DCD support is available to all professional dancers, from all genres of dance and at any stage of your career. Retraining Grants are one of the very few areas of our support where eligibility criteria applies.

Professional dancers are eligible to apply for up to ten years after they cease performing professionally.

Retirement on medical grounds:

Should dancers be unable to meet the Retraining Grant criteria set out below because they have been forced to retire due to mental or physical illness/injury, we may still be able to help. You’ll need to provide two letters from medical professionals to support your application; confirming the diagnosis, treatment, and medical advice to stop performing. Contact us for more information on dancers@thedcd.org.uk.

DCD Partner Company dancers:

In order to be eligible for a Retraining Grant as a dancer with one of DCD’s Partner Companies, you must have:

• Been a professional dancer for at least eight years (we do not count any work done whilst undertaking formal dance training)
• Worked for a minimum of five years in the UK, with one or more of the following Companies:

Birmingham Royal Ballet

English National Ballet

Northern Ballet

Rambert

Richard Alston Dance Company (Applications accepted until March 2030)

Scottish Ballet

The Royal Ballet

(Please note company dancer applications are no longer accepted from dancers who were previously employed by Phoenix Dance Theatre, though you may be eligible to apply as an independent dancer. Please refer to the ‘All other dancers’ section below.)

All other dancers:

DCD support dancers with essential financial costs while retraining. The Retraining Bursaries are up to £4,000.

To qualify for a Retraining Grant with DCD applicants must have:

• Been a professional dancer for at least eight years (we do not count any work done whilst undertaking formal dance training)
• Worked for a minimum of five years in the UK
• Demonstrate that you have earned an income as a dancer for a minimum of 16 weeks in each year, on average.

You can return to DCD for a second grant if your original grant was for less than £4,000. The maximum you can apply for in a second application is £4,000 minus the amount you received previously. For example, if you previously received £1,000 you can return for up to £3,000.

The £4,000 maximum is across all DCD’s grant awarding programmes, including SHIFT.

You must wait a minimum of 12-months between applications and all awards must be made within 10-years of ending your professional performance career.  If your second application involves retraining in a different area to that of your first application, you will need to explain why this is the case.

Click here to find out more about How to Apply

Click here to see upcoming deadlines to apply