Ascendance

11/09/2026

Final rehearsals at St Chad’s 🎭

Patrick rehearses his Story with Emma, and the cast look fabulous. So lovely to see it all coming together.

09/09/2026

🎉 We can’t wait for our Big Event!

Ticket sales close this Friday, and there are only a few tickets remaining!

Ascendance presents Creating, Dancing and Living with Parkinson’s on 18 September

An afternoon of dance, stories, film and live music, celebrating the work of their trainee choreographers living with Parkinson’s, with performances from Fuse Dance Collective and the launch of their new sector toolkit with Dr Mel Brierley.

Find out more: https://www.onedanceuk.org/events/creating-dancing-and-living-with-parkinson-s

09/09/2026

Remembering Sir Richard Alston CBE

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Sir Richard Alston CBE, a trailblazer of contemporary dance and a much valued friend of NSCD. His connection with Yorkshire, Leeds and the School spanned decades, from touring the region with his first company 'Strider' to his long-standing relationship with our founder Nadine Senior MBE

Richard became NSCD’s first external assessor of practical work and remained part of our journey for many years, bringing his company’s work to Riley Theatre and creating and restaging work with our students

We are grateful for his generosity, honesty and belief in our students, and for the lasting contribution he made to our school and the wider dance sector

Read more here > www.nscd.ac.uk/blog/remembering-sir-richard-alston-cbe/

📸 Photo taken by Terry Cryer at the Opening Event for NSCD's new building on 30 September 1997

08/09/2026

A huge thank you to our two Emmas for an amazing first session, and to everyone for bringing such fabulous dancing and energy into the room! 💃✨ What a fantastic start! ❤️

07/09/2026

We can't wait to start this tomorrow. Come and join us from 10.15am!

🎉 EXCITING NEWS: our Not so Rusty Dance & Movement Session starts This Tuesday 🎉

We are absolutely delighted to announce that we have secured 24 weeks of funding from Sport England to deliver a brand-new Dance & Wellbeing session at the Sikh Temple! 💃


Delivered in partnership with Armley Helping Hands, Armley Chai and Chat Group, and Ascendance, these weekly over-50s sessions will encourage you to discover the joy of movement.

🌟🕒 What Each Week Involves:

Community Spirit: A welcoming environment to meet old friends, make new ones, and bring some extra joy to your week.

Accessible Dance & Movement session (10:15 AM – 11:00 AM): Gentle exercises and dance tailored for all abilities to give your physical and mental wellbeing a fantastic boost. Delivered by Rachel and her team at Ascendance.

Social Time (11:00 AM – 12:00 PM): A chance to enjoy refreshments, listen to guest speakers, and have a good old natter. Led by Karen at Armley Helping Hands, with venue and refreshments hosted by Mandeep and the temple team.

📍 Event Details:

📅 When: Tuesdays, starting 8th September 2026 (Running weekly for 24 weeks, excluding school holidays)

⏰ Time: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

🏢 Where: Sri Guru Nanak Sikh Temple, Tong Road, Armley, Leeds (LS12)🪙

Fee: £2 contribution per session

Come along, move at your own pace, and enjoy a wonderful morning of health and friendship. We cannot wait to welcome you all! ☕❤️

06/09/2026

Our Season of Culture project is in full swing! 🎭✨

Here’s a glimpse from one of our rehearsals at where the groups are working hard on our Garden-inspired piece, “Flutterings.” 🦋

We can’t wait to see it come to life on stage!

📅 Catch our groups performing on 18th September.

🎟️ Ticket sales end this Friday — don’t miss out!

Come along and support our amazing performers. ❤️

03/09/2026

We absolutely loved the beautiful flower props we used at Temple Newsam House & Gardens last week, and it’s been fun to bring them along to our classes this week. 🌸

They’ve added such colour to our sessions, and I particularly love our very own portrait pose from today’s class in Saltaire. 💐

02/09/2026

It’s gorgeous to be back seeing everyone’s smiley faces at Karmand Community Centre in Bradford. Emma H got everyone up and grooving with her rhythmical sticks dance, which brought such brilliant energy to the room.

We’re also heading over to Saltaire tomorrow (Thursday) as we begin a new term of Parkinson’s ALL DANCE classes, and we truly can’t wait to see you all.

I’m loving being back into the routine - it feels so good to reconnect with everyone.