Training Paths
My career aspirations for the future are to become a professional dancer in the industry. I would love to go on tours with pop stars and be a backing dancer for people like Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Little Mix and many more people. I would also like to maybe dance on cruises because I will get to see the world as well as doing a job that I live and this will let me experience things many people won’t have experienced. Becoming a professional dancer and dancing at different events and different locations would be my dream job because it is something that I love to do and ever since I was little I could see myself working as a dancer because I have always been an active person and I knew that sitting in an office was never something for me and that is why this is my dream job. After performing for a couple of years I wouldn’t mind becoming a dance teacher in a college or at a dance school so that I can give people the opportunities that I was given from a young age. If I ever become injured or can’t dance again because it will put me at risk I would like to become a sports physiotherapist in dance or any sport or a personal trainer in a gym, because I have always been interested in how the body works and this would allow me to still be involved in sports. A personal trainer also interests me because I can still be a bit active and I will be helping people to become fit and healthy and maintain a good lifestyle.
- Urdang – BA (HONS) in Professional Dance & Musical Theatre
The course aims to provide students with the opportunity to train to the highest standards for a professional career in dance and musical theatre, whilst gaining solid academic skills that will enhance career prospects upon graduation. The course is delivered over 3 years where the students will gain practical skills in dance, singing, acting and musical theatre repertoire. They will take part in dance and musical theatre productions and they will develop performance skills to a professional standard and they will understand the cultural and historical developments in dance and musical theatre.
Year 1
Dance – Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Jazz Dance and Tap Dance.
Musical Theatre – Singing Technique, Singing Repertoire, Acting Technique, Acting Through Song, Voice (Articulation and Accent).
Contextual and Critical Studies – Contextual Theory for the Performer (MT and Dance), Healthier Performer, Dance History and Musical Theatre History.
Performance – Choreography, Integrated Performance and Dance Solos.
Year 2
Dance – Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Jazz Dance and Tap Dance.
Musical Theatre – Singing Technique, Singing Portfolio, Acting Technique, Acting Through Song, Voice (Articulation and Accent).
Contextual and Critical Studies – Performance Culture, Preparing to Research and Dissertation Proposal.
Performance – Musical Theatre Choreography, Integrated Performance and Dance Solos.
A new track system is under development for 2017 to allow students to elect a track in the second year to best suit their strengths and likely destinations. The tracks will continue into the third year.
Year 3
Specialised Dance – Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Jazz Dance and Tap Dance with specialism in 2 subjects.
Musical Theatre – Singing for Audition and Acting for Audition.
Advanced Technical Skills – Jazz for Auditions and Ensemble Singing.
Contextual and Critical Studies – Undergraduate Major Project.
Performance – Full Length Dance Presentation and a Musical Production (Public Performances).
The entry requirements for this course are:
- GCSE English Grade C or above
- UCAS tariff points – 80
- Audition
The course fees and finance available are:
- Dance and Drama Award (DADA) for the Diploma – DADA’s are awarded to students who can demonstrate potential employability at the funding audition. New students that are awarded DADA’s will be funded to the end of their course. Income assessments of the awards means that support for students from low-income households will be increased.
Urdang Fee Reduction Awards – Through multiple fundraising activities Urdang operates an internal fee reduction scheme. This takes into account both employability potential and financial circumstance. The bursaries are awarded to selected Diploma and Degree students who demonstrate their potential at the audition.
- Pullman Scholarship – We have an exciting partnership with Pullman London St Pancras – The Shaw Theatre. This relationship has established the Pullman Scholarship, which sponsors a student who demonstrates exemplary potential, with preference given to a student living in the London Borough of Camden.
- The Andrew Lloyd Webber Performing Arts Scholarship – The Trustees of The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation fund 10 new Musical Theatre course scholarships each year at renowned musical theatre colleges throughout the UK. These scholarships are known as ‘The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation Scholarships’ and are awarded by the schools as part of the audition/selection process on the combined basis of merit and financial need. Please note students will be means-tested for scholarship eligibility.
- Aaron Morgan Bursary Fund – The Aaron Morgan Bursary Fund was established in memory of Aaron Morgan. Aaron studied at Urdang before starring in the West End production of the Lion King but sadly passed at the age of 27. The bursary is designed for current students in need of further financial assistance during their study at Urdang. Urdang have given one full scholarship and further funds have been raised in collaboration with the casting team at the Lyceum Theatre to go towards student maintenance.
There are many career opportunities and progressions after completing this course for example: they can be backing dancers for singers like Rita Ora, Cheryl Cole, Dizzee Rascal or on Britain’s got talent or The Brit Awards, they can be dancers on cruise ships or they can tour the world with musicals like Dirty Dancing, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and many more. Loads of graduates have successfully become professional dancer from their training at Urdang.
I am interested in this course because I feel like all the training that I will need to become a professional dancer is covered over the 3 years of this course. I also like commercial dance and Urdang is known for its commercial dancers and I know that auditions for the X Factor and MTV EMA dancers were held at this college which means some of the top choreographers like Brian Friedman know of this college. I like the course content for over the 3 years even though I am not confident with acting but I feel like if I end up with a place here I will develop this skills and confidence to help me with my acting which means that it won’t be as weak as it now. Also, the course is a degree course but it is studied at a conservatoire which means that I will be getting top training from teachers but I only have do a top up year if I wanted to take my teachers or to become a physiotherapist in dance.
- Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) – Dance Practises BA HONS)
The course is practice-based and it reflects the changing nature of the dance industry. There is now more of an importance on collaboration and the advances in technology that the artists need to be open to new approaches to dance. The course has been designed so that from Level 5 you can either specialise as either a creator spending time in the studio with your peers and visiting artists, or as a teacher-facilitator working in external venues with a range of different client groups such as youth groups or residential homes. Alongside learning in the form of dance and performance classes and the opportunities to share the work in public arenas, the course gives you an insight in to the role of new technology for example, choreography software or online performances. They have the opportunity to get involved in several projects run by the department, like their dance company JMUpstart gives final year students the experience of running a dance business and regularly secures funding to lead community projects with disadvantaged young people, as well as contracts for dance in local primary and secondary schools. The company has toured a range of conferences and festivals since 2008 including Edinburgh International Arts Festival. LJMU is one of the leading dance institutions in the country and one of the only a handful to offer community/dance practice.
Level 4 Core Modules
- Choregraphing & Performance 1
- Choregraphing & Performance 2
- Dance Technique & the Physical Body 1
- Dance Technique & the Physical Body 2
- Dance Perspectives
- Self-Awareness and Leadership Skills
- Workshop Practises
Level 5 Core Modules
- Route A (Creating and Performing)
- The Artist as a Performer
- Dance Making
- Screen Dance
- Studio Practise
- Artist as a Facilitator Route B (Teaching and Facilitating)
- Dance teaching and Facilitating
- Reading Dance in Practise
- Facilitator as a Performer
- Studio Practise
Making Dance Level 6 Core Modules
- Route A (Creating and Performing)
- Studio Practise
- Research and Practise for the Artist
- Professional Creative Practise
- Performance and Technology Plus one of the following
- Individually Negotiated Practise
- Projects at JMU
- Artist as a Facilitator Route B (Teaching and Facilitating)
- Studio Practise
- Research and Practise for the Artist
- Education / Community Professional Practise
- Teaching and Facilitating
The entry requirements for this course are:
- Grade C or above in English Language and Maths
- BTEC Diploma gaining D*D*
- BTEC Extended Diploma gaining DMM from related subjects including Performance, Dance or Physical Theatre
- 112 UCAS Tariff Points
- Audition
- Interview
The course fees and finance available are:
The fees for this course are £9250 and I can apply for student finance.
- LJMU Scholarships – The scholarships are open to full time homes and EU undergraduates that are liable to pay the tuition fees. The awards are not on income and if people are successfully awarded a scholarship for each year of the course it’s between £1,000 and £10,000 and this money doesn’t need to be repaid and it’s up to learner what they spend the money on.
- LJMU Bursary – For the LJMU bursary your household income must be below a certain amount for people to qualify for this funding. The money does not have to be repaid and it is intended to help pay some of the costs of being student. You can receive the bursary each year of the course if your household income doesn’t go above the criteria.
- Living Costs – In addition to tuition fees students can choose to take out a maintenance loan each year to help students meet costs of living alone. The money has to be paid back after the student leaves LJMU but they have to be earning over £21,000.
There are many career opportunities and progressions after completing this course for example some of the dance practise students have gone to perform for professional companies such as Motion House, National Dance Company Wales, and Jasmin Vardimon. Others have opened their own dance companies and some have gone on to become freelance dance artists. Some of them have worked in community dance, as independent choreographers/directors, as managers or administrators, in professional theatre, or in teaching from Key Stage 1 up to higher education. Other students have continued their training by a teacher training course, or an MA in Dance Practises, or they have won scholarships for further training on postgraduate performance courses at UK Dance Conservatoires.
Their student successes include:
- Jo Ashbridge, independent artist who received the TURN award in 2015
- Owen Coyne who became a performer with Stomp
- Sarah Lyon, Youth and Community Dance Manager at Yorkshire Dance Centre
- Laura Newman who set up the dance company Fragmented and has been commissioned to create a piece for JMUpstart – LJMU’s own dance company – and for Cloud9 in London
- Hannah Davis who runs her own company Reflections and is a dance lecturer at Dudley College
- Jessica Dean who went to New York to study at the Limon School, and is now on the intern project with Brooklyn Ballet Company.
I am interested in this course because in the second year I can choose which training path I want to take so I could either become a performer or a teacher and I would like to have a job in either one but I believe that becoming a teacher would be a more secure job because you are earning an income each month where as if I become a performer I aren’t guaranteed to get a job. I feel like this course covers things that I am interested in and by having 2 options to study even though I might not know for certain what I want to do yet by year 2 I might have more of an idea at what sort of career I want to have. Also LJMU is one of the top universities at the moment for this course so I feel that I would be getting good training to better myself as a dancer which I could then help young people with the training I have had or show the world by performing professionally.
- London Metropolitan University – Dance and Sport Therapy BSc (HONS)
This course prepares you for a career as a sports therapist by teaching you to recognise, manage and treat injuries suffered by athletes and dancers. You’ll develop your understanding of sports therapy as a subject and learn to apply your knowledge to dance. You will study relevant science subjects to help you understand the pathologies and management for injuries and learn how to put an injury an assessments and rehabilitative plan together for athletes. The course also applies a particular focus to the factors and issues that are unique to a dancer. The students receive support and guidance from course creator and principle Joanna Jenkins who has worked with organisations such as Royal Academy of Dance. They have an opportunity to undertake work placements with external contacts and the on-site clinic.
Year 1 Modules
- Essential Principles in Sports Science
- Practical Sports Experience
- Science, Research and Application
- Sports Anatomy and Physiology
Year 2 Modules
- Biomechanics of Human Movement and Dance Technique
- Sports Therapy
- Sports Science Research Methods
- Sports and Dance Physiology
- Sports and Dance Rehabilitation
Year 3 Modules
- Advanced Dance and Sports Therapy
- Business Developments in Sport
- Sports Science and Therapy Dissertation
- Work Placement and Electrotherapy
- Applied Principles of Sports Physiology
- Biomedical Implications of Exercise
The entry requirements for this course are:
- Grade C or above in GCSE English Language and GCSE Maths
- BTEC Extended Diploma in Applied Science – MMM
- Other Level 3 Equivalent
- UCAS Tariff Points – 88
- Past Experience in Dance or a Dance Background
The course fees and finance available are:
The fees for this course are £9250 and I can apply for student finance.
- London MET three-year bursary – All students undergo a financial assessment from their UK funding authority in order to establish entitlement. They offer £1000 bursaries each year to students on the three-year degree programme who are also entitled to the full maintenance loan. Overall the students will receive £3000.
There are many career opportunities and progressions after completing this course like the developing area of dance science by combining dance and sport therapy this course gives people the skills needed to pursue roles such as a dance company therapist (institution or touring), injury prevention officer for dance schools and companies, or pre- and post- performance masseuse. You can also set up your own clinic or work as a consultant providing screening, choreography advice, prehabilitation and rehabilitation.
I am interested in this course because I have always had an interest in sport and dance and how my body works because I have injured myself a couple of times and attended physiotherapy sessions. This course is like physiotherapy but for a specific area which is dance and sport which is something that I would like to do as job when I’m older because I think that it is interesting and even though I won’t be dancing I could have the opportunity to skill work in the industry and work for dance companies and on tours but from a different aspect. I feel like this course would give me all the information that I would need to pursue a career in this field of work and help me to become successful at the job.
Elise Penn 