BA Modern Ballet

Ayo Kobayashi
Contemporary technique

Rowan MacGregor
Jazz

Lewis Normand
Choreography

Glauco Di Lieto
Coaching, pas de deux, repertoire, PBT

Ruth Mills
Contemporary

Penny Withers
Conditioning/Coaching

Dr Oliver Wittard
Nutrition

Bethany Whiteside
Contextual Studies

Fraser Johnstone
Massage

John McFall

Kerry Nicholls

Paul Liburd OBE

Owen Montague

Julian Moss

Christopher Hampson
Artistic Director and CEO

Oliver Rydout
Rehearsal Director

Sophie Martin
Principal Dancer

Constance Devernay
Principal Dancer

Sophie Laplane
Choreographer in Residence

Jamiel Laurence
Soloist/Choreographer

Constant Vigier
Soloist

Michael Barnett

Signy Jakobsdottir  Percussionist

• Nicolas Blanc — Ballet master, Scottish Ballet
• Patricia Lent — Cunningham Foundation, New York
• Maria Jimenez — Scottish Ballet
• Scottish Dance Theatre
• Alvin Ailey Dance Company
• English National Ballet Company
• Rambert Dance Company

Applications are made through UCAS Conservatoires website. The UCAS Conservatoires application system is separate from the main UCAS undergraduate application system. If you wish to apply to conservatoires and universities within UCAS, you will need to register for both services.

There is a UCAS application fee of £26.50 to register to use UCAS Conservatoires.

To begin a new UCAS Conservatoires application, you will need to register. You can read the UCAS Conservatoires’ advice on completing the UCAS Conservatoires application.

If you need assistance with your application, you can contact UCAS Conservatoires team by telephoning (Monday to Friday, 8.30 — 18.00). Phone 0371 468 0470 from within the UK or +44 330 3330 232 if you are calling from overseas.

Application deadline date

The closing date for on time applications for UK is 31 January 2023. If you submit your application after this date, we cannot guarantee that you will be invited to audition.

The closing date for international and EU applications is 31 March 2023. If you do consider to submit a late application, please contact admissions@rcs.ac.uk in the first instance to check we are accepting late applications. Late applications will be considered on a case by case basis.

We do not offer deferred entry. If you wish to commence in 2024, you must apply next year.

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland institution code is R58.

You will also require the following programme code to apply: BA Modern Ballet: 201F — Dance.

UCAS Conservatoires application form

Applicants should give details of the highest level of external examination attained (if any), the date and the mark awarded. They should also state which Dance Society this was with (ie RAD, ISTD, BBO etc). It should be noted that this is not a prerequisite for an audition and merely an indication of level. This should be noted under the personal statement.

There is a UCAS Conservatoires application fee of £26.50. In addition to the application fee, each conservatoire charges an audition assessment administration fee. For RCS, the audition assessment administration fee is £55 per programme applied for. Fees are not refundable. The fees are paid via the UCAS Conservatoires website and not directly to RCS.

Audition Assessment Administration fee

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland charges an audition assessment administration fee of £55 per course.

We recognise that auditioning and interviewing for conservatoires, drama and ballet schools can be costly. The audition assessment administration fee charge allows us to offer a thorough and positive experience to all applicants and we encourage you to get in touch to ask the panel questions and find out more about the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland to see if it is the best place for you.

We are committed to ensuring fair access to a conservatoire education for students who have the talent and potential to benefit from it, regardless of their background. In support of this, audition fee waivers are offered to applicants whom financial hardship may be a barrier to auditioning. Please see the audition fee waivers document for more information.

It is your responsibility to ask two separate referees to write references and ensure that these are sent to RCS.

The references must be written by two different people and we will not accept references from family, other relatives or close friends. You can submit your UCAS Conservatoires application form and send your references at a later date, but they must be received prior to your audition date.

UCAS Conservatoires provides reference forms for you to download and send to your referees for completion.

For September 2023 entry, we are currently planning for in-person auditions to take place in Glasgow and in London on our BA Modern Ballet programme, as well as continuing to offer auditions in an online format for those who are not able to travel to an in-person audition. We have many years of experience of conducting online auditions and have a well-established format and process in place, so no applicant will be disadvantaged by auditioning in this manner. We will continue to respond to ongoing governmental guidance as to how we can hold in-person auditions in a way that is safe for our applicants as well as staff, and these will be subject to change dependent on alterations in governmental advice.

Please visit our Auditions section for more information.

For September 2023 entry, we are currently planning for in-person auditions to take place in Glasgow and in London on our BA Modern Ballet programme, as well as continuing to offer auditions in an online format for those who are not able to travel to an in-person audition. We have many years of experience of conducting online auditions and have a well-established format and process in place, so no applicant will be disadvantaged by auditioning in this manner. We will continue to respond to ongoing governmental guidance as to how we can hold in-person auditions in a way that is safe for our applicants as well as staff, and these will be subject to change dependent on alterations in governmental advice.

There are two stages to audition – preliminary and recall. You can audition in-person or online for both stages.

In-Person Auditions

If you decide to audition in-person, you will be invited to choose an audition location chosen on your UCAS Conservatoires profile – we will be holding auditions in Glasgow and in London. In-person preliminary auditions consist of a classical ballet class which will include barre work, centre and allegro. Female candidates will be asked to show some pointe work at the end of the class. The class will last approximately 90 minutes, will be taught by one of the RCS ballet staff and accompanied by a musician. You will be observed in the class by a panel made up of staff from the programme team. There will be short information session either at the start/end of the audition. The in-person recall auditions will be held in Glasgow in March 2023.

Should you be recalled, the ‘final’ audition will be scheduled for March 2023 and is more in-depth. Applicants invited to the final audition will participate in:

–       A classical ballet class (barre, centre and allegro) including pointe work for female applicants and lasting approximately 90 minutes.

–       A contemporary session which will last approximately 30-45 minutes. This will include some floor work and travelling sequences. No previous experience/training of contemporary dance is required for this session.

–       A physiotherapy screening. This session will be carried out individually with one of our qualified physiotherapists and will take around 15 minutes

–       An interview with programme staff. You do not need to prepare anything for this interview, which will last between 10-15 minutes

–       An Information session with the Head of Modern Ballet, members of the programme team and colleagues from registry. This will give you an overview of our programme, approach to teaching and learning, our facilities, funding, accommodation and student support. It lasts about 1 hour. A parent/carer is welcome to attend and there will be an opportunity to ask any questions following this session.

Please note that the recall audition may take place over two consecutive days, requiring an overnight stay.

Online Auditions

If you decide to audition online, the audition videos and photographs for your online submission do not need to be professionally filmed/taken – your phone or a similar device is suitable. Online applicants will be asked to make a profile to support their application on Acceptd, and then use this to provide footage/photographs (as appropriate) of the following:

1. BARRE WORK

• Plies – on one side only
• Battements Tendus – shown on both sides
• Battements Fondus – shown on both sidesGrands Battements – shown on both sides

2. CENTRE PRACTICE AND ALLEGRO

• Adage – showing both sides
• Pirouette enchainement – can be taken from 5^th, 4^th and/or 2^nd position, shown both en dehors and en dedans.  Pirouettes should be performed on both the right and the left side
• Petit Allegro/Warm-up jump – sautes, echappes sautes and changements
• Allegro enchainement
• One grand allegro enchainement

3. STRETCHING (no music required)

Applicants should take care to work within their own range of movement and not force or bounce in the following stretches:

• Spine roll down – facing the back with feet together and arms by sides, slowly roll down through the spine (keeping legs straight) and recover
• Achilles stretch – facing the side with feet together, bend knees with heels remaining on the floor and recover
• Hamstring stretch – facing the side, sitting on the floor with legs fully stretched forward in parallel, reach up and then forward towards toes, keeping backs of knees on the floor
• Splits on right leg – facing right corner
• Box splits – facing front
• Splits on left leg – facing left corner

4. FEMALE APPLICANTS ONLY

In addition to the above, female applicants should show a short example of pointe work, in the centre. Please include:

• Echappes and releves
• Simple pirouette enchainement – shown on both sides

5. MALE APPLICANTS ONLY

In addition to the above, male applicants should show a short example of virtuosity work. Please include:

• Tours en l’air – to both sides

6. ALL APPLICANTS – PHOTOGRAPHS

• Demi-plie en face, arms in bras bas or on waist

• A la seconde en l’air, arms in 2nd position