Hey everyone,

I am a contemporary dancer and took it up for gcse and was awarded a double grade A. I am now doing Alevel dance and btec dance level 3 for the next 2 years. I have joined ballet and I am taking vocational master classes soon and I also do contemporary dance technique in school. My dream is to go to a dance college and get a degree then become a professional contemporary dancer and do all things like be a backup dancer in music videos, be a choreographer and dance teacher at some stage but the music video is set on my mind. The only thing is how do I get there, I am very determined but I would love to know any collages that would help get there and what would you do after you graduated I want an amazing career

Thank you! x
Jade

Dancing is music videos is NOT A CAREER. You can NOT make a living dancing in videos. Also - when you have ever seen contemporary backup dancers in a music video? I can't think of many (or any?).

Congratulations on your GCSE result.

Really if you want a career in dance you should be at a full time dance college that offers A level and BTEC now. You'll be eighteen at least in two years and these colleges want to train you as young as possible. London Contemporary and Rambert Ballet are two of the best in England and if you want even as much as a sniff at a career in their field these are where you should start looking at auditioning.

You need to be doing Jazz and Hip Hop as well if you're looking at going into video work but that is a completely different world than contemporary dance and I'm afraid to say that at a non dance 6th form college in the UK there is no way that you'll be getting master classes in anything.

Go to Pineapple Dance or Dance Works and get in on some of their Master Classes and you'll see what I mean.

Hi Jade, I cannot comment on commercial/backing dancing but i do know about contemporary dance.
In the UK most contemporary dance schools, like universities take students onto their degree courses at 18, so you have to start applying and auditioning the year before.
As well as London Contemporary Dance School there is Trinity Laban, the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and The Scottish School of Contemporary Dance.
Rambert school is very much classed as a school of ballet and contemporary dance so your ballet would have to be of a very high standard to apply. They would be looking for a potential student to have completed RAD vocational exams or the equivalent and their audition is predomimantly ballet based with pointe work. If you check out their company website you will notice that the majority of dancers have come from a classical ballet background. However you can start there at 16 years.
My daughter is 15 and has studied a variety of dance styles since she was 6. She also wants a career in contemporary dance. She is currently on a pre-vocational CAT scheme at NSCD which offers intensive training in Contemporary technique, creative and complimentary dance styles eg ballet, pilates etc, very much preparing students for full time dance training. There are trips to the theatre to watch contemporary dance companies, intensive weeks and weekends of masterclasses and the opportunity to work with well known choreographers. They have these schemes all over the country and I would highly recommend them and advise that you see if there is one near you that you can audition for this year. Check out the website nationaldancecats.co.uk. for more information. They are government funded so for some students the scheme is free!
She also continues to study tap and ballet at her local dance school so is doing a minimum of 15 hours of dancing a week.
My daughter does hope to auditon for Rambert next year but if unsuccessful will continue with her academic AS and A levels and re-audition there and for the other contemporary dance schools at 18. I personally feel it is important for her to get good GCSE and A level results to fall back on in case she cannot pursue her dance dream.
I wish you every success Jade, it is a very competitive world out there!

Hello, This might be arriving a bit late - hope you see it, anyhow.

I would just like to add that there is no real formula for becoming a professional dancer, though I do admit that it isn't the easiest of careers. I danced for over 20 years, weaving my way from jazz to musicals to cabaret to, finally, a French national contemporary ballet, learning as I went along. I never went to a conservatory -- a great opportunity that wasn't available where I grew up -- just took classes in normal schools and, as importantly, explored movement techniques such as yoga, tai-chi, Feldenkrais, etc. to work deeply, with clarity.

In short, you create your road, which is what contemporary is really all about. And, your road will lead you to opportunities that you wouldn't have seen when you started off.

I wish you luck and joy in the process.

Dont put all your eggs in one basket. You may say now you want to become a backing dancer but there are so many different lines of work. My sister is a professional dancer at the age of 21 and has already had around 10 long contracts of work but all in different fields. ie Cruise contracts, working in UK etc. Work hard now and you will reap the rewards!

Good luck to you!!