Northern School of Contemporary Dance
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Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) is a higher education institution in Chapeltown, Leeds, England specialising in
contemporary dance Contemporary dance is a genre of dance performance that developed during the mid-twentieth century and has since grown to become one of the dominant genres for formally trained dancers throughout the world, with particularly strong popularity in ...
. Students can obtain undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in dance, validated by the
University of Kent , motto_lang = , mottoeng = Literal translation: 'Whom to serve is to reign'(Book of Common Prayer translation: 'whose service is perfect freedom')Graham Martin, ''From Vision to Reality: the Making of the University of Kent at Canterbury'' ...
. A programme of adult, youth and children's classes is also available for the local community.


History and buildings

The school was founded in 1985 by Nadine Senior MBE and in 1987 it moved into its current premises, a red-brick former synagogue on Chapeltown Road built 1929–1932. The building is grade II
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
as are the boundary walls, which probably date to about 1835. Between 1987 and 1997, a series of phased developments were carried out which extended the site to include the adjacent Brandsby Lodge, also a grade II listed building. This £3.2 million redevelopment, which resulted in the creation of four new dance studios and additional teaching facilities, was completed with funding support from the National Lottery through the Arts Council of England and the Foundation for Sports and the Arts. In 1988, the converted Synagogue re-opened its doors as The Dome Theatre and in 1993 was renamed The Riley Theatre in dedication to the memory of Jeffrey Riley, who was the School's Technical Director between 1985 and his untimely death in Kobe, Japan in 1993. Founding Principal Nadine Senior MBE retired in 2001 and was replaced in 2002 by Gurmit Hukam. In 2012, Janet Smith left her position as Artistic Director of Scottish Dance Theatre to become Principal of the School. In 2020, Janet Smith MBE stepped down from her role, and was replaced with Sharon Watson MBE, formerly the longest-standing Artistic Director of Phoenix Dance Theatre in Leeds. In 2022, NSCD left the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama to become an independently registered Higher Education Institution.


Vocational training

NSCD offers full-time vocational training in contemporary dance at Certificate, Bachelors and Masters levels. The training includes classes influenced by the techniques of Cunningham and Graham, the more modern hybrid, evolved techniques and release based techniques as well as complementary training in ballet, yoga and fitness.


Centre for Advanced Training

In 2004, with funding support from the Department for Children, Schools & Families’ Music and Dance Scheme, NSCD and
Northern Ballet Northern Ballet, formerly Northern Ballet Theatre, is a dance company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, with a strong repertoire in theatrical dance productions where the emphasis is on story telling as well as classical ballet. The company ...
came together to establish Yorkshire Young Dancers (YYD), the first national dance Centre for Advanced Training (CAT) in the UK. There are now a total of 10 dance CATs offering pre-vocational dance training to young people across the country.


See also

* Listed buildings in Leeds (Chapel Allerton Ward)


References


External links

* *
NSCD
at Higher Education Degree Datacheck * ''Review of showcase performance''
CDD official website
* ''NSCD news release''
National Dance CATs official website
Educational institutions established in 1985 Performing arts education in the United Kingdom Contemporary dance in the United Kingdom Dance schools in the United Kingdom 1985 establishments in England Education in Leeds Listed buildings in Leeds Grade II listed buildings in West Yorkshire Grade II listed religious buildings and structures Former synagogues in England Leeds Blue Plaques {{dance-stub