TPD Young Artists
Collaborate Create Perform
TPD Young Artists is dedicated to nurturing the next generation of dance artists by fostering a collaborative, creative, and inclusive community for young people across Oxfordshire. Founded in 2018, with the support of Company Wayne McGregor, TPD YA brings together dancers aged 12–18, every Sunday during term time, to co-create original contemporary work, empowering them to find their artistic voice and build confidence through shared practice. Through regular rehearsals and performances at festivals and venues, the programme offers meaningful opportunities for young artists to develop their skills, connect with others, and imagine future pathways in dance and the creative industries.
Being part of TPD Young Artists gives you the opportunity to:
Develop choreographic, performance, and creative skills
Work with professional dance artists
Have regular public performance experiences
Discover pathways into advanced training or careers
For more information and audition details please contact: education@thomaspagedances.org
See what we get up to on Instagram: @TPDYoungArtists
TPD Young Artists 2025-26
FAQs
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TPD Young Artists consists of three terms per year and company members usually join September following a successful audition in the summer. Dancer remain part of the company from the age they join until they are 18 years old.
For example, if a dancer joins us at 14 years old, they will be on the programme for 4 years
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Yes, you can do both!
The TPD Training Programme is structured as an advanced training programme, focusing on honing contemporary dance techniques and building creative practice skills. The emphasis is on the learning process, taking class, and developing skill sets, without the pressure of performative outputs.
TPD Young Artists functions as the youth company of our professional company, Thomas Page Dances, emphasising collaboration, creation, and performance. The focus here is more on rehearsal setting, experience in a company, and regular performance opportunities.
Students from both the TPD Training Programme and TPD Young Artists come together termly for the Guest Workshops and other external projects throughout the year as/when they arise.
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TPD Young Artists are dancers aged 12–18 years old, mainly from Oxfordshire, with a few from neighbouring areas. During the audition we look for dancers who can collaborate, have strong performance skills, and have potential to be a well-rounded young artist.
Some of our dancers are looking to pursue dance in higher education with the aim of auditioning for full-time contemporary dance training. Others are experienced dancers looking to develop their contemporary dance skills in a supportive environment. Some are just beginning their dancing journey with us - there is no “one size fits all” when it comes to our students, and we love that!
Cohort sizes are deliberately kept small to ensure high-quality, individualised attention - a full cohort would be around 10 dancers.
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To join at the beginning of the academic year, you will need register for our annual auditions in the Summer Term via EventBrite (a link will be available closer to the date and will be posted here, across our socials, and if you have contacted us we can share it directly with you)
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To be part of TPD Young Artists it currently costs £105.00 per term*
We have discounts available for Siblings and Low Income Families. Fees are payable in instalments, and we also have scholarship Places are also available.
In the studio with TPD YA
Images by Oxford Atelier
Alumni
Our Alumni have gone on to study at amazing institutions for Performing Arts such as Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Italia Conti, Trinity Laban, Chichester University, Goldsmiths University and Central School of Ballet.
Beyond dance, some students decide to take different progression pathways (and that’s okay!) taking their studies further in different subjects at incredible higher education institutions such as University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Bournemouth University, Sussex University, and The University of East Anglia.
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Florence
2025 Graduate
Currently at Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
How would you describe your time with TPD YA?
“TPDYA has the most welcoming environment and has given me the opportunity to create original pieces in a judgement free zone.”
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Grace
2024 Graduate
Currently at university studying Media Production
How would you describe your time with TPD YA?
“Best five years ever. The collaborations and creating a family have been my fave moments.”
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Anna
2020 Graudate
Currently working professionally in a full time marketing role.
How would you describe your time with TPD YA?
"I joined TPD YA when it first started. Tom was an incredible, down to earth teacher and I used to love our Sunday sessions! It’s always been such a lovely, talented group of individuals.”
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Isabel
2019 Graduate
Currently reading English Literature at The University of Oxford
How would you describe your time with TPD YA?
“Being a part of TPD YA was nothing short of magical! As an artistic collective, it offers so much more than just the opportunity to dance - it's a space in which the participants are pushed to consider what movement as a medium can do, how it can tell stories, how it might enable us to think about the world in different ways. Tom's teaching has so much of the mind in it as well, beyond what just the body can do. That was massive for me - I don't have a typical dancer's body, and never felt fully at home in a studio until I encountered TPD YA. But Tom, alongside my incredibly talented cohort, showed me it was my creativity that made me a dancer, not what I looked like or how flexible I was. By encouraging me to harness my understanding of dance as an art form, they empowered me as an individual.”
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Alex
2018 Graduate
Currently working professionally as an actor and writer, working as a freelancer with various companies as well as staging his own work.
How would you describe your time with TPD YA?
“A wonderfully open and explorative space, where I was able to broaden my artistic horizons and develop my movement in a space free of judgement. Meaning through movement, specificity and expanding the possibilities of my body. Favourite learning experience was working with text and discovering how powerful a storytelling tool that non-verbal expression can be.”
TPD Young Artists 2024-25
TPD Young Artists 2023-24
