FdA Professional Dance Performance

FdA Professional Dance Performance

  • Duration 2 years
  • Start date September 2023
  • Apply by February 2023
  • Funding Available

Overview

This 16+ course provides a thorough grounding in key dance techniques with in-depth development of specialist skills leading to specialisation in classical ballet, contemporary dance, jazz dance or musical theatre.

This course leads on to the BA (Hons) Professional Performance (top up).

Students can tailor parts of their timetable to explore different styles and become versatile performers. Knowledge of dance science, choreographic and contextual studies are integrated to enhance professional performance practice. Students have frequent opportunities to perform, from informal, in-house presentations of work to full-length performances at major London venues.

Validated by the University for the Creative Arts

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Applications for the 2023/24 Academic Year are now closed. Register to apply for the 2024/25 Academic Year.

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Structure

This course, which leads on to the BA (Hons) Professional Performance (top up), is comprised of two years of intensive study. More information on this programme can be found in the programme specification.

Pathways

Throughout the three-year programme, students have the opportunity to specialise in one of classical ballet, contemporary dance, jazz dance or musical theatre. At application students are asked to indicate their preference of pathway, the audition panel will work with the student to identify the best pathway for them. Once on their preferred pathway, students will focus on their specialism in their performance practice modules throughout their first and second years, increasing the hours of focus on this area as they progress through the programme. In the third year of the programme, students will perform within one of LSC’s four acclaimed touring companies. (NB: This is circumstance to Government guidelines regarding Coronavirus)
Classical Ballet

This year provides the intensive training and performance experience that is required by advanced classical ballet students who wish to pursue a professional career. The current programme builds on the original course which was developed by Margaret Barbieri in consultation with Dame Alicia Markova. It aims to prepare students to meet the demands of performing in a range of work on the ballet stage today, fostering a critical awareness of the choreographic movements in classical ballet, deep understanding of the form and nurturing each dancer in their unique gifts/talents as an artist.

Classical Ballet
Contemporary Dance

The contemporary dance professional year and time in our contemporary performing company INTOTO Dance concentrates on creative, individual interpretation in performance and the enhancement of students’ technique and command of the stage. It aims to foster an intelligent dance artist – one who has the technical skills, creative artistry and physical and emotional maturity to work successfully in a professional environment.

In addition to a daily ballet class uniquely created for the contemporary dancer, third-year students on the contemporary dance professional option study Graham and Cunningham-based technique, contact improvisation, release technique and choreography, as well as taking classes that encompass current commercial dance styles. Students can also take advantage of voice technique training and singing for dancers.

Alongside technical training, research and development, workshops and masterclasses with artistic directors and leading practitioners across the field of contemporary dance, dance theatre, and other diverse dance styles are a regular part of the course. These sessions provide students with an opportunity to explore and develop their creative practice whilst providing an opportunity for engagement with the professional field as they move towards graduation and begin careers as independent creative artists.

Recent workshops and visiting practitioners include Alleyne Dance, Luke Brown Company, Liam Francis and Laura Weston. Professional development opportunities for third-year students also aim to foster entrepreneurial and networking skills, invaluable for a portfolio career path after graduation.

Contemporary Dance
Jazz Dance

In this final year, a challenging and exciting opportunity is provided for the serious jazz dancer to train, rehearse, perform and tour as part of our dedicated performing company Jazz Co. This environment develops the resilience, physical skills and stamina required by today’s emerging professional performer, as students are exposed to the latest trends and ever-increasing technical demands of today’s workplace. Care is taken to ensure training is balanced and provided to the highest standards and that the particular gifts and interests of each student are valued and nurtured in the context of professional standards and goals. The year’s syllabus builds towards a final term largely committed to performances in public.

Emphasis is placed on the concept of isolation technique as a feature common to all the different and personal characteristics of jazz dance. The vocabulary of the different jazz styles – ballet, tap, contemporary dance, singing and drama – are combined to create the comprehensive yet balanced training required to equip students for a successful career in commercial dance. Essential skills such as focus, projection, interpretation and style, linked to the ability to absorb and memorise choreography are also developed.

Training also includes work on the styles and personalities of past jazz dance icons and is further enhanced by regular workshops and masterclasses given by leading choreographers and dancers from companies, television and West End productions. This, coupled with visits to performances, provides students with valuable experience and the vital opportunity of working with potential employers.

Encouraging and emphasising the individuality of a dancer is a vital element of the graduate year. Throughout your time at LSC, we will guide you through the keys to success within the industry that stretch beyond the stage. Namely, we’ll advise you on careers, agents, Equity, CVs, photographs, portfolios of audition material and identification of possible job opportunities.

Jazz Dance
Musical Theatre

This professional option embraces all of the theatrical disciplines that contribute to the production of musical theatre. It is designed specifically for students aiming at a professional career in this aspect of theatre, which demands a high level of practical expertise in a wide variety of skills.

The curriculum is comprised of intensive courses in acting, improvisation, singing, voice, speech and musical theatre repertoire. These are supplemented by the dance techniques that are required by musical theatre students, such as ballet, jazz and tap. Students have contact, throughout their time at London Studio Centre, with potential employers through studio-based workshops and masterclasses.

Specialist singing courses build on the students’ knowledge of the musical repertoire for popular theatre, including composers such as Ivor Novello, Noel Coward, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Jerry Herman, Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber. The classwork ensures that the students have their own natural skills developed and that they have the technical foundations to sustain a professional career. Regular private coaching means that students are fully prepared for public performances and auditions.

Drama studies naturalise acting technique so that it becomes undetectable in performance. The course aims to promote the technical skills, intellectual grasp and physical and artistic maturity that are required to work successfully in professional theatre. Voice and speech coaching also play an important part in the final year, reinforcing the work covered in the first two years. This ensures that each student has a flexible, well-modulated voice and is able, therefore, to tackle a wide variety of roles and possesses the strength and skill to project in large auditoria.

These different disciplines are united in the rehearsal and performance of the musical theatre repertoire, which commences in the 1920s and proceeds via Rodgers and Hammerstein to the most recent rock musicals. This work promotes an awareness of both the content and style of these different forms of music theatre.

Classical ballet continues to provide a basis for sound dance technique, emphasising the secure performance of the basic vocabulary. Isolation jazz technique adds interest, style and flair to the performance and staging of songs and dances from music theatre, with its emphasis on coordination, fluency and presentational skills. Dance and tap for musical theatre are essential skills for students seeking employment in the commercial world.

Musical Theatre

Staff

Jose Martín Trujillo

Artistic Director and Principal Ballet Teacher, Images Ballet Company

Sue Booker

Head of Department, Contemporary Dance and Artistic Director, INTOTO Dance

Robbie O'Reilly

Artistic Director, Jazz Co.

Nicola Bowden

Head of Department, Classical Ballet

Alison Desbois

Head of Department, Jazz Dance

Entry requirements

Applicants will be expected to audition for entry onto the programme in one of the following pathways: Classical Ballet, Contemporary Dance, Jazz Dance or Musical Theatre.

Applicants are normally expected to have:

  • A minimum of grade 4 in English Language (Grade C if awarded prior to 2017), or the equivalent qualification, plus four other GCSEs
  • Current dance skills, practical knowledge, understanding of technique and style and the capacity for critical reflection on performance at Level 3 (for example A-Level Dance or graded subject specific examinations) demonstrated at audition and interview in addition to formal qualifications or where no formal qualifications may be provided as evidence
  • The aptitude for professionally orientated practical study of performance techniques at levels 4 and 5 and potential to benefit from dance training as judged through audition
  • The level of health and fitness necessary to study intensively as confirmed at a physical examination by a specialist physiotherapist

Applicants who have non-standard qualifications (or who wish work or life experience to be taken into account as part of their application) will be considered on an individual basis, in line with the general aims and principles of Middlesex University’s Admissions Policy and within the terms of the Accreditation of Prior Learning policy (APEL).

If your first language is not English, you will need an IELTS score of 6.5 or equivalent. If you require a visa to study in the UK, you will also need a minimum score of 6.0 in each individual component.

We are unable to accept applications for deferred entry or defer offers for this course as applicants must retain a high level of fitness prior to enrolment.

Annual Fees

Tuition fees per annum (Academic Year 2023/24): £15,843 Students should be aware that tuition fees are subject to an annual inflationary increase.

For more information on course fees, please click here.

Additional Costs

In addition to the Tuition Fees advertised above; students may incur additional costs such as dance equipment (including clothing), travel and maintenance.

Optional additional costs include health insurance/cash plan, Spotlight/Equity membership, LSC merchandise, discounted offers, open classes, production recordings, IPD equipment, LSC performances (discounted), printing costs, stationery costs, TOTUM membership (formerly NUS), TFL discount card, reading list (all available in LSC’s library), sheet music, physiotherapy, massage, Library fines, theatre trips, headshots and graduation costs.