Lemongirl Posted April 12, 2023 Share Posted April 12, 2023 My daughter is graduating this year in contemporary dance and will be looking for her first job. She's done some research herself but it's all a bit overwhelming! Can anyone recommend any particular companies that she might look at? And any other advice for new graduates? Many thanks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted April 12, 2023 Share Posted April 12, 2023 1 minute ago, Lemongirl said: My daughter is graduating this year in contemporary dance and will be looking for her first job. She's done some research herself but it's all a bit overwhelming! Can anyone recommend any particular companies that she might look at? And any other advice for new graduates? Many thanks. Congratulations to your DD’s upcoming graduation. Is there a particular focus in mind for her first contract? Local as in UK or further afield? Purely contemporary or skilled in other genres? Happy to help where I can as a mum to a 2021 graduate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted April 12, 2023 Share Posted April 12, 2023 Rambert, National Dance Company Wales, Scottish Dance Theatre are 3 that spring to mind. I've just come across this list - there may be a few more ideas here: https://www.contemporary-dance.org/contemporary-dance-companies-in-great-britain.html?utm_content=cmp-true Further afield is (of course) Nederlands Dans Theater and their associated NDT2. I believe there are a lot of contemporary dance companies in Germany. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemongirl Posted April 12, 2023 Author Share Posted April 12, 2023 8 minutes ago, balletbean said: Congratulations to your DD’s upcoming graduation. Is there a particular focus in mind for her first contract? Local as in UK or further afield? Purely contemporary or skilled in other genres? Happy to help where I can as a mum to a 2021 graduate. Thank you. We are based in London but I think she would consider anywhere in the UK. Maybe not overseas just yet. As well as contemporary she has experience in ballet, tap and jazz. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted April 12, 2023 Share Posted April 12, 2023 3 minutes ago, Lemongirl said: Thank you. We are based in London but I think she would consider anywhere in the UK. Maybe not overseas just yet. As well as contemporary she has experience in ballet, tap and jazz. Thank you. I understand. Had it been overseas I could offer some advice but as my DD and her wider group of friends all secured contracts overseas I’m sorry I can’t offer any suggestions for UK contracts. However, I can totally recommend one particular teacher at BASE studios SE11, if your DD would like to continue with lessons post graduation and before securing her first position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swanwings Posted April 12, 2023 Share Posted April 12, 2023 Mark Bruce Dance Copany, Phoenix Dance Company, also researching specific choreographers like Akram khan, Javier de Frutos etc as they often have individual projects and companies. there used to be a lot of small scale companies around which we heard about from going to class, The Stage news, noticeboards at The Place, Greenwich Dance Agency etc (which doesnt exist anymore I think). Look at theatres like Sadlers Wells and more local thetares for small scale performances. Also consider a one year final course which is performance based (or maybe already done this) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 You would need to check the status of Phoenix. They were offering short term contracts for a specific project and that was it. De Nada Dance Theatre may be worth keeping an eye on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 Yorke Dance Project springs to mind too..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowlight Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 Congratulations to your dd @Lemongirl. When my dd was looking for work on graduation she applied for just about anything that was going. She would look on company's own websites and online job boards (eg https://www.thestage.co.uk/jobs/categories/auditions, https://www.dancing-times.co.uk/category/auditions/, https://au-di-tions.com/category/contemporary-dance/, https://dancingopportunities.com/) She went to lots of open auditions - this gave her lots of experience. A lot of contemporary jobs seem to be very short contracts, so be prepared for that. My dd decided that cruise ship work was a good option for her as it gave good length contracts (6 to 9 months usually), you don't have to pay rent, and you get to see some of the world. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lemongirl Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 18 minutes ago, glowlight said: Congratulations to your dd @Lemongirl. When my dd was looking for work on graduation she applied for just about anything that was going. She would look on company's own websites and online job boards (eg https://www.thestage.co.uk/jobs/categories/auditions, https://www.dancing-times.co.uk/category/auditions/, https://au-di-tions.com/category/contemporary-dance/, https://dancingopportunities.com/) She went to lots of open auditions - this gave her lots of experience. A lot of contemporary jobs seem to be very short contracts, so be prepared for that. My dd decided that cruise ship work was a good option for her as it gave good length contracts (6 to 9 months usually), you don't have to pay rent, and you get to see some of the world. Thank you Glowlight, my daughter would consider a cruise job I think. Only possible problem is that she is not covid vaccinated (due to phobia) so the US cruise lines will be out. Where is the best place to look for cruise line jobs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glowlight Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 @Lemongirl - A lot of the cruise companies hold open auditions periodically in the UK. These are often advertised in The Stage (or at least they used to be, and I see that Princess have an advert for Princess on The Stage website at the moment) Some have their own entertainment recruitment web site eg https://www.princesscruisesentertainment.com/auditions, https://www.carnivalentertainment.com/auditions, Some go through agencies eg https://www.tedgroup.com/casting-recruitment/marella-cruises-production-cast/, https://www.peeltalent.com/careers/ It's also worth keeping an eye on are Disney, who employ dancers in their parks and on their cruise ships - https://jobs.disneycareers.com/auditions Other people on the forum might have more recent experience which they can share. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted April 16, 2023 Share Posted April 16, 2023 (edited) On 13/04/2023 at 19:59, glowlight said: @Lemongirl - A lot of the cruise companies hold open auditions periodically in the UK. These are often advertised in The Stage (or at least they used to be, and I see that Princess have an advert for Princess on The Stage website at the moment) Some have their own entertainment recruitment web site eg https://www.princesscruisesentertainment.com/auditions, https://www.carnivalentertainment.com/auditions, Some go through agencies eg https://www.tedgroup.com/casting-recruitment/marella-cruises-production-cast/, https://www.peeltalent.com/careers/ It's also worth keeping an eye on are Disney, who employ dancers in their parks and on their cruise ships - https://jobs.disneycareers.com/auditions Other people on the forum might have more recent experience which they can share. My DD secured her first contract through PEEL Talent, fantastic management team- not directly an Agency as we expect but rather like a sub- contractor who are appointed to audition and rehearse the dancers for their ships. PEEL cover some Costa ships but not all & Ambassador Cruises. Dancers do require the STCW Cert ( international convention on standards of training & certification and watch keeping for seafarers) and medical ENG1 (seafaring) beforehand. Costa Ships are now requiring EU passports as they are an Italian based company/employer. Industry Auditions, originally just on Instagram but now they have an app. All links on their Instagram page, in which they provide an up to-date list of all up coming auditions not just cruise ships. Another one to follow is Universal Studios who advertise independently. From my experience it’s about June/July seeking dancers. Application/audition process is lengthy. @Lemongirl I can relate to the situation your DD finds herself in with regards needle phobia. My DD passes out after every procedure involving a needle which ramped up a gear when she was at college and the covid vaccines came out . It’s not easy for us to watch our children struggle with these situations. I wish I could offer some magic solution that could make it all go away. However, the only coping mechanism my DD recently created to try and help her through these moments, is to close her eyes whilst listening to music very loudly through her headphones during the procedure and keep telling herself that the reward (a contract) is greater than the actual needle moment she has to go through. Not sure it would work for anyone else but maybe just help reduce some anxiety for someone 🤞🏼😊 Edited April 16, 2023 by balletbean 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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