The School announce new Associate centre in Newcastle
We are thrilled to share that from September 2026, we will expand our national Associate Programme to offer regional training at Dance City in Newcastle.
This new location will increase the School’s total Associate centre count to nine across the UK – alongside existing centres in Birmingham, Eastleigh, Edinburgh, Leeds, London, and Manchester, and recently announced centres in Cardiff and Stroud – in a bid to continue encouraging and supporting talent around the country.
The new Newcastle Associate centre will be based out of Dance City’s state-of-the-art, purpose-built dance studios in the heart of Newcastle upon Tyne (pictured above and below).
Established for almost 40 years, Dance City is the North East’s leading development organisation for dance, which exists to lead and support a thriving dance ecology in the region.
From September 2026, Dance City will be home to our Junior Associate (8-11 years) classes every Sunday for 32 weeks in the academic year, and from 2027, we intend to extend this to offer Mid Associate (11-14 years) classes as well.
The Associate Programme provides a national pipeline of ballet excellence to the UK’s rich cultural industries: historically, around 90% of entrants into The Royal Ballet School have come from the national Associate centres, and other former Associates have gone onto further training at prestigious UK vocational schools like Elmhurst, Tring and the Hammond.
After closing our previous Newcastle Associate centre in 2024, this announcement signals a new chapter for the School in the North East, and comes at a momentous time as we celebrate 100 years of nurturing the next generation of dancers.
Victoria Collinson, Head of Associates and Primary Steps Legacy Programmes, said of this announcement:
‘This is an exciting new development for the School and we hope it will be the next step in seeking out and training more of the UK’s most talented young dancers.’
Anand Bhatt, Artistic Director and CEO of Dance City, added:
‘We are proud to host The Royal Ballet School Associate Programme in the North East. By bringing world‑class pre‑vocational ballet training to Dance City, the programme strengthens our shared mission to make exceptional dance opportunities accessible to as many young people as possible in the region.’
Applications for the September 2026 intake of our Junior Associate programme open Wednesday 25 February 2026 and auditions will be held at Dance City on Wednesday 20 May 2026. Click here for more information and to apply.
Learn more about Dance City here.
The Associate Programme is generously supported by The Mercers’ Company, Eranda Rothschild Foundation, Leverhulme Trust and Steel Charitable Trust, whose generosity ensure we deliver on our mission to increase national access to high-quality training and talent support across the UK.
