Careers week Q&A

Last week, as part of National Careers Week, we ran a Q&A session on our Instagram stories to answer any questions people had about what it’s like to work for a professional dance company. From being a performer to all the jobs behind the scene and in the office.

If you missed it, don’t worry! We’ve gathered all the questions and answers for you to read…

If you have any questions that we haven’t answered here, don’t hesitate to get in touch! 

When did your dancers start dancing?
Everyone started at different ages and with different styles e.g. ballet, breakdance, sports. Some started as early as 3 years old and some started much later at 14 years. Everyone in the performing company has trained at degree level with a common dance strand of contemporary dance.

Where did your dancers train?
Our current dancers trained at Rambert school of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Northern School of Contemporary Dance (NSCD), The Place London or Trinity Laban.

Lots of our dancers have also come through the Professional placement scheme at (NSCD).

What non-dancer jobs are there?
We have 22 full-time employees and only 10 of them are dancers. We also have lots of other freelancers and people that we collaborate with too. In our office team, we have people that book our shows at venues and festivals and someone that organises the dancers’ schedules. People in marketing team that look after social media and work on selling tickets for shows. We have a creative learning team that organise workshops, someone that administrates our class programme, a finance manager and more!

What qualifications do I need to get into the arts?
Degree level qualifications aren’t always essential, however they can be super helpful. Bags of passion and enthusiasm go a long way. It’s more about having the right skillset and work experience!

What does your weekly schedule look like?
Every week is different. The dancers work full time for the company and rehearse and train regularly in our home base in Leamington spa. Between this and performances on tour, they also deliver workshops and bespoke projects throughout the year all over the UK and further afield.

How do the women lift the men with such a size difference?
One of the hardest things is getting the men comfortable being lifted, because they are often not used to flying and are heavy in the air so it does take a while to build that trust.

The smaller bases rely on technique – stacking their structure rather than relying on pure muscle, so there is much less room for error.

Does everyone have to be able to do circus/gymnastics to be able to be in Motionhouse?
No. There is a strong acro/gymnastic/circus element to our work but we work together as a team for many hours with people who have got the skills who pass over their knowledge to the people that are learning. A willingness to learn and experiment is definitely required though!

Are you just in Leamington Spa?
Our home is in Leamington Spa, we have our creation space in Leamington’s Town Hall and an office space just around the corner in Spencer Yard, but we tour our performances and deliver workshops all over the UK and across the globe!

What kind of dance style do you recommend starting with?
Any style of dance is good! Try not to limit yourself to one particular style. They all feed in to each other at some point. We would also recommend trying style you might not like as people tend to shy away from somethings because they feel less comfortable with them or they feel like harder work but eventually it will make you a more well-rounded dancer!

How often do Motionhouse hold auditions for new dancers?
We recently invited over 300 people to an audition back in October but don’t hold regular auditions to join our full time company. We will always announce any audition opportunities on our social media and website so do keep an eye out!

If you’re interested in getting to know the company we would recommend checking out our Pro Intensive. The intensive is for professional dance/circus artists or those in professional training will consist of 3-days of training with our brilliant rehearsal director Junior Cunningham.

We do hold annual auditions for Northern School of Contemporary Dance’s professional placement scheme.

What jobs are there backstage/behind the scenes?
Technicians, lighting designers, costume designers, Audio/Visual and projection designers, set designers, composers, stage managers – the list goes on! There are so many jobs behind the scenes.

Do you have work experience?
Yes, we offer work placements whenever we can around our busy touring schedule, from Year 10 work experience to university placements. Check out our website for more details!

To work in marketing for dance companies, do you have to have a marketing qualification?
Not necessarily… qualifications aren’t always essential for arts marketing however it will certainly help! Getting work experience and the right skillset is important, and passion and enthusiasm go a long way.

I love dancing but will be studying maths and science. What kind of jobs can I do?
There are lots of jobs in and around dance that could combine all of those things. For example, you could be a physiotherapist, Pilates teacher, dance scientist, finance manager, fundraiser and so much more!

How young can someone get into dance?
You can start dance at any age! In our mini movers dance class we have children as young as 1 years old taking part.

Do you sponsor visa for international dancers?
Currently we do not sponsor people to work in the UK, but we may consider doing this in the right circumstances.

Do your dancers have to have a degree to get a place ?
Not necessarily, however all of our current company dancers do have a degree.

What’s the best thing about working in the arts?
Everyone will have their own answer to this as it’s very personal…Every day is different! We love working with other creative people and inspiring others to be creative!