News Story
From touring internationally with Hofesh Shechter Company to performing in an immersive theatre production in China, London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS) alum Piers Sanders has built a career spanning contemporary dance, physical theatre and international collaboration.
This autumn, Piers returned to The Place to work alongside Hofesh Shechter Company Rehearsal Director, Chien-Ming Chang, on Disappearing Act, a repertoire project with our MA Dance: Performance students.
For Piers, returning to The Place is an opportunity to reconnect with the institution that helped shape his early career, while bringing the knowledge and experience he has gained as a professional performer back into the studio.
"It's always so nice to be back and to reconnect with my old teachers. Each time I come back to The Place I am at a different stage in my career, so being back in this building now and again is like a marker of time for me."
From student to international performer
Piers discovered dance as a teenager through the Centre for Advanced Training programme at Trinity Laban, before joining LCDS, where he graduated with a first-class BA (Hons) degree in 2020. He went on to complete an MA apprenticeship with National Dance Company Wales.
In 2021, he joined Humanhood Dance Company, contributing to the creation of Infinite, which toured internationally throughout 2022. In 2024, he joined Shechter II, Hofesh Shechter Company's apprentice company, performing From England with Love in 92 performances across seven countries.
Most recently, Piers travelled to Shenzhen, China, to perform the lead role in The Deal, an immersive theatre production created by Gecko Theatre's Amit Lahav.
These experiences have taken him across continents and into very different creative environments, offering opportunities to immerse himself in the artistic worlds of different choreographers.
"It is such a privilege to have a range of different opportunities that a portfolio career offers. I'm very lucky to work with some amazing choreographers and each job gives me a new perspective on how I move through life, as a performer and also as a human being."
For Piers, one of the greatest rewards is the opportunity to commit fully to a creative process: "I consider myself very lucky to be able to sink into something really deeply, inhabiting and translating an artist's vision."
Returning to the studio
Working alongside Ming, Piers has been helping to restage Hofesh Shechter's Disappearing Act, created in 2015 and last restaged in 2017.
"Hofesh talks about finding 'worlds' when he creates a piece, so I'd say the 'world' of Disappearing Act is about holding onto a sense of humanity as we are wading through the thickness of life."
Preparing to teach a work he had never seen performed live required a different kind of engagement with the choreography. Piers studied video recordings and made detailed notes, before trusting that his previous experience with Hofesh Shechter's movement language would return once he entered the studio.
"Once Ming and I started together in the studio with the students, the whole process of sharing the work became more organic."
Working with two large casts also brought a particular sense of responsibility.
“I felt I had a responsibility to really see every one of the students. Ming and I have tried to respond to what the students bring to the process and the work, and then meet them exactly where they are. It has been incredibly rewarding for me, seeing where the students have taken themselves over the course of the last month – seeing how much they have changed in the work, and really allowed themselves to invest in it. Knowing that I've had a part in their journeys is an absolute pleasure, true job satisfaction!"
Piers' journey reflects the many different directions a career in dance can take. From his early training at LCDS to international stages, and now returning to the School to share his experience with a new generation of dance artists, each chapter has brought opportunities to learn, collaborate and grow.
