Choreography and Performance - MRes

• An impressive national and global reputation which attracts students and dance artists from all over the world.
• Sustained professional artistic work supervised by artist-scholars who are working to challenge and support your choreographic and performance practices.
• There is a flexible timetable that helps experienced professional artists to choose the pathway that best fits their interests, experience and situation.
• We offer a wide range of modules that foster diverse artistic practices.
• Roehampton is rated No. 1 for dance research in the UK (Research Excellence Framework 2014).

Summary

This choreography and performance programme is designed for experienced professional dance and performance practitioners to understand practice as a form of research.

Deepen your choreographic or performance practice through studio-based enquiry and research informed by contemporary theoretical concerns. This programme has a flexible and supportive approach which makes it possible for you to strengthen your professional practices while working towards a higher degree.

‘Practice as research’ is a growing area for experienced dance artists, choreographers and performers who want to deepen their practice and strengthen their profile. Run by leading artist-scholars, the course supports enquiry through studio practice and research informed by contemporary theoretical concerns. You will be supported in the development and presentation of a comprehensive choreographic and/or performance portfolio. You will also gain a range of reflective and critical skills including writing and documentation strategies, advanced dramaturgy, and the capacity to understand and articulate your work and interests in broader political, cultural and artistic frameworks.

The Department is home to the internationally-recognised Centre for Dance Research, which foregrounds the research of dance as cultural and artistic expression as theatre performance and beyond. Through seminars, forums and conferences involving staff and international guests, the Centre supports a compelling research culture.

We also have excellent links with dance companies and creative organisations. In easy reach of London’s vibrant dance scene, the campus has superb studios and a state-of-the-art theatre for dance students.

Content

You will take the compulsory research methods module Ways of Knowing and one compulsory programme core module and there is flexibility built into the programme to modules that suit your interests.

In Ways of Knowing, a module shared with students of all dance postgraduate taught programmes, you will be introduced to research methods, including ethnography, dance analysis, and practice-as-research.

The Portfolio module is an independently led practice-as-research project that allows you to practice, think, reflect, and articulate and present your ideas and independent research.

Modules

Research method modules:

• Ways of Knowing

Optional modules:

• Project
• Anthropology of Dance
• Politics and Sociology of Dance
• Music and Dance
• The Performance of Heritage: Dance in Museums, Galleries and Historic Sites
• Classicism and Power
• Mediated Choreography
• People Moving, People Dancing
• History, Philosophy and Dance

Independent research module:

• Portfolio

Compulsory and Required modules

Compulsory and/or required modules may change when we review and update programmes. Above is a list of modules offered this academic year.

Optional modules

Optional modules, when offered as part of a programme, may vary from year to year and are subject to viability.

Career prospects

This course offers professional development for independent artists and choreographers. Some graduates follow careers in research, teaching and or go onto further academic study such as a practice-led PhD.

Visit the Choreography and Performance - MRes page on the University of Roehampton website for more details!