Course Award: | Duration: | Application Deadlines: | In Person Audition Dates: | Places: |
MA | 1 year Full-time | 4 January - 15 February 2026 | 17 January - 1 March 2026 | 15 |
Immersive Experience with Professional Dance Companies
The MA Professional Placement Scheme in Dance (PPS) is designed for creative individuals keen to bridge the gap between educational training and working in a professional environment. The course aims to inspire students to gain knowledge, experience, confidence, maturity in working within the professional contemporary dance world.
The distinctiveness of this programme lies in the offer of a placement with a professional dance company for up to 8 months. Students work alongside professional dancers at their chosen host company, experiencing roles within the company such as creation, rehearsal, production, teaching, organisation, marketing and/or community outreach work. Each placement is designed to embed students within the company structure and day-to-day operations so that their experience mirrors, with appropriate support, those employed within the company environment.
The MA PPS in Dance provides students with a mentored and inspiring environment to enhance their individual artistry as performers and to challenge their physical and reflective skills as facilitators. Students develop their network with guest artists/choreographers to support them in their future career. The programme also gives a rigorous grounding in research practice and the ability to apply these skills in professional contexts.
At the end of their placement, students may be offered a short or full-term contract with the company/host.
Companies/hosts participating in the PPS scheme for 26/27:
2Faced Dance Company
Balbir Singh Dance Company
balletLorent
Dance United Yorkshire*
Holsterbro Dansekompagni
Motionhouse
National Dance Company Wales
Phoenix Dance Theatre
Scottish Dance Theatre
Soul-Xpressions
Southpaw Company
Stopgap Dance Company
“It’s been a privilege to witness over the years the transformational journeys of young dancers on the Professional Placement Scheme. The duration and depth of the placement allows them to embed themselves in the reality of a professional environment in a supported way, enabling deep personal and artistic learning. As a company, we are invested in supporting the development of the students’ agency, accountability and resilience as dance artists, as well as the acquisition of new skills and building of professional networks.” – Joan Clevillé, SDT, 2024
* We are pleased to introduce an exciting new opportunity and pathway within our Professional Placement Scheme in Dance, designed for applicants who want to expand their skills in dance facilitation, teaching, and/or rehearsal leadership.
The Dance United Yorkshire pathway offers the chance to gain real-world experience in community dance settings, working directly with youth groups and adults. This route focuses on developing the practical and interpersonal skills rather than focusing on performance. This is about developing your confidence and creativity as a dance artist and facilitator – inspiring others through the art of dance while building valuable professional skills for your future career.
Eligible home-fee paying postgraduate students can apply for a postgraduate loan from the Student Loans Company to help with course fees and living costs
For detailed information on tuition fees, financial support, and associated costs for all courses, visit our Fees and Finance page here: www.nscd.ac.uk/study/fees-finance/postgraduate
Home | Overseas |
£ 11,330 | £ 19,570 |
Within this module, students will participate fully in the life of a placement dance company. These companies will have an established relationship with NSCD, with the placement being overseen by the programme lead and NSCD mentor. The exact role you will undertake will depend on the nature of the company and focus of the placement, which will be laid out clearly in advance. Some of the activity that you may be involved in includes technical classes, creative processes, workshops, rehearsals, performance periods, teaching and arts administration.
This module will emphasise how all elements of company life combine and overlap to form a holistic experience, with your learning reflecting the current demands of arts practice. Students will develop the skills to sustain creative engagement, to contribute effectively in a range of different circumstances, and to develop effective working relationships across the different roles within a company.
During the placement, students will develop a specific focus to a level commensurate to MA study and emerging professional practice. For example, this may be engaging primarily in a performance role, working alongside the company dancers, taking class, being involved in rehearsal and creation. Similarly, students may take on a facilitating role, working in the role of teacher/assistant director, working under direction with the company dancers or outreach programmes. In all cases, it is likely that students will engage in a multifaceted role, with specific areas of focus, and other supporting tasks, reflective of the current demands of the industry.
Students will be supported to develop self-awareness and reflective skills to enhance their ability to contribute effectively in both individual and group situations. These skills will support students in developing autonomous approaches to their work, aiding progression into the professional world and emphasising the importance of life-long learning.
This module is designed to enable students to bring together their artistic, practical and experiential learning elsewhere on your placement. Students will be guided to tools to critically reflect and evaluate their experience, drawing on theoretical frameworks as needed, to contextualise their experience, evaluate personal and professional development, and enhance self-awareness, adaptability and critical thinking processes.
The module will be taught through a mix of online resources, tutorials from NSCD mentors and guidance within the company. Students will produce a reflective portfolio documenting key experiences and the reflective insights coming from these, with the underlying aim to further refine students’ own practice and apply learning from the placement into professional situations. The portfolio will be submitted at the end of the module, but students will receive formative feedback on their reflective work to date at the midpoint of their placement to enable them to apply this feedback into their final submission.
This module is designed for students who undertake significant performance activity during their company placement. Here, the focus will be on applying technical skills, integrating performance skills sympathetically to the performance mode, and helping realise the shared artistic and choreographic vision of the works. Students will also be expected to take on corrections given in real time and apply them to their performance practice.
Students will be involved in a number of significant performance roles. This could include the devising and performance of new works, or the restaging of company repertoire. Students may take on an individual performance roles, understudy one of the company dancers, be involved in a period of research and development, or participate in the creation of a complementary piece to sit alongside another work. Consequently, the assessment for this module may take either the form of rehearsal performances, staged performances or sharing of work depending on the opportunities available within the company. The scope and performance opportunities will have been outlined to students ahead of the placement commencing, alongside the potential to adapt to possibilities that emerge during the placement activity.
This module is designed to run alongside the company placement module as students learn experientially about the demands of life in a contemporary dance company. The Company Placement module focuses on day-to-day activity of the students’ role, with this being assessed through continuous summative assessment, while the Artist as Facilitator module supports and assesses the students on the outcome of a specified project.
Examples of the type of project students might be involved with include: developing and delivering a course of creative workshops for the community, becoming involved with the design and marketing of an upcoming tour, or choreographing a piece for a local youth group. Whatever the activity, there will be opportunity for reflection, problem-identification and resolution in order to support future development.
Students will be encouraged to take initiative, identify what needs to be done in any given situation and find creative solutions to challenges that arise. Students may be assigned tasks by their host company which will involve managing deadlines and timeframes, the analysis of information from multiple sources in order to take appropriate action, and developing creative ways to deliver information to particular groups of people.
The content of any activity will be discussed by the Company Mentor and NSCD tutor to ensure students are supported in their learning and are being appropriately challenged. The aim of this approach is to support students in understanding the myriad of opportunities that currently present themselves within a career as a professional dance artist, whilst also enabling them to shape the future of the sector with an informed and well-rounded perspective and skillset.
In this module, students will undertake a substantial and focused research project based on a critical and systematic understanding of current knowledge. Research outcomes may take a range of forms including performative or choreographic work, lecture demonstration or dissertation. Student will be expected to draw on their experiences from earlier in the MA PPS in Dance programme, with the opportunity to utilise this expertise within practice centred research frameworks.
The module will equip students with a range of supporting skills to undertake this project successfully, including individual tutorial support focused on students’ own research work, and an understanding of how to work in a structured research environment. Student outcomes will be presented in the most effective mode for an individual’s work as appropriate to research at Level 7. This includes supporting contextual information as appropriate to the research field. Where students work collaboratively, they will provide evidence for individual contribution and research enquiry.
This module is seen as an opportunity for students to apply the specificity of learning on the course to a project directly relevant to their personal on-going professional development. The module will be taught at NSCD, or accessed remotely, subject to appropriate supporting infrastructure.
*Placement students who do not currently reside in Leeds are required to relocate from June to August for this NSCD-based module. There is also the option to defer the module or choose a fully written alternative, allowing greater flexibility in location.
The school is well equipped to facilitate students’ work in state-of-the-art facilities not shared by any subject area other than dance.
Graduates of the MA PPS in Dance are well-equipped to pursue diverse opportunities in the professional dance world. During their studies, they gain extensive performance experience as part of a touring contemporary dance company, working with established choreographers. This exposure helps them develop their artistry, refine their technical skills, and build a strong professional identity.
Graduates often transition into careers as performers in dance companies, freelance artists, choreographers, or educators. Additionally, their connections with industry professionals and partner institutions broaden their career options, potentially leading to collaborations or roles in UK and international venues.
Holsterbro Dansekompagni
(Denmark)
balletLorent
(UK)
Motionhouse
(UK)
Motionhouse
(UK)
2Faced Dance Company
(UK)
Freelance Artist at Scottish Dance Theatre (UK) and Teaching Artist at Candoco Dance
Phoenix Dance Theatre
(UK)
Phoenix Dance Theatre
(UK)
Entry is through a successful application, audition and interview.
This course is open to graduates of two or three-year dance training programmes at Higher Education level or dance artists with professional experience and equivalent vocational dance training.
UK-based company placement
Due to visa restrictions, the placement is open only to UK applicants and those with EU-settled or Pre-settled Status. If your application is successful, further details will be provided in your offer letter.
Non-UK-based company placement
The placement is open to UK and non-UK applicants subject to receiving a visa from the company’s country of residence. If your application is successful, further details will be provided in your offer letter.
Students with English as a second language will need a 6.0 ESOL level (with a minimum of 6.0 in reading and 5.5 in speaking and listening) or equivalent.
Any questions about any of the above can be directed to/further details can be obtained from admissions@nscd.ac.uk
Firstly, you will need to submit an application via our online application portal.
The application will include:
For more information, visit the How to Apply page.
To qualify for admission to this course, shortlisted candidates are also required to pass a Company Recall Audition.
The audition may be held at NSCD or other partner locations where you will experience a range of physical activities, such as ballet, contemporary, improvisation, devising and creating, and learning the company’s repertoire.
For more information, visit the How to Apply page.
Candidates that are successful at the Company Recall Audition will be invited to interview either in person or online, first with the Company panel followed by the Programme Lead. Candidates may also be invited for a 2nd audition at the Company base. This will vary from Company to Company.
For more information, visit the How to Apply page.
A strong sense of physicality underpinned by refined dance skills and bespoke knowledge from a variety of practitioners and dance methods.
Daily commitment to themselves and the company in contributing towards company activities and intense professional training.
Ability to work together with other company members and integrate into a professional company structure seamlessly.
Eager to gain exposure to different creative encounters and open to working with professional artists and adopting their processes.
At NSCD, we understand that the dance industry is demanding, that’s why 100% of students requesting wellbeing support are seen within a week, demonstrating our commitment to student resilience. Student support is important because it directly affects academic success, wellbeing, and long-term development.
Learn more about how NSCD’s Student Services can assist you with academic, wellbeing, disability, and injury support: www.nscd.ac.uk/study/student-life/student-services
Student SupportAs part of your decision-making process, we appreciate you will want to research potential programmes of study ahead of application deadlines. To enable you to do this, we work hard to ensure that our website is as up to date as possible.
Although we try to ensure that this is as current as possible, there are always changes we make to ensure that the course is as vibrant and up to date with sector requirement as possible. Dance is a dynamic, fast-moving sector and our courses evolve to ensure they reflect and respond to the industry’s needs.
Sometimes it may be necessary to change course content, delivery and entry requirements, if we believe it will enable us to improve the high-quality experience we offer. Changes sometimes comes because of student feedback/consultations, external examiner feedback and consultation with industry partners.
All reasonable care has been taken to ensure course information is accurate, however NSCD cannot guarantee all courses will be available in exactly the form and detail described here. We encourage you to regularly check the pages of the course(s) you are interested in. At Open Days, Auditions, and Interview Days we will take the opportunity to inform you about any proposed changes and will also notify you if any changes are made after you have accepted an offer.
Our courses are made up of a series of modules. Some are compulsory and some optional, however, we may not be able to offer the full list of modules every year. Option availability will depend on how many students choose a particular option. For an option to run we usually stipulate that 13 students have chosen to take the option. When you accept your offer, please bear in mind that on rare occasions, we may not be able to offer all of the optional modules. Before each year’s teaching starts you will discuss your preferred options with the Head of Faculty and Curriculum Leads who will try to ensure you are able to take them but cannot guarantee it.
