MA Dance student tours the world with dance company ahead of graduation

A Salford student who has toured the world with an industry-leading dance company has spoken of her excitement about graduating today.

Janice Ho, a student on our MA Dance: Performance and Professional Practices programme, has spent the last few months performing in South Africa, Amsterdam and across the UK with ACE Dance and Music company on their Unknown Realms tour.

She secured a full time contract with the company earlier this year through an open audition and is now excited to begin her professional career in earnest.

Janice said: “It feels a bit strange to have started a full time job even before I completed my course and submitted my dissertation. I’ve been lucky to jump straight from education into dancing professionally full time, as within the dance industry now, such an opportunity is rare.

“I have loved every moment of the MA at the University of Salford. I was surrounded by a small cohort of supportive peers, alongside our course leaders that always went above and beyond in providing the best experience for us. The highlight was being part of creating [the 2023 Emergence show] and then touring a new triple bill across the UK.”

The Emergence programme is a core component of the MA Dance: Performance and Professional Practices degree in which the University partners with Joss Arnott Dance to give our students the opportunity to work with internationally acclaimed choreographers to deliver a contemporary dance performance at the highest level and tour the UK.

Janice had been given the opportunity through the programme to previously work with ACE on a workshop so felt confident when applying for the role.

She said: “I was able to get one foot in the door through [the workshop] as they had already seen me in a more intimate and casual setting.

“Being able to tour the world is such an amazing opportunity. I’ve been to South Africa and Amsterdam with ACE, alongside a national tour across the UK. I am quite enjoying professional life as it’s nice to have free time in the evenings and not worry about doing my coursework or working additionally part time!”

Janice, who was born and raised in Singapore, is a graduate of the London Contemporary Dance School and last year performed in the late Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant. She also won the 2023 International Student Award at the School of Arts, Media and Creative Technology’s Create Awards earlier this year.

She joins graduates Martina Mancini and Hannah Woodliffe at ACE who graduated from the programme in 2022 and 2019 respectively.

Also joining Janice from the programme into the dance industry is Louis Harris, who secured a contract for Matthew Bourne’s Romeo + Juliet with the New Adventures dance company and MA Dance: Choreography and Professional Practice student Dais Leech who has secured a contract with Falling Angels dance company that came from their MA industry placement.