Springboard 2019

Last month Northern Ballet presented Springboard, a three-day course for early career dance artists and recent graduates. Leeds Dance Partnership were proud to have supported the course with bursaries to cover course fees for four participants.

The course covered the basic knowledge and skills freelance dancers need to set themselves up, ensure they understand their responsibilities, and manage themselves as a business. This included sessions on financial management, marketing and social media, how to fill in a tax return, legal considerations and a one-day First Aid for Dance course by Underwood Training.

Five early career dance artists sit around a big white sheet of paper with the outline of a person drawn on it in blue. One of the dance artists is holding a bright green pen and is about to make some notes on the paper. The dance artists are smiling and are sat around the paper on the floor of a dance studio. This is part of Northern Ballet's Springboard Course.

All of the participants said that the course helped them to feel more confident to set themselves up or deliver work as a self-employed artist, with lots of positive feedback:

‘Engaging and fun in a supportive and inspiring environment’

‘Incredibly beneficial and informative’

Three dance artists sit on the floor of a studio around a large white piece of paper. One of them is holding an orange pen and is laughing, one is smiling and the other has their back to the camera. They are all dance artists on Northern Ballet's Springboard course.

We’re so pleased that the course was a success and wish all of the Springboard participants the best of luck for their future careers.

We regularly post opportunities like Springboard from across the industry on our Projects & Opportunities page.

Photos Gavin Joynt