CriticalDance Forum

What are peoples opinion of the three main contemporary dance schools in england? (LABAN,LONDON CONTEMPORARY DANCE SCHOOL AND NORTHERN CONTEMPORARY DANCE SCHOOL) the goods and bads, strengths weaknesses e.t.c Thankyou

I'm not a dancer, but I will give some impressions and risk various people never speaking to me again:

LCDS:

- Central London location
- sited in The Place, arguably the most dynamic venue for dance in Europe
- very strong pre-professional company

Laban:

- award winning new building
- excellent health centre including state of the art Pilates
- strong academic and research background (not just Laban)
- strong pre-professional company
- claims to be the largest dance conservatoire in Europe

NCDS:

- don't know enough to comment, but I have seen some excellent professional dancers from NCDS

- living costs have to be a lot lower than London.

If you might consider a Continental experience how about PARTS in Brussels?

<small>[ 25 March 2004, 02:38 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Hi, Thanks for your reply. I think i will probably stay in England but just for wider knowledge what is the school in Brussels like? I have been offerd places at Northern and Laban so far and am just trying to make the decision. Laban appeals to me but NSCD and LCDS Dancers seem to be poping up more than Laban dancers although i'm not sure if this is a bit of a naive worry of mine! If i sound confused its becuase i am, but thanks very much for you reply!

To help others comment, I guess one key point is what are your objectives in dance Emily?

Well my main objective is to become a professional dance artist in a contemporary dance company, but after that i would hope to work on my own choreography.

I am actually auditioning @ these places next year so you probably are more informed than me! But I have however participated in the 2 week summer course at Laan! I loved it! the facilities are amazing!! The location is good near to grenwhich and london BUT it's immediate location (just iside deptford) is not so nice! its not a particuarly nice area to say the least!! but i'm sure its worth it a friend of mine is in 3rd year there @ the mo and loves it, and if there Ma performance company (Transitions) is any thing to go by then it is very good training!! they have world renound Graham and Cunningham teachers. hope this helps

Deptford is no beauty spot, it's true. However, if you travel to Greenwich you don't see Deptford. When I am at Laban I have used Deptford station with no problems.

Personally I rather like looking over Deptford Creek, just outside Laban, with its derelict ships.

<small>[ 23 May 2004, 11:00 PM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Stuart: You said Laban has a strong academic and research background. Do you know anything about the research and academic at LCDS and Northern?

Hi Dance_Scholar_London! As I haven't studied at LCDS or Northern, it's tricky for me to comment.

Did you study at Laban then? What kind of degree did you do there?

hi min thanks for your reply i posted that message quite a while ago and have now come to a decision about the place thats right for me. Thanks for your input though always interesting to hear what other people think and good luck with your auditions. x.x.x

DSL - I'm finishing off an MA in Dance Studies. It's a course no longer taking new students, as Laban has a series of new MA degrees now.

<small>[ 14 June 2004, 06:07 AM: Message edited by: Stuart Sweeney ]</small>

Emily, where will you finally study?

I decided to study at London Contemporary Dance School, and in September will start on the BA Course there.