, and to date, he has raised almost £0.5 million for local arts projects in the Yorkshire area. His performance and research interests have always reflected his experience of growing up as a queer, working-class child in an underprivileged area; as a result, he has dedicated vast resources to ensuring that people have access to the arts and to personal development services that support well-being. Partners and stakeholders in his work have included Arts Council England, Royal Opera House, The Lowry, Dance East, Price Waterhouse Cooper, Yorkshire Dance, Cohan Collective, Leeds Inspired, Dancebase Edinburgh, Metal Culture Peterborough, and Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Phil started dancing at the age of 12 and pursued his dance interest at the Electric Theatre Studio (Barnsley College) before training at NSCD. In 2006 he joined NSCD’s postgraduate company VERVE, performing works by Hofesh Schector, Finn Walker, Shobana Jeyasingh and Kim Brandstrup.
From 2007 to 2017 he toured internationally with companies such as Phoenix Dance Theatre, Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company, Vincent Dance Theatre, Yorke Dance Project, and Denada Dance Theatre. During this time he performed a score of new and original creations by international dance makers such as Ivgi & Greben, Sharon Watson, Richard Alston, Darshan Singh Buller, Aletta Collins & Douglas Thorpe. His most memorable moments were the restagings of historical and seminal works by pioneering artists Sir Robert Cohan, Sir Kenneth MacMillan and Robert North.
In addition to his presence on the stage, Phil has also enjoyed being part of critically acclaimed TV and film productions such as Frankenstein’s Wedding and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell, on the BBC, Macbeth for Green Screen Studios, and Blind Passion and Crazy Joanna for Slanjayvah Danza. In tandem with his performance career, Phil has worked globally as a teacher, mentor and consultant, leading in-person workshops in Europe, Asia and the USA as well as working digitally within international queer networks such as We Create Space. In 2015, Dancers Career Development sponsored Phil to pursue additional training with the Co-Active Training Institute through which he became a certified Life Coach and a specialist in personal and professional development. He joined the faculty of NSCD in 2016 as a Lecturer in Performance and Careers Coordinator. Phil also sits on the school’s board as a Staff Governor. In 2021, he became the Arts Council Transform Clore Fellow, identified as a future leader representing inclusion and access.
2020; Deep Health Project; Open forum and discussion group debating the dimensions of health in relation to the dancing body.
2019; Always go too far; Interdisciplinary practice with Kate Genever and Georgia Cooper. Investigating overlaps between Dance, Art, Psychotherapy and Life Coaching. Supported by NSCD and Metal Culture, Peterborough.
2018, Listen, pedagogical research investigating the interchangeability of Life Coaching and Dramaturgy within dance and performance contexts. Part of MA Dance and Creative Enterprise
2018, Gender Moves; collaborative curiosities and research with Yorkshire Dance and Fernanda Prata, investigating the position of gender in the current ecology.
2017, For Only An Hour, research into Queer art, LGBTQ+ visibility and integrative fields of performance, with Donna McKevitt, Andrew Walker and Wendy Houstoun.
2016, After the Reign, research into mass hysteria and choreomania. Practice as research exploring historical documentation of ‘Dancing Plague’.
2021: Restoration. Duet of long duration performed and filmed at Seven Arts, Leeds
2021: Statuesque. Improvised site specific performances at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Kirkstall Abbey, Leftbank Leeds.
2020: Definite Article. Research & Development at NSCD, Leeds,
2019: For Only An Hour. Queer manifesto advocating LGBTQ+ visibility and integrative fields. National tour and Edinburgh Fringe run.
2018: The Great Unwashed. Dance Performance. NSCD, Riley Theatre, Leeds
2017: A Matter of Impression. Dance performance, Barnsley Civic. Kings Lynn, The Corn Exchange. March 2017, The Lowry, Manchester. April 2017, The Stanley and Audrey Burton Theatre, Leeds.
2016: Something Ordinary. Live art performance. December 2016 and December 2017, Seven Arts Centre, Leeds
