Dance graduate Laura Worden tells us about her experience

Dance has always been a part of Laura Worden’s life and before studying at UCLan she was involved in amateur dramatics, performing, choreographing, classes and cabaret. Laura chose to study Dance Performance and Teaching because of the placement opportunity available to her. She was particularly interested in community dance and the chance to run her own dance project.

The experience Laura gained from her degree helped her to get a job at inclusive dance charity, DanceSyndrome, before graduating. Following graduation in 2014, Laura started as a freelance dance artist working in schools and community settings. The practical learning and theoretical knowledge gained from the UCLan Dance Performance and Teaching course proved beneficial for Laura’s job. Based on her experience, Laura was appointed as a Dance Development Officer at Ludus Dance, Lancashire’s leading dance development charity in 2019.

In recent years, Laura produced a dance piece for a Heritage Lottery Funded project about the women’s suffrage movement, which was performed in Preston City Centre. She claims this has been her greatest achievement to date.

Recently, Laura landed a new role as a Community Projects officer at Lancashire County Council. Talking about her role, Laura said: "I started in April and I completely credit the Community module within the degree with getting me to where I am now."

Laura's role involves working in areas of high deprivation to support community organisation with various projects, for example social isolation, health and wellbeing, access to green spaces and the food agenda.

When asked about what advice she would give to graduates wanting to pursue a similar career path, Laura said: “Make sure it’s your passion. Do something you care about and take every little bit out of the experience that you can. Keep networking as work can come from places you would never expect it to.”