Full time Verve the Postgraduate Company

Verve the Postgraduate Company
Qualification:
Postgraduate Diploma in Contemporary Dance

Duration:
1 year full-time

Validated by:
The University of Kent

NSCD's postgraduate company, Verve, provides students with professional-level experience through working as a member of a touring contemporary dance company. Verve normally comprises ten to twelve dancers and tours a programme of new work over a six-month period to a diverse range of professional venues throughout the UK and selected European cities.

The course is designed to foster a realistic appreciation of working in a middle-scale company environment, which encompasses participation in rehearsal and production processes, working with leading choreographers and fully meeting the challenges of a professional performance schedule. This experience also exposes company members to the processes involved in successfully collaborating with other dance artists, directors, composers, musicians and designers.

Choreographers who have worked with Verve include:
Verve 07
- Fin Walker; Glenn Wilkinson; Hofesh Shechter; Kim Brandstrup; Rafael Bonachela; Shobana Jeyasingh

Verve 08
- Carol Brown; Darshan Singh Bhuller; Henri Oguike; Simon Birch; Wendy Houstoun

Verve 09
- Filip van Huffel; Glenn Wilkinson; Milan Kozánek + emerging dance artists Jennifer-Lynn Crawford, Katie Baldwin and Leanne Pike

Choreographers who will work with Verve 10 include:
Michael Schumacher; Luis Lara Malvacías; David Zambrano; Laila Diallo and Kathinka Walter.

Working as part of the Company promotes the career development of each dance artist by providing opportunities for the advanced development of individual strengths, versatility and artistic distinctiveness. Verve's extended performance tour presents the Company to UK and European dance audiences including invited artistic directors, producers and dance commentators. This introduction to professional level work may also be relevant for dance artists who aspire to create their own companies in the future.

"Verve is a graduate company, based at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds, but they could probably give most seasoned dance companies a run for their money."

Article 19, February 2009
"Verve...offers interesting content, pleasingly diverse rather than deliberately varied. The dancers revel in their work and watching talent scouts will be impressed."

Dancing Times, May 2008
Best International Production -
ITS Guest Award 2008, Verve 08, International Theatre School Festival (Amsterdam)