Curator of Dance

Pension scheme

Flexible working

Discounts & tickets

Salary £35,561 - £41,488 pro rata per annum

Location Cromwell Road, London

This is a Permanent, Part Time vacancy that will close in a month at 23:59 GMT.

The Role

We are seeking to appoint a permanent Curator of Dance (0.8 FTE). The post-holder will form part of the team responsible for the care, research, display, and interpretation of the Theatre and Performance Collections and form part of the wider curatorial team in the Department of Performance, Furniture, Textiles and Fashion.
The successful candidate will demonstrate a strong interest in contemporary dance alongside a solid understanding of the history of dance in the UK. As the V&A holds one of the world’s leading collections of tutus and Ballets Russes material, informed knowledge of these forms, companies, and their historical significance will be essential for the role.
The Theatre and Performance collections are dedicated to the history, craft and practice of the performing arts both live and recorded. Their emphasis is on drama, dance, music, popular entertainment and film. Founded in 1924 by Gabrielle Enthoven, the collection constitutes one of the oldest and most significant in the world. It is widely acknowledged as the UK’s National Collection of Performing Arts.
The earliest material in the collection dates from the 17th Century, although the V&A’s holdings are strongest from the 19th Century to the present day. The collection comprises a diverse range of material types including playbills, posters, programmes, photographs, paintings, costume, designs, stage properties, stagecraft, letters, legal documents, published books, unpublished manuscripts, prompt books, scripts, scores, set models, puppets, backcloths, performance recordings, born digital material and files on practitioners, companies, theatres and productions.
The postholder will be expected to represent the museum at the highest level and play an active role in the field of theatre and performance both nationally and internationally. As a member of PFTF Department, the postholder will also play a role in the wider work of the V&A, contributing to policy, supporting fundraising /income generation, and assisting senior colleagues in the running of the Department, including creating a positive environment, encouraging collaboration across the museum, contributing to change, and sharing knowledge, expertise and best practice.
We would like the successful candidate to join us from Summer 2026.

The V&A

The V&A is the world’s leading museum of art and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects, books and archives that span over 5,000 years of human creativity. The museum holds many of the UK's national collections and houses some of the greatest resources for the study of architecture, furniture, fashion, textiles, photography, sculpture, painting, jewellery, glass, ceramics, book arts, Asian art and design, theatre and performance.

Our mission is to be recognised as the world's leading museum of art, design and performance, and to enrich people's lives by promoting research, knowledge and enjoyment of the designed world to the widest possible audience. We strive to make the V&A matter to more people and in that context we work to the following six strategic objectives:

• To create a world class visitor and learning experience across all V&A sites and collections.
• Focus and deepen the relevance of our collections to the UK creative and knowledge economy.
• Expand the V&A's international reach, reputation and impact.
• To operate with financial and organisational initiative and efficiency.
• Showcase the best of digital design and deliver an outstanding digital experience.
• Diversify and increase private and commercial funding sources.

The Benefits

Benefits

Generous pension scheme

29 days plus bank holidays

Flexible working​

Tickets to V&A exhibitions

Subsidised staff canteen

25% discount in V&A shops

Give as you earn scheme

Bicycle loan

ED&I at The V&A

At the V&A, we are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) for all and strive to go above and beyond public duty placed upon us by the Equality Act 2010. As such, we are delighted to share that we are a Disability Confident Employer Level 2. The V&A makes the following commitments to all applications:

• The Disability Confident Employer scheme offers guaranteed interviews – Interviewing applicants with a disability who successfully evidence the essential criteria on a person specification and consider them on their abilities;
• Providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process.
• Making reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process so disabled job applicants have the best opportunity to demonstrate that they can do the job.
• Supporting employees and adjustments during employment.

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Published

a day ago

Closing

in a month

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