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Based at The Place, London Contemporary Dance School is one of the most exciting and influential contemporary dance spaces in Europe since it first opened its doors in 1969.
As an LCDS student, applicants get to be part of a world-leading school and cultural hub, excelling at developing independent, authentic voices in the field for over fifty years. Home to a production house making and touring new work, a 280-seat professional theatre, an extensive offer of classes, courses and opportunities for adults and young people, and professional development programmes for artist, this creative and lively environment presents unparalleled opportunities for collaboration, networking, and growth.
The specialised programme of postgraduate degree courses offers some of the most unique, interdisciplinary pathways for students looking to expand existing artistic practices, putting students in the driving seat, integrating and building on applied research whilst continuing to develop their professional portfolio of work.
With the introduction of the brand-new MA Dance: Performance and MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism alongside a redesigned MA Screendance, the college now has three innovative and robust MA courses. All degrees at London Contemporary Dance School are accredited through the University of Arts, London – UAL.
London Contemporary Dance School at The Place is a truly exceptional institution to study a postgraduate course in dance and performing arts. Not only does the school have a long-established history of education, but its London location places students at the heart of dance and performance culture in the UK and Europe.
Students benefit from an international community of aspiring practitioners and access to a range of student and career services, which help postgraduates to secure exciting professional roles after graduation.
London Contemporary Dance School offers four interdisciplinary postgraduate MA courses, which each build on the foundation of knowledge and experience gained at undergraduate level and include a more advanced research component, allowing students to reflect on their own practice and begin to establish a career pathway.
The MA in Screendance is the only course of its kind in the world and attracts a highly international community of students. It looks at dance across screen productions, including image choreography.
The MA Dance: Performance is a more practical-based course that helps students to identify and develop their own dance skills, whilst meeting the needs of the current (and ever-changing) professional landscape.
The MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism course takes place online primarily, designed intentionally to allow the students to remain embedded in their communities. A pair of two-week live residencies per year based at The Place in London allow them to connect with their peers and teachers in person as well.
Teaching staff are highly experienced researchers and dance professionals, many of whom are past students of London Contemporary Dance School.
Meet the school’s leading faculty for postgraduate studies.
London Contemporary Dance School has a total of around 200 students, making it a selective school – application does not guarantee entry. The postgraduate application process takes place online and there is plenty of information about required submission materials and information on the course-specific pages of the school website.
Entry onto either of the school’s master’s programmes typically involves meeting the following standard minimum requirements, although each application is considered on an individual basis and there are many alternative routes to entry:
The admissions team makes selection based on evidence of dance ability, the quality of personal statement and a strong academic or professional reference. It’s important that students take care over their application and to show themselves in the best light.
Get in touch, if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications.
REQUEST INFOPostgraduate study at London Contemporary Dance School is defined by four approaches and values that cross over all master’s courses. The school believes in:
Student-centred learning: Seminars and personal tutorials build upon students’ ideas, interests, skills and artistic practice.
Developing artistic voice and agency: Students are encouraged to expand their practice and knowledge in dance and related fields, reframing and contextualising practice.
Practice-led courses: This allows for more engaging content, challenging students to think in new ways, grounding theoretical understanding in ‘real world’ contexts, and providing skills and networks that will improve employment prospects.
Guest artists and lecturers: The school’s network and community is global and diverse as a result of its 50 plus year history of being at the forefront of dance development. This allows it to collaborate with current artists and practitioners ensuring courses are current and diverse.
In 2022, London Contemporary Dance School was also awarded World Leading Specialist Provider Funding from the Office for Students for the 5-year period 2022-2027. In awarding the funding, the panel recognised the world leading quality of the institution and pedagogy but also the visionary London Contemporary Dance School faculty and alumni.
London Contemporary Dance School is one of the world’s leading specialist dance universities and supports a community of postgraduate students whose applied research is critical to the evolution of new and existing dance practices.
With a history of teaching dance students for more than 50 years, The Place provides a professional, focused environment for students to build their craft and start to develop their career pathway alongside studies, ensuring a seamless transition to working life.
For example, the MA Screendance offers a specialised programme investigating the intersection between camera and movement, an ideal preparation for a career in dance filmmaking. The MA Dance: Performance focuses on training and enabling young performers to make a meaningful difference to the global dance eco-system, with opportunities to work and network with industry leading guest artists, companies, choreographers, and the performing arts landscape at large as part of the curriculum.
The MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism course is uniquely crafted for emerging or established artists, delivered primarily online to ensure students remain embedded within the communities with whom they work and leave this course with a more developed practice in the light of shifting discourses and challenges of our times.
Graduates are in high demand, with 80% of students in work or enrolled in further study within 15 months of course completion.
Although due to small cohort sizes there is no student union, the school has a team of elected student representatives who distribute information, organise events and provide opportunities to give feedback on the course and school.
There is a lot going on at The Place, besides academics. Students benefit from a lively timetable of events and workshops, as well as a busy programme of performances at their in-house theatre.
Postgraduate students will find plenty of extra-curricular enrichment activities. There are a number of student-organised clubs and societies which students are free to join, spanning a wide range of interests and activities.
London is consistently ranked as one of the best cities in the world to be a student. It is a diverse contemporary capital, with a rich heritage of performance and creative arts and plenty to see and discover.
Postgraduate students are in an ideal environment to immerse in a world of styles and influences. It’s the perfect place to conduct research into areas of interest, whether they’re seeing a play, performance, film screening or simply wandering the city streets which have been home to so many creative performers throughout history.
London is a vast and varied city, with a limitless supply of accommodation options. Whilst The Place does not have its own halls of residence or housing, it does provide accommodation services to ensure that all students are able to find an ideal place to live during their studies. The city has a huge variety of areas to stay and options to suit all preferences.
Incoming students are encouraged to source accommodation before their course begins in September. They have access to the University of London Housing Service, a free organisation with a database of housing options across the city.
The Place is equipped with all the facilities needed to study for a postgraduate degree in comfort and confidence. The school has a large and spacious lecture room, with plenty of natural light, two multi-functional meeting rooms, breakout spaces and fast WiFi throughout campus.
The school has 11 mixed-use dance studios, with sprung flooring; it’s ideal for dance classes, and can also accommodate workshops, auditions, photography and film shoots. There is also a 288-seat theatre with a fully licensed bar.
There is also an audio visual suite, in which the students can hire equipment for their own projects.
Postgraduate students at The Place have free and full access to a comprehensive range of student services which are tailored to the school’s performing arts community.
There is a high level of physical support available to dance students, including a team of professional physiotherapists, osteopaths and a soft tissue therapist, who work hard to provide the best care possible. This allows students to push their physical limits in a safe and supportive environment, with ready access to professional services.
The school also provides significant resources for students with disabilities, including accessible facilities and help with applying for disabled student allowances. Students can also make use of a well-established programme of mental health support, including free counselling and in-house mental health advisors.
Data from the National Student Survey shows that 94% of students at London Contemporary Dance School feel like they are able to successfully contact staff when academic support is needed.
London Contemporary Dance School runs a programme of scholarships and bursaries to ensure that all students have the resources to study in confidence.
Bursaries are available through the Student Fund for Excellence, which is generously supported by the school’s alumni, professional partners and public donations. It is open to all enrolled students at every level of study and all fee-paying statuses.
For MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism the school provides two fully funded scholarships to applicants from Global South countries.
Get in touch, if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications.
VIEW SCHOLARSHIPSThe MA in Screendance is a unique, practice-driven course which investigates dance and movement on screen, as well as looking deeper into the possibilities of moving image choreography.
The MA Dance: Performance focuses on developing technical skills and artistic voice to enable students to navigate and shape the changing professional landscapes and contexts for dance performance.
The MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism is for students who want to develop a socially engaged dance practice which addresses the urgencies of our times.
While there are no PhD programmes available to study at The Place, the London Contemporary Dance School’s postgraduate programmes set themselves apart from undergraduate courses through the depth of research that master’s students conduct during their studies.
Postgraduate students are surrounded by a team of academic practitioners, many of whom conduct their own professional research and are able to give valuable insights and advice.
Despite the physical nature of London Contemporary Dance School’s curriculum, there have been some adaptations which have allowed the school to offer various elements of online tuition to their highly international community of students.
The MA Dance: Participation, Communities, Activism primarily takes place online. Two fortnight-long live residencies per year based at The Place in London allow them to connect with their peers and teachers in person.
Get in touch, if you're not sure that you have the right experience or qualifications.
REQUEST PROSPECTUS
London Contemporary Dance School, The Place
