Hello,

This week we’re sharing the MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional programme, led by Trinity Laban in partnership with Independent Dance and Siobhan Davies Studios. If you’re looking to develop your artistic practice in a stimulating environment of collaborative, creative and intellectual enquiry, please read on. Plus, you can find out about funding support available and our upcoming Open Day on 27 January below.

About the programme: 
MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional focuses on dance, somatic practices and interdisciplinary practice as research and is taught by internationally renowned artists. The programme works with an expanded notion of dance in dialogue with wide artistic and cultural contexts and is unique, offering a range of modules based across both a conservatoire, Trinity Laban, and a professional dance context with Independent Dance at Siobhan Davies Studios. Overall, the programme is designed to support you to:

• reflect on your body of professional experience and your ongoing learning
• engage in intensive research with renowned artists and a skilled peer group
• deepen your practice as a performer/maker/facilitator
• develop your understanding of a range of research methodologies and pursue your own area of artistic interest
• become part of a growing international community of artists which continues to evolve beyond the programme

Our current students are nearing the end of their third week of the Embodied Practice module, one of two core modules each taking place over 5-week intensive blocks. This module is led by Heni Hale with Gaby Agis and a number of guest artists with diverse practices. This module introduces you to ways of researching movement, dance, the body and experiential anatomy. The emphasis is on daily immersion in creative and improvisatory methods, and allows you to evolve your own research enquiry, drawing on your own felt-sense experiences.

In April, the group will return for Investigative Practice, the second of the two core modules. This module is led by a different artist of international standing each year, sharing their practice methods in depth. The module builds on Embodied Practice, inviting you to work alongside a Lead Artist to further uncover your own practices with continued curiosity and devising methods. Last year, students (pictured above) worked closely with choreographer, performer, movement director and teacher, Seke Chimutengwende and this year we are very much looking forward to welcoming Professor emilyn claid.

emilyn shares: ‘I am curious to open and hold a space, to share and investigate emerging choreographic performance ideas around themes of queering, letting go and absurdity. Processes that engage with movement improvisation scores, relational dynamics, presence/absence, written and spoken texts, visual image, collaboration, and humour. Live art performer Martin O’Brien’s words seem relevant right now when he says: “don’t make work that you can’t laugh about”’

Independent Dance leads on the curation, delivery and student support of both modules which are designed to make it possible for you to continue professional commitments outside of the course during the rest of the year.

Below you can find out about:

• Our upcoming open day where you’re invited to join us for Morning Class with Annie Pui Ling Lok, followed by a discussion with Heni Hale, Naomi Lefebvre Sell, Associate Director (Dance) and previous students
• Financial support available
• Previous students' experiences
• How you can make an application

If you have any questions about the programme and would like to chat to a member of the team, please feel welcome to get in contact.  

With warm wishes,

ID staff team
From the ID staff team: Nicky Napier, Renée Bellamy, Cheniece Warner and Heni Hale

Join us for our in-person Open Day on 27 January

Date: Tuesday 27th January, 10:00-15:00 GMT⁠
Location: Siobhan Davies Studios, London, SE1 6ER 

We are hosting an in person Open Day where you'll be able to find out more about the programme, its offerings and hear from students, tutors and alumni. The Open Day includes: 

10:00 – 12:00: Morning Class with Annie Pui Ling Lok 
This class is part of the Embodied Practice module and will be led by Annie Pui Ling Lok Co-Artistic Director of Siobhan Davies Studios. This class is optional and you are welcome to join us on the day for free. Limited spaces available, register here by 20 January. 

13:00 – 15:00: Open Day discussion
In the afternoon, meet and talk with Heni Hale, Lead Tutor and Naomi Lefebvre Sell, Associate Director (Dance) of Trinity Laban as well as past and current students. You are very welcome to bring any questions you have to it, about the programme overall, the modules, and students’ experiences. We will also be offering information about scholarships and bursaries to support study.

To sign up and attend, register for here.⁠ 

If you are unable to attend this open day, we will be offering an additional online discussion in a few weeks. More information to follow. 

ID Bursary Awards 2026

This year, we are offering 4 bursary awards of £500 for students undertaking study in the academic year 2026-27, thanks to the generous support of the Choreographers’ Gallery.

This bursary fund will be specifically distributed to students who have identified personal caring responsibilities, and where these commitments to caring are proving to be prohibitive to them undertaking this course. It will also be available to students who are travelling from outside of London or the UK, as a contribution towards travel and accommodation.

To find out more about the bursary and how to apply, see here. 
Deadline: 20 May, 23:59pm 

Additional funding support is available via Trinity Laban, including 2 x £5000 Leverhulme Arts Scholarships, plus a discount on fees for Trinity Laban graduates. To find out more about financial support available from Trinity Laban, see here. 

Programme Q&A with Heni Hale

Heni is Lead Tutor on the Investigative Practice and Embodied Practice modules. She is a practising artist with 25 years of experience in the field and recognised for her depth of practice and knowledge combined with a strong interest in ethical approaches, curiosity and listening skills.

View part 1 of this Q&A below, and part 2 can be found here. 

Everyone interested in submitting an application for the MA/MFA is welcome to a one-to-one meeting. Please get in touch here. 

Entering Entangled, an interview with MA/MFA Creative Practice students

MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional students Eliza Cass, Cat Jones and Rabindranath X Bhose reflect on their time attending the Embodied Practice and Investigative Practice modules.

'As a freelancer without a regular studio, it’s such an exciting shift to be able to root down and to allow my practice to have a more in-depth conversation with a space...One of my favourite things about being at SDS was attending ID’s Morning Class; continually expanding, letting others in and learning from a wider community of dancers.' - Eliza Cass

'Within this space, I learned to trust others to witness the experimentation, to give my energy generously to others’ creative testing, and to allow others’ investigations to bleed into mine.' - Rabindranath X Bhose

Read the full interview on Siobhan Davies Studio's blog here.

How to apply to the MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional

Initial application via UCAS Conservatoires. More information on the application process & requirements via Trinity Laban.

Applications are currently open for September 2026 entry. Please see here for term dates. 

Access
ID's programme is open to disabled and non-disabled dance artists. Our work is not based on a normative view of the human body, and we strive at all times to reduce barriers to participation. This includes reducing financial barriers by offering the whole programme at low cost.

To find out more about the accessibility of our programme, please see here. If you have any questions about the accessibility of our programme and would like to discuss any specific access requirements, please feel free to reach out to us via email info@independentdance.co.uk or by phone on 02070919650, to speak directly to a member of the Independent Dance team.  

Contact & visit
Independent Dance is based at Siobhan Davies Studios (SDS) in London which houses two large and airy studios, gender-inclusive toilets, showers, kitchen and indoor and outdoor meeting spaces.

Independent Dance is resident at
Siobhan Davies Studios
85 St George's Road
London SE1 6ER
020 7091 9650
info@independentdance.co.uk

Find us on Facebook and Instagram

Independent Dance is a company registered in England and Wales
Company no: 05096892. Charity no: 1180239.

Images
Top: MA/MFA students from the 2025 cohort standing together in the Roof Studio. Photo, Nicky Napier.
Middle: Photo, Alison Thomas⁠.
Middle: MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional, Embodied Practice module. Class with 'Funmi Adewole Elliott. Photo, Heni Hale.⁠
Middle: MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional Q&A video.
Bottom: Eliza Cass engaging in the MA/MFA Investigative module in the SDS Roof Studio. Photo, Cheniece Warner.