Through its established professional development programme the studio provides an invaluable stepping stone into a professional context for recent graduates and further training opportunities for more established practitioners. A vibrant community of practitioners has gathered around the studio and made it their home – as part of the Associate Artist Scheme, residency and mentoring programmes, training workshops and community classes. DRS offers three innovative professional development programmes, The Speaking Dancer: Interdisciplinary Performance Training (SDIPT), Artist Residency Programme (ARP), and a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme taught and mentored by a prestigious faculty of experienced tutor/practitioners.

An outstanding faculty of international guest artists and academics contribute to the Professional Development programmes at DRS. Some have had a long term working relationship with the studio and helped to shape the ethos and content of the programme; others represent key partnerships with national and international academic institutions and arts organisations.

Guest tutors have included: Anne Bean (Installation and Performance artist), Sally E. Dean (Interdisciplinary & Somatic Practitioner), Fergus Early (Green Candle Dance Company), Rose English (Visual & Performance artist), Anna Furse (Performance artist & Director of MA Performance Making at Goldsmiths), Sylvia Hallett (Musician & Composer), Alexandrina Hemsley (Dance Artist/Project O), Esther Huss (Choreographer & Performance Artist), Jamila Johnson Small (Dance Artist/Project O), Tony Thatcher (Choreographer & Programme Leader, MA Choreography at Trinity Laban), Lily Susan Todd (Writer & Theatre Director) and Sally Williams (Performance & Artistic director of Sea Scape).