Talent Development
Gradient Dance Company
Gradient Dance Company (GDC) is an advanced provision for young adults aged 19+, many of whom are DUY’s alumni and/or have completed placements with DUY via dance/performing arts degrees. Some attend sessions as a passion rather than a professional development opportunity and we attach value to supporting lifelong participation by young adults from diverse backgrounds. However, for most the company represents a unique local opportunity as they seek the next stage in their creative careers.
Gradient is integral to DUY’s aspiration to retain new and diverse dance talent in Yorkshire, be this young professionals who originally trained with us or undergraduates/graduates who have experienced DUY’s methodology through our HE and FE teaching. Gradient provides key training, performance and professional development opportunities for young dancers at a critical juncture in their professional lives i.e. a time when those from more disadvantaged backgrounds in particular, are more likely to drop out of the creative sector.
Please contact - Helen Linsell (helen@duy.org.uk) for more details.
Workforce Development
DUY is committed to training dance artists who are inspired by cultural access and have the skills to work with challenged communities and individuals. DUY’s work is demanding and highly specialised and the people with whom we work exhibit a range of challenging behaviours. Every year, DUY invests time and resources towards developing a body of skilled practitioners who can respond effectively to individual and group needs whilst maintaining artistic ambition. We do this by ensuring the provision of in-house training for emerging practitioners and delivering annually our bespoke 4 day training (“An Introduction to Dance United Yorkshire's Practice in Social Inclusion”) to at least 30 regional artists.
Further and Higher Education Training
DUY will continue to work closely with Yorkshire Dance, Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD), York St Johns’ University, University of Central Lancashire, Central School of Speech and Drama, Leeds Beckett and Bradford College, regularly inputting to courses and offering intensive role model placements as career-defining learning opportunities. Whilst practical placements and university teaching opportunities were necessarily on hold during the Covid lockdown, we were pleased to be able to support a series of remote learning placements during 2020. We hope to restore both placements and outreach to higher education and re-attain, during the coming 12 to 18 months, our post pandemic levels of 80+ placements.
For further information on Workforce Development and FE/HE training please email helen@duy.org.uk
“I started working with DUY when I was 18, I'd never really danced before or thought about it but once I started, I never wanted to stop. I, like most young men, struggle to express how I'm feeling or why I'm feeling the way that I do. Dance gave balance, structure and discipline to my life that I'd never really had. It helped me gain the ability to focus, express and be creative and question things within myself. I stopped feeling so closed off because people listened and I never had to speak a word.”
Gradient Performance Company Member
“There is no doubt in my mind that things would have panned out very differently for me if it hadn’t been for dance. Most people who knew me would have predicted a custodial rather than a degree. Through Gradient I have had the opportunity to lead some sessions with the other performance companies, to work with young dancers in rehearsal for performance events and just show what can be achieved through hard work and dedication. I do know what it’s like for them- I know exactly. But I can also show how worthwhile it is to stay focused”.
Gradient Performance Company Member
