The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance is a dance and performing arts school affiliated with the

Dundee College Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mi ...

. It offers a four-year training from foundation level and prepares students for careers as dance performers,

choreographers Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who c ...

, and community artists. The School is relatively small (approx 100 students) and has close links with a variety of professional artists, including the

Scottish Dance Theatre Scottish Dance Theatre is a Scotland's national contemporary dance company based at Dundee Repertory Theatre, Dundee Rep Theatre in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded by Royston Maldoom in 1986 as the Dundee Rep Dance Company. The Company The com ...

, and Thomas Small, director of Shaper Caper. It grew from an existing one year foundation course based at

, which was started in 1991 by Peter Royston. The second and third year of training were added in 1998 and 1999. A successful bid to the National Lottery allowed the college to build a facility at its Kingsway campus, comprising dance studios and a theatre. Building began in 2001 and "The Space" was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth as part of the Golden Jubilee celebrations in 2002. The College also successfully applied to the National Lottery for a Dance Artist from the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council ( gd, Comhairle Ealain na h-Alba, sco, Scots Airts Cooncil) was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the ...

to develop a community programme which would use the facilities at non-training times. Market research was undertaken to determine the potential for a small touring venue. The school offers training to professional level focussing on technique in

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Cunningham Cunningham is a surname of Scottish origin, see Clan Cunningham. Notable people sharing this surname A–C * Aaron Cunningham (born 1986), American baseball player *Abe Cunningham, American drummer * Adrian Cunningham (born 1960), Australian ...

and release techniques with a strong

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

development. The school seeks to nurture students choreographically and creatively and invites specialist lecturers such as Richard Alston, Stephen Petronio, and Sean Feldman. Performances in the theatre have included those by the

Scottish Ballet Scottish Ballet is the national ballet company of Scotland and one of the five leading ballet companies of the United Kingdom, alongside the Royal Ballet, English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Northern Ballet. Founded in 1969, ...

, the Scottish Dance Theatre,

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, Stephen Petronio, and David Hughes. In September 2008 the school welcomed its first BA Hons degree students. This one year completion degree addition to the 3 or 4-year training is validated by Northumbria University and allows students to achieve levels of professional training previously only available in conservatoires in England. Patrons are: *"The Space": Brian Cox,

David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English botanist, television presenter, author and environmental campaigner. Early and personal life Bellamy was born in London to parents Winifred May (née Green) and Thoma ...

*The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance: Stephen Petronio

External links

Scottish School of Contemporary Dance
Dance schools in the United Kingdom Universities and colleges in Scotland Dance in Scotland Education in Dundee Culture in Dundee Organisations based in Dundee Performing arts education in Scotland Contemporary dance in the United Kingdom 2002 establishments in Scotland {{dance-stub