Tuesday 25th November 2025, 10:27am
Now in its fourth year, the annual Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) Knowledge Exchange Conference will take place on 7th January 2026. This gathering has become a vibrant platform for dialogue, collaboration and innovation across disciplines and is a reminder that creativity is not just a luxury – rather an essential resource for problem-solving, resilience and progress.
Better Together: Rethinking Practice Through Partnership
Better Together invites educators, artists, practitioners, and researchers from across schools, higher education, and the performing arts to come together in a shared exploration of collaboration as a catalyst for change in teaching, learning, artistic practice and well-being.
This year’s theme recognises that the most powerful learning environments and the most impactful artistic practices, emerge when we work in partnership. Whether between students and teachers, artists and participants, schools and communities, or across disciplines and sectors, collaboration offers us ways to rethink how we teach, assess, support and create. It also offers space to prioritise well-being, inclusion and innovation in increasingly complex educational, artistic and cultural landscapes.
This cross-sector conference will explore:
- Co-created approaches to teaching, learning and assessment that centre voice, equity and engagement
- How artistic and creative practices enable shared inquiry, critical reflection and transformation
- Structures of support and belonging that promote the well-being of learners and educators alike
- Case studies of partnership across schools, universities, arts organisations and communities
- The value of listening, shared authorship, and collective leadership in responding to sector challenges
Better Together is a call to celebrate the knowledge that emerges in relationship with each other, with our students, and with our wider communities. It is a space to imagine new futures where collaboration is not just a method, but a mindset.
Darren Carr, Vice Principal & Director of Higher Education at NSCD said:
“In our 40th birthday year, hosting our fifth annual knowledge-exchange conference feels especially meaningful. Better Together captures what we believe at NSCD: that the most powerful learning, the most courageous artistry, and the most transformative change happen when we work in partnership. This conference invites us not only to share what we know, but to imagine, collectively, new futures built on equity, collaboration and care.”
What to Expect at Better Together: Rethinking Practice Through Partnership
- A powerful welcome and keynote:
Hear from NSCD leadership Sharon Watson and Darren Carr, followed by keynote speaker Helena Gaunt (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama) as they set the tone for a day centred on collaboration, innovation, and shared learning.
- A rich mix of sessions across multiple formats:
Choose from lecture demonstrations, presentations, interactive workshops, roundtables, and research symposia, running throughout the day across NSCD’s studios, seminar rooms and public spaces.
- Diverse thematic strands running through the programme:
Sessions span collaborative pedagogy, inclusivity and accessibility, interdisciplinary practice, creative health, ethics of collaboration, global perspectives, leadership, well-being, and new artistic methodologies.
- Live practice-led experiences:
Take part in workshops exploring co-creation, embodied empathy, gender bias in ballet training, ethics of care, somatic approaches, and innovative dance/technology interfaces such as echome for visually impaired participants.
- Insightful research and sector-leading case studies:
Learn from universities, conservatoires, youth companies, and independent artists presenting new findings on dance pedagogy, cross-sector partnerships, community engagement, neurodiversity, chronic pain research, decolonised practice, and more.
- Artist-led lecture demonstrations in public and unconventional spaces:
Experience site-responsive choreography, live performance try-outs, and process-sharing in the foyer, café, and studios.
- Space for debate and critical dialogue:
Roundtables tackle pressing sector questions from critical dance pedagogy, to ethical collaboration, to Global Majority leadership, to the future of arts education frameworks.
- Global and intercultural exchange:
Explore practices such as Amerta Movement research in Indonesia, Irish/Cuban technique integration, and international partnership models, widening perspectives on culture and artistic identity.
- A full-day journey through creativity, care, and collaboration:
With breaks, networking time, and a celebratory atmosphere, delegates can move fluidly between sessions, connect with colleagues, and engage deeply with shared ideas.
- Plenary reflection and a closing performance:
The day culminates in a plenary led by Darren Carr drawing together themes, provocations, and next steps followed by a VERVE performance, closing the conference with artistry and impact.
Join us at NSCD to be part of this exciting movement in shaping the future of art and education. Don’t miss the chance to participate - book now to be part of something extraordinary.
