A guide for new students

Conservatoire for Danceand Drama

ConservatoireIntroduction to the

Information for new students If you have joined one of the eight schools listed below as a new student, then you are a part of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama (also referred to as ‘the Conservatoire’ or informally as ‘the CDD’). The Conservatoire schools are:

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) Central School of Ballet Circus Space London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art (LAMDA) London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS) Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA)

Collectively, the eight schools of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama offer world–class vocational training within higher education for actors, circus artists, dancers, designers, directors, stage managers and theatre technicians.

The Conservatoire’s vision is:

To prepare exceptional artists together Our mission is:

To harness the Conservatoire’s unique power of eight schools to enhance the learning of student artists and performers so that they can shape the future of their art forms

This leaflet answers some common questions about the relationship between the schools and the Conservatoire, and outlines the benefits of being part of a wider partnership.

In this leaflet you will find information about the Conservatoire, what it means for you and your school, and how you can get involved.

Image: RADA by Clare Park

History The Conservatoire is a relatively new organisation, and celebrated its first decade in 2011. It was established in 2001 to bring together a number of small specialist schools which might otherwise have been merged with larger universities; to gain funding for specific courses by entering the world of higher education; and, crucially, to give students access to government grants and loans. The Conservatoire believes that anyone should be able to access the highest level of training offered in their chosen art form, irrespective of background.

Degree awards At present the Conservatoire does not have the power to award degrees, and degrees are validated through King’s College London, The University of the West of England or The University of Kent, depending on the school. The Conservatoire is exploring the possibility of applying for awarding powers in the future.

Structure The eight schools form the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama in a collegiate structure where the schools are equal partners in the Conservatoire’s work.

Each of the Conservatoire schools employs its own teaching staff. As a student, you will be registered jointly with your school and with the Conservatoire. There are approximately 1,100 full-time Conservatoire students on funded courses – those undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for which the Conservatoire receives grant from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

The Conservatoire employs a central team which comprises thirteen members of staff, a number of whom work part-time. The Conservatoire’s work and activity is overseen by a variety of governing Boards, Committees and Working Groups composed of members from each of the schools and the central team. In this way, the schools themselves make policy as the Conservatoire which can then be carried out in the best way to suit each individual school.

Leadership The Conservatoire has its own Board of Governors, which includes one nominated governor from the Board of each school and a Student Governor.

The eight Principals of the schools work together in a formal group which, with the Conservatoire’s Executive Director and Director of Finance, acts as the Executive of the Conservatoire (the Principals’ Management Group).

The Conservatoire appoints two Joint Principals. At present these are Professor Veronica Lewis MBE (Director of LCDS) and Edward Kemp (Director of RADA). The Joint Principals meet weekly with the Executive Director to consider day-to-day matters.

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Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) trains students for professional careers in all aspects of the theatre, film, TV and radio drama industry, through its full-time courses in acting, stage management, costume, design, scenic art, theatre arts management and production management. It operates on three

sites; the main teaching premises at Downside Road; Christchurch recording studios; and Sheene Road workshops for scenic construction and painting. There is an equal balance of acting and production student places. All students are involved in public theatre performances across Bristol and on tour in the West Country: venues include the Tobacco Factory, the Brewery, Circomedia and Bristol Old Vic, with whom it has a close collaborative relationship. Through its BOVTV department short films, stop-frame animation and music videos are produced. Design, Costume and Scenic Art students exhibit annually at the Royal West of England Academy. There is an active weekly youth theatre, and regular short courses in acting, acting to camera and film production. www.oldvic.ac.uk

Central School of Ballet was founded in 1982 by the internationally renowned Royal Ballet dancer Christopher Gable CBE, and Ann Stannard, who established the ethos of the school and the integrity of the training and education of the highest standard, enabling students to take up successful careers in the dance profession.

The School offers a Foundation Degree in Professional Dance and Performance, from which students can continue to a BA (Hons) Degree, awarded by the University of Kent. In the third year, students form a national touring dance company, Ballet Central, and perform classical ballet, contemporary and newly commissioned dance works to audiences across the UK. The School is committed to helping each student

Circus Space is the national centre for circus arts and offers the sole degree-level provision in Circus Arts in the UK. Students study a broad skills base in their first year of the Foundation Degree in Circus Arts and specialise from the third term onwards: disciplines include

corde lisse, trapeze, juggling, aerial hoop, and Chinese pole. All BA programme students have their business plans entered for the annual Deutsche Bank Award. In addition to its degree provision, Circus Space runs a BTEC qualification in collaboration with Hackney Community College. Recreational classes are available for adults and for children from aged 2 upward, and Circus Space also runs the London Youth Circus and a UK-wide CAT scheme. The school supports professional artists with its Lab:time programme for innovation and experimentation in the Circus Arts and offers circus casting and consultancy. Circus Space is a member of FEDEC: the European Federation of Professional Circus Schools. www.circusspace.co.uk

LAMDA (London Academy of Music & Dramatic Art) provides exceptional vocational training for talented students in dramatic art. Founded in 1861, LAMDA’s distinguished alumni have made a substantial and sustained contribution to drama performance worldwide. LAMDA enables actors, directors, designers, stage managers and technicians to acquire the skills and develop the creativity necessary to excel in a highly competitive profession. This is achieved through an exceptional teaching faculty of experienced tutors, complemented by a large number of visiting specialists and professionals.

About the schools

fulfil his or her potential and make the journey from talented student to versatile, intelligent, creative, and polished professional. The Central School of Ballet is based in Clerkenwell in London, and also runs weekly dance classes for children and adults of all abilities. www.centralschoolofballet.co.uk

LAMDA offers a dynamic range of programme, from Diploma and Foundation courses to Bachelor and Masters’ degrees. There are also Short Courses that serve as introduction to a range of topics and skills including Shakespeare, Audition Techniques and Introduction to Screen Acting. In addition, LAMDA is an internationally recognised awarding body which offers benchmarked qualifications in communication and performance. www.lamda.org.uk Image: Central School of Ballet

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The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) is a charity which provides vocational, degree level training to actors, technicians and theatre practitioners. RADA also promotes the benefits of drama training in

schools and communities through its Education and Outreach programme and offers public activities including productions, workshops and short courses. RADA regularly collaborates with other arts institutions and has developed international links with schools in Delhi, Beijing, New York and Dublin, acting as consultants in the development of The Lir, Trinity College. The RADA Festival was launched in 2013 - a unique platform for graduates and staff to present new and existing work within a vibrant fringe atmosphere. RADA Enterprises, RADA’s commercial arm, offers communications training for people in business, team building activities, venue hire and corporate entertainment and all monies raised are donated back to RADA to sustain the quality of the teaching. www.rada.ac.uk

Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance helps a student achieve his or her unique potential. The philosophy of the school is to encourage individuality and creative discovery. The school is unique in giving an equal weight to ballet and contemporary dance and maintains a close relationship with the Rambert Dance Company. Rambert is based in a beautiful site near Richmond Lock

in Twickenham, and the spaces are used exclusively by students, meaning that they can rehearse in the evenings, weekends and in term breaks. Each year the school holds a research week where practitioners are invited to speak to students about their work. Students collaborate each year with Central St Martin’s College on the Design for Dance project. Rambert offers a postgraduate programme in Advanced Dance Performance with a specialisation in Ritual and Ki Studies, and students perform at venues including cathedrals and outdoor spaces.

Based in Leeds, Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD) is an intimate, supportive and creative learning environment offering a Foundation Course, BPA (Hons) and Postgraduate Diploma/MA in Contemporary Dance. The programmes focus on the development of versatile, collaborative and individual dance artists with highly tuned technical, creative and performance skills. Our training is forward facing and relevant, equipping students for independent portfolio careers in dance. NSCD is committed to widening access, and recruits the most talented students from across the UK and internationally, whatever their backgrounds. NSCD is housed in a vibrant neighbourhood of student-friendly Leeds. A 15-minute walk from the city centre, it is a bespoke architectural site based around a Grade II listed former synagogue. A hub for contemporary dance in the North of England, NSCD also hosts regular performances at The Riley Theatre; Verve, our postgraduate performance company; pre-vocational training with Yorkshire Young Dancers Centre for Advanced Training; and weekly dance classes for all ages. www.nscd.ac.uk

London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS) offers vocational training to the highest technical and artistic standards in its undergraduate and taught postgraduate programmes, and at a pre-vocational level through the CAT scheme. The school is housed at The Place, Britain’s busiest venue for dance and home to the Richard Alston Dance Company. The Place also delivers Summer Schools and recreational evening classes for adults. LCDS students perform at home in the Robin Howard Dance Theatre. Postgraduate company EDge tours each year to UK and European venues, and the school’s third year company LC3 tours across the UK, with students delivering dance workshops alongside the performances. The school’s postgraduate provision has five strands: Advanced Dance Studies, Performance: Apprenticeship, Performance: EDge, Choreography, and Dance Education and Training. Since 2013, LCDS and The Place have initiated live streaming of rehearsals and performances, from graduation performances to the final of The Place Prize, the UK’s biggest choreographic competition. www.lcds.ac.uk

www.rambertschool.org.uk

Image: Rambert School by Tim Cross

Image: BOVTS by Graham Burke

How does being a part of the Conservatoire benefit my school? The power of eight

The Conservatoire provides a strong collegiate structure which celebrates the diverse identities and histories of the schools.

Student finance

The Conservatoire creates a higher education framework to receive grant from the government for funded courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. This means that if you are a Home or EU student and this is your first degree, you are eligible to apply for a student loan from Student Finance England (or its equivalent for Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales, or EU). You can apply for a loan to cover your full tuition fees and a maintenance loan or non-repayable grant towards your living costs, in the same way as any other UK university student. You may also be eligible to apply for specific financial support such as the Access to Learning Fund or the Disabled Students’ Allowances (DSAs).

The Conservatoire’s fees are set at £9,000 (for entry in 2013), but the full cost of your training, around £17,000 per year, is subsidised by the Conservatoire schools.

The Conservatoire offers financial support to students through the Conservatoire Scholarship Scheme in the form of fee discounts and cash bursaries. The criteria for scholarships is based on income assessment and talent. Detailed information about scholarships and eligibility can be found on our website: www.cdd.ac.uk/student-info This is in addition to any financial support offered by each individual school.

Qualifications

Because the Conservatoire is a higher education institution, you graduate from your course with a degree, as well as the specialist training in your chosen discipline.

Sharing knowledge and resources

Working together enables the schools to share knowledge and experience across a wide range of fields. In some cases, resources can be shared to the benefit of all: this might be a space, a member of staff with specific expertise, or a shared service such as online access to Athens and other library resources.

Build networks before you graduate

As a student at a Conservatoire school, you may have the opportunity to work with students from other schools, and from different disciplines. This is your chance to get ahead of the game – in meeting your peers, you have the opportunity to make connections and create a network of artists before you begin your career.

Working with other schools A recent CDD Student Conference indicated that students are keen for opportunities to engage with their peers at different schools and across disciplines, and to exploit the social as well as artistic opportunities within the Conservatoire family.

Some examples of recent collaborative work are:

• Joint screenings of films produced by the drama schools

• Student exchanges: LCDS and Circus Space first year students visited each other’s schools, taking classes together

• For the last few years, RADA technical students have worked on Circus Space student productions. There have also been collaborations between acting and circus arts students

• Technical theatre students hosted a ‘technical for non-technical’ day for performing students from all schools interested in finding out more about sound, lighting, stage management, props making and construction, costume, and design

• Every few years, the Conservatoire puts on a joint Gala Performance.

Getting involved There are lots of ways you can get involved with the Conservatoire, from small to big.

• News and updates: The Conservatoire sends regular email updates. This is a good way to find out what’s going on at other schools. Or you can find us on facebook, twitter and tumblr.

• Go to performances: Look out for opportunities to attend free dress rehearsals, or performances from other schools at reduced rates. All performances and exhibitions are listed on our website: www.cdd.ac.uk/whats-on . Some opportunities reoccur each year. The postgraduate companies of LCDS and NSCD perform at each other’s theatres as part of their tours. For the last few years LCDS has hosted an informal sharing of work for staff and students, with several schools contributing, and the TV and Radio Production departments of the drama schools have held joint film screenings.

• Watch online: Some of the schools make recordings of rehearsals, performances or film productions publicly available. For example, you can watch Rambert School performances through the school’s website, or visit LAMDA Films on Vimeo for productions featuring second and final year Acting students. Most of the schools have a YouTube or Vimeo account.

• Social meet-ups: Talk to your student reps about creating opportunities for social meet-ups. Every school has a busy timetable, but there is no reason not to make contact with other students in your own time. At the inaugural CDD Student Conference in 2012, theatre critic Lyn Gardner advised the participants that ‘collaboration starts at the bar’.

• Run for Student Governor: Each year in the autumn term, elections are held for CDD Student Governor. This is the opportunity to be a student voice for your school and seven others. The post is held for a year. Previous student governors include the actors Tom Hiddleston (Thor), Bertie Carvel (Matilda) and David Oakes (The White Queen).

• CDD Student Conference: The first CDD Student Conference was held in November 2012 and we plan to make this an annual event. The organisation of the day was led by students and the discussions influenced the CDD Staff Conference which is held each year in January.

Image: Circus Space by Bertil Nilsson

Autumn / Spring / Summer season productions at Bristol theatres

Third year company Ballet Central on tour spring/summer End of year performances

Third year devised pieces in spring term Second and third year ensemble pieces in summer term

Autumn / Spring / Summer season productions at home at The LAMDA Linbury Studio and at London theatres with LAMDA at Large

BA performances at home at the Robin Howard Dance Theatre Postgraduate company EDge and third year company LC3 on tour spring/summer

BA performances at home at The Riley Theatre, Leeds Postgraduate company Verve on tour spring/summer

Performances / choreographic showcases at home in the Anya Linden Studio Theatre / Lilian Bayliss Studio at Sadler’s Wells

Autumn / Spring / Summer season productions at home at RADA theatres RADA Festival in Bloomsbury, London in the summer

Performances: when and where

BOVTS CSB Circus LAMDA LCDS NSCD Rambert RADA

@BOVTS Bristol Old Vic Theatre School @csbschool @balletcentral Central School of Ballet @CircusSpace facebook.com/circusspace @LAMDAdrama facebook.com/LAMDAdrama @ThePlaceLondon facebook.com/theplace facebook.com/EDgeDanceCo @NorthernSchool @NSCDlibrary facebook.com/northernschool facebook.com/vervenscd Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance @RADA_London @RADAEnterprises RADA (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art)

Contact The Conservatoire central team is based in Bloomsbury, London.

Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, Tavistock House, Tavistock Square WC1H 9JJ London 020 7387 5101

Connectwww.cdd.ac.uk tumblr.com/conservatoiredd

twitter.com/conservatoiredd facebook.com/conservatoiredd

Useful webpagesStudent Info www.cdd.ac.uk/student-info

Fees and Financial Support www.cdd.ac.uk/student-info

Support for Disabled Students www.cdd.ac.uk/student-info/disability-support

Support for Care Leavers and Estranged Students www.cdd.ac.uk/student-info/care-leaver-support

Frequently Asked Questions www.cdd.ac.uk/faqs

School Performances www.cdd.ac.uk/whats-on

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Our values

A belief in the power of art to transform people’s lives.

A belief that having a diverse staff and student body is essential to the success of the Conservatoire and affiliate schools and that the most interesting and creative work often comes from this diversity of experience and background.

A commitment to nurturing artists and teachers throughout their careers.

A commitment to providing development opportunities for staff across all affiliates to contribute to the artistic vision of their schools and the Conservatoire.

Supporting pedagogy within the relevant frameworks which fosters self-reflective artists and enhances the experience of our students, their learning and the disciplines.

Operating in a cost-effective way to focus our resources on learning, teaching and research free from unnecessary bureaucracy.

Treating the disciplines within the Conservatoire with equal respect.

The eight affiliate schools acting as equal and collegiate partners in the Conservatoire’s work.