The Conservatoire for Dance and Drama exists to train artists who will match the world’s best and, on entering their professions, shape the future of dance, drama and circus arts.
Established in 2001, the Conservatoire is a Higher Education Institution with a unique structure, comprising eight schools. All of these are small, specialist institutions with international reputations for high quality delivery in their respective fields:
- Bristol Old Vic Theatre School
- Central School of Ballet
- Circus Space
- London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts
- London Contemporary Dance School
- Northern School of Contemporary Dance
- Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance
- Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Each school has an established record of training its students to a professional standard with an excellent success rate in the number of its students gaining employment in dance, drama or circus. The unrivalled quality of teaching enables the most talented students to benefit from vocational training, to which access is given regardless of background or financial circumstances.
Within the Conservatoire there is a balance between the art forms of dance and drama, classical and contemporary styles, as well as the only provision for circus arts within higher education.
Each of the Conservatoire schools is a separate and distinct institution that employs its own teaching staff and remains legally autonomous. At the same time, students are registered jointly with the Conservatoire and the individual school.
The Conservatoire operates through a series of committees and working groups to determine policy for the schools as a whole. The schools themselves are involved at every level of deliberation within the Conservatoire, enabling them to share knowledge and expertise for the benefit of staff, students and the wider creative world that they serve.
At present, the Conservatoire does not have degree awarding powers and the schools’ courses are validated by different universities:
Conservatoire school |
Validating university |
|---|---|
| Bristol Old Vic Theatre School | University of the West of England |
| Central School of Ballet | University of Kent |
| Circus Space | University of Kent |
| London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts | University of Kent |
| London Contemporary Dance School | University of Kent |
| Northern School of Contemporary Dance | University of Kent |
| Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance | University of Kent |
| Royal Academy of Dramatic Art | King’s College London, University of London |
View our short film about the Conservatoire:
A Step Up - Life at the Conservtoire for Dance and Drama
