New Course Launching Soon
Information regarding the MA and application process for next year will appear here in December 2025. Please check back then.
The Academy of Northern Ballet is proud to announce the launch of an MA in Classical Ballet Performance.
In partnership with Northern School of Contemporary Dance, the one-year, full time MA will launch with the first cohort of dancers starting in September 2026. Applications will open in January 2026.
Northern Ballet has a strong history of post-vocational ballet training, with its successful Professional Graduate Programme running 2013-2025, where many current Northern Ballet dancers have completed their training and transitioned to Company life, including Principal Dancer, Dominique Larose. The MA is a development of the Professional Graduate Programme, and will continue to offer exceptional technical and artistic training, alongside opportunities to train and perform with the Company.
The MA is validated by NSCD and takes our commitment to building up a strong industry of classically trained dancers further. Committed to excellence, innovation, and access, the MA in Classical Ballet Performance provides dancers with rigorous technical training, inclusive artistry, and powerful storytelling.
The programme is delivered in the professional company setting of Northern Ballet’s home in Quarry Hill, Leeds, offering students direct experience within an internationally recognised touring ballet company. Through daily classes, mentoring, rehearsals, and performance opportunities, students will be immersed in the rhythms and realities of professional life. Students will also benefit from NSCD’s academic rigour and holistic approach to physical and emotional wellbeing ensuring they graduate as technically proficient, artistically expressive, and industry-ready performers.
We look forward to welcoming MA students from the UK and around the globe.
More information will be available soon including entry requirements, fees, and course dates.
Alumni
2023 Graduate
Maddie De Andrade
'Northern Ballet’s Graduate Programme gave me the confidence and technique that I felt I needed to round off my professional training. During my time on the course, I was lucky enough to work with Northern Ballet on several of their full-scale ballets and children’s ballets, giving me experience which was incredibly useful in my professional development. Since graduating, I have joined Northern Ballet as a guest artist to work on Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Carol and Hansel & Gretel.'
2019 Graduate
Aurora Piccininni
'The most useful aspect of the Professional Graduate Programme was training in close contact with the Company, because it let us see how dancers work and perform. Thanks to the graduate programme I discovered the kind of work I needed to do in order to move from being student to a professional dancer.'
2019 Graduate
Albert González Orts
'During my time at the Professional Graduate Programme my technique gained strength and confidence grew. I got the chance to perform with the Company in The Nutcracker and Puss in Boots, including being lucky enough to be part of filming the ballet for CBeebies which gave me touring and stage experience.'
2020 Graduate
Amy Turner-Daly
'During my time on the Graduate Programme, I was really able to consolidate my technique and artistry with the focus of the course purely on auditions. I was extremely lucky over this time, to tour and perform a lot with the Company which is the best experience you can get going into this profession. This year at Northern Ballet was crucial to me as a dancer and I would not be where I am now without it.'
Photos Emily Nuttall.
