Masters Degrees in Dance Theatre, United Kingdom

This course will enable you to enhance your expertise in physical theatre through working with professional performers (this year from the Jasmin Vardimon Company) within the university context.

Throughout the course, you will have the opportunity to participate in independent and group-based practical projects, and to experientially and critically explore the methodological, historical and theoretical parameters of physical theatre. You will have the opportunity to produce solo and small group performances with an emphasis on integrating dance and theatre practice.

This is a stand alone continuing professional development course. On successful completion, suitably qualified students may apply to undertake two further modules from the MA Theatre (Physical Theatre and Performance) to complete a Master’s degree.

See the website https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/dramaandtheatre/coursefinder/pgcertphysicaltheatrefordancersandactors.aspx

Why choose this course?

- The practical teaching for 2010 - 2011 will be undertaken by highly skilled and experienced members of the Jasmin Vardimon Company, renowned for groundbreaking work in physical theatre.

- The teaching group is capped at 15 and we actively encourage a mixed group of actors and dancers to share their professional skills in the class context.

- The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) shows strong results for the Department with the majority of our research activities ranked as world-leading ( 4*) or internationally excellent ( 3*).

- The Department fosters an excellent research environment and supports an active population of postgraduate and doctoral students. The topics taught reflect the research excellence of the course faculty and our distinctive commitment to fostering critically-informed practice.

- The Department is well resourced with three distinctive and divergent performance spaces: the Studio, the Boilerhouse Theatre, and the Handa Noh Theatre.

Department research and industry highlights

- The Department has strong links with a range of theatre companies, organisations and practitioners and regularly invites visiting speakers and practitioners to work with students.

- There are a number of active research groups in the Department that organise a range of activities each year addressing specific subject areas and research questions.

- Members of the academic staff are leading researchers in the field of theatre and performance practice.

Course content and structure

The course will consist of eight intensive weekend workshops and a full-time week in June and will cover the following:
- the practice of physical theatre in relation to the techniques utilised by a chosen performance company
- practical methods and skills of creating physical theatre work as a creator, a performer or a creative viewer
- how to move into a new area of work, namely dance theatre, by introducing new techniques that combine vocal, kinaesthetic and visual skills and responses.

On completion of the course graduates will have:
- developed insight into the practice of a chosen physical theatre company

- understood how a performer might use dance and voice skills to develop an independent creative response

- participated in research into new ways of creating physical dance theatre work

- evaluated and reflected on dance theatre performance and practice

- worked with video, set or props to understand how visual language can bring another dimension to dance theatre work.

Assessment

Assessment is primarily through practice, including a short solo piece and a longer final group project (70%). Constructive critical reflection and analysis of each practical project will be examined through a short viva for the solo and a written portfolio and performance critique for the final project (3,000 – 3,500 words).

Employability & career opportunities

This taught postgraduate certificate is designed as a stand alone qualification to enhance professional level performance skills and is the equivalent of the two practical modules in the MA Theatre (Physical Theatre and Performance). Suitably qualified candidates may apply to continue their studies by undertaking the two other modules on the MA.

How to apply

Applications for entry to all our full-time postgraduate degrees can be made online https://www.royalholloway.ac.uk/studyhere/postgraduate/applying/howtoapply.aspx .

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A double achievement: the rigorous challenges of a real life dance company and the demands of an MA. Become the best dancer you can be and develop the advanced skills you need to work in today's professional arts environment. Trinity Laban's Transitions was the world's first graduate dance company and it has since acquired an outstanding reputation for technical excellence and originality; it offers you a bridge to the professional world while you study for a highly respected Masters. Your critical reflections and dissertation are embedded within the programme so that you achieve your MA within 13 months.

Please note: the MA Dance Performance is embedded within the Transitions Dance Company experience. You will need to be accepted into the company as a pre-requisite to applying for this programme.

Visit the website: http://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/study/dance/postgraduate-programmes/ma-dance-performance-transitions-dance-company

Programme Information

Transitions Dance Company has gained an international reputation for the technical excellence of its dancers and the originality of the work it performs. This programme will give you the opportunity to work with outstanding international choreographers, culminating in an international tour. In the past, choreographers have included Rui Horta, Liz Aggis, Della Davidson, Yolande Snaith, Lea Anderson, Mark Murphy, Jamie Watton, Jasmin Vardimon and Jan De Schynkel.

As a member of Transitions Dance Company, you will work within a professional company environment, taking daily advanced level classes in both contemporary dance and classical ballet. These will be supported by classes in fitness and somatic techniques. You will work with professional performers and dance educators, rehearse repertory pieces, and actively engage with professional choreographers in the creation of new works. The company tours nationally and internationally, giving you a professional performance experience in a diverse and challenging repertory.

Programme Content

This challenging experience will help you grow into a performer who will contribute effectively and creatively to the profession, not only as a practitioner but as an articulate advocate for performance and performance practice. By advancing your skills, you'll have the opportunity to formulate a deeper understanding of the technical and artistic complexities inherent in performance. You'll be encouraged to critically reflect on your development in the studio and in wider theoretical contexts.

The taught element comprises the following modules:

M-502 Research Methods
M-521 Advanced Technical Practice
M-522 The Performer in the Creative Process
M-523 Dance Performance
M-505 Project

The Project (M505), which you undertake following your time with Transitions, may take the form of a lecture-demonstration, a written dissertation, or a practice-based project with supporting documentation.

See the Programme Specification on our website for further details.

Progression Routes

Transitions is constantly evolving to reflect changes in the dance scene, ensuring alumni are quickly employed. Recent MAP graduates have performed with Lost Dog, Michael Clark Company, Ballet Boyz, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre amongst others, as well as making and performing in their own work.

How to apply: http://www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/study/how-to-apply/dance-applications

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Whether you are an established choreographer intent on refining and hot-housing your practice, a dance artist looking to retrain or a recent graduate from a performance-related subject, this course will give you the opportunity to find new and innovative ways to produce exciting choreography.

A range of modules will allow you to explore your practice and create a bespoke programme of study that allows you to interrogate your artistic interests and make several new pieces of choreography. You will engage with the latest academic research and insights and learn how to apply this to real-world situations, developing the skills to respond to a brief, curate inventive work for festivals and events, and to collaborate on or initiate interdisciplinary and experimental projects.

You will explore traditional and alternative settings for dance and performance, from the studio and theatre to galleries and museums, and you will have the opportunity to work with groups in the community developing new choreographic methods that may require participatory, immersive or specialised collaborative approaches.

You will share ideas and experiences with fellow students from a range of backgrounds, collaborating, critiquing and engaging with each other's choreographic identity.

Visit the website https://courses.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/MCHOR/

Mature Applicants

Our University welcomes applications from mature applicants who demonstrate academic potential. We usually require some evidence of recent academic study, for example completion of an access course, however recent relevant work experience may also be considered. Please note that for some of our professional courses all applicants will need to meet the specified entry criteria and in these cases work experience cannot be considered in lieu.

If you wish to apply through this route you should refer to our University Recognition of Prior Learning policy that is available on our website (http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/studenthub/recognition-of-prior-learning.htm).

Please note that all applicants to our University are required to meet our standard English language requirement of GCSE grade C or equivalent, variations to this will be listed on the individual course entry requirements.

Careers

Your career opportunities will be varied and personal to your ambitions as a choreographer. You could go on to further develop your specialism and find your identity as a professional choreographer, work as an independent artist leading your own work or responding to commissions, or you could become the artistic director of a company. Your course will also prepare you to lead on community projects or take up roles such as festival programmer or festival producer. You could also work as a dance critic or movement director.

Careers advice:
The dedicated Jobs and Careers team offers expert advice and a host of resources to help you choose and gain employment. Whether you're in your first or final year, you can speak to members of staff from our Careers Office who can offer you advice from writing a CV to searching for jobs.

Visit the careers site - https://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/employability/jobs-careers-support.htm

Course Benefits

You will be taught by a small, dedicated dance team of industry professionals who perform, create and write alongside teaching. They are engaged with leading choreographers, dance companies and festivals nationally and internationally, and their insights will feed into your learning. Professional curators, producers, choreographers and dramaturgs will be invited to share their experiences and inspire your learning.

You will have access to our dance studios at Headingley Campus and black box spaces at City Campus, as well as studios at Northern Ballet and Yorkshire Dance. All of these spaces are of a professional standard and will allow you to explore working in a range of settings and atmospheres. We will also encourage you to explore alternative spaces such as galleries, museums and the outdoors as venues for your work.

Beth Cassani

Senior Lecturer

"Watching choreographers push their ideas and challenge their practice as postgraduate students is fascinating and exciting. I feel privileged to be directly involved in fostering choreographic talent and supporting the critical development of the artists who will shape the choreography of the future."

An independent choreographer, Beth is a specialist in contemporary practices and in mentoring emerging artists. Beth has created commissioned work for Scottish Dance Theatre and Company Chameleon. She has taught company class for DV8, Phoenix Dance Theatre and Swedish Dance Theatre amongst others. Her awards include a National Critics’ Choice award, a Herald Angels award and the Peter Darrell Choreographic Award.

Facilities

-Beckett dance studios
Our Leeds Beckett performance spaces include dance studios at Headingley Campus and black box spaces at City Campus.

-Yorkshire dance studios
You will also work in the dance studios at Yorkshire Dance, based in the centre of Leeds.

-Northern Ballet studios
As a choreography student, you will work alongside two professional dance companies and benefit from the facilities at Northern Ballet and Phoenix Dance Theatre's centre for dance.

Find out how to apply here - http://www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/postgraduate/how-to-apply/

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The MA Choreography and Professional Practices programme invites students to examine innovative and experimental approaches to choreographic practice, research and scholarship. It provides you with time and space to explore choreographic dance practices and methods of research, experimentation and innovation i.e. improvisation methods / techniques, somatic approaches, developing new movement vocabularies, collaboration and devising to develop your own artistic voice.

The MA Choreography and Professional Practices draws on expertise from a number of professionals within the dance industry and is delivered in close relationship with a national dance agency, South East Dance based close by, in Brighton.

The degree incorporates opportunities for engaging in Continuing Professional Development opportunities such as workshops, career planning, master classes and residencies alongside the development of your own choreographic skills.

The MA offers an introduction to research methods in the arts and to strategies for documenting live performance practice and promoting your work to wider audiences.

It provides opportunities to pursue live performance practices as a choreographer and to consider how your work is situated in relation to the wider field of professional contemporary dance practice.

It allows for you to develop your own artistic voice and to explore single discipline or interdisciplinary practice-based arts research projects involving choreography, performance, fine art, music, installation, and so forth – led by you and your interest in performance making.

The MA is designed to cater both for students who wish to develop their dance-making skills in order to further their careers as reflective practitioners, and as a foundation programme for those hoping to pursue practical and/or theoretical research at M.Phil or Ph.D level.

For the award of the MA you need to attain 180 credits at Level 7 including the Dissertation module.

The MA Dissertation project can involve practical performance and or written work determined by your needs as a performance researcher and maker.

Course fees for 2017

1 Year full time including dissertation £8460.00.

There is an Alumni Discount of 10% for students applying within five years of completion of an undergraduate course at Chichester.

Our facilities
At Chichester, we teach in small groups and pride ourselves on the quality of the learning environment we have created for our students. The Dance courses are delivered on our Bishop Otter Campus where the Learning Resource Centre (LRC) is the hub of your learning environment. It has two upper floors of library resources with dedicated areas for silent work or group study, while on the ground floor you will find the Support and Information Zone, Media Centre, Otter Gallery, Costa Coffee and a variety of IT resources. There are over 130 open access PC workstations, 45 Apple IMacs and ample printing and media facilities. A state-of-the-art wireless network offers fast internet as well as access to all our online resources. You will also have a dedicated subject librarian who will be available to help you access all the library resources you need for your course, both on the shelves and online.
Our Dance facilities include four superb dance studios, a fully equipped 250-seat theatre and a 110-seat studio theatre.

Where this can take you
The MA in Choreography and Professional Practices will equip you for a range of careers in choreography, performing arts, dance development, arts administration, performance, teaching or dance research.
It will also prepare you for further study i.e. PhD or professionally-related qualifications.

Work placements
The programme has an industry-facing identity facilitated through the relationship with South East Dance, the region’s dance development agency, and you will be able to draw on the skills and expertise arising from this partnership.

The programme includes opportunities for presenting your work at choreographic platform sharings, participating in artist networking opportunities, developing your marketing, fundraising and ‘pitching’ / presentation skills.

Guest lecturers will introduce you to issues affecting dance employment, and your learning is supported by individual tutorials and group meetings to discuss your progress.

Indicative modules
Choreographic Practices
Artist as Producer
Dissertation (practical and written components)
Optional Modules
Choose one from
New Media and Performance Practices
The Body in Site distance learning module over the summer period
Technique for Performance
Writing and Performance
Performing Politics
N.B. This list is indicative not all optional modules will be available in any one academic session.

Teaching and Assessment
The Dance department is a leading provider of excellence in dance education and draws on the expertise of the teaching team. The team is made up of international professional dancers, choreographers, researchers, writers and directors. Each member of the team is renowned for his or her theoretical and practical expertise. You’ll work with, and learn from, a wealth of professional specialist tutors whose backgrounds stem from highly respected performance companies.
As an MA student you will have access to the lively arts research culture at the University including: regular full programmes of research presentations given by staff, web-based learning, research students and visiting artists/researchers, performances by visiting artists/companies, theatre trips to performance events, arts research training events and national arts conferences.

Learning is assessed using various methods chosen as the most appropriate for demonstrating achievement of the learning outcomes for each module. All modules are assessed by means of programme work in the form of practical choreography presentations, essays, reports, presentations, learning journals, portfolios, online tasks and group working.

Students are expected to carry out an independent research project on a topic relevant to the field of choreography. For this module students are supported through seminar sessions and tutorials during the two semesters so that they can develop research skills which are essential for lifelong learning, career flexibility; and for professional practice as well as for personal and professional development. In addition, students have the option to become involved in a number of collaborative projects through which they can, as part of the degree, develop project management, time management and interpersonal team work skills.

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* Subject to validation, 2017 entry

The only postgraduate award of its kind in the UK, the MA in Contemporary Popular Theatres is a part time, evening programme. This degree course is based at Liverpool Hope’s Creative campus which is near Liverpool City Centre and will draw on the expertise of resident staff at the University’s Dance, Drama and Performance Studies Department as well as guest lecturers and practitioners.

Liverpool Hope University’s MA in Contemporary Popular Theatres is aimed at postgraduate students with an interest in Contemporary British or Irish Popular Theatre. Students who have enjoyed the work of Lee Hall (Billy Elliott, The Pitmen Painters) or Dermot Bolger (Dublin Quarter) or Amanda Whittington (Be my Baby, Ladies Day) as well as the works of more established popular writers such as Willy Russell, Jim Cartwright and John Godber will find the course a unique opportunity for detailed study of underrepresented material.

Liverpool Hope University is privileged to have John Godber as a visiting Professor of Contemporary theatre, Professor Godber is best known for his innovative work in theatre – Bouncers, Teechers, Up n Under to name but three from the fifty-three plays produced to date. He has also written and directed a significant number of plays for television. Students on the MA will have an opportunity to meet Professor Godber as part of their programme.

The MA Contemporary Popular Theatre will focus on contemporary British and Irish popular theatre, analysing popular theatre productions and examining their historic context. It will investigate issues of excellence, access, regionalism, metropolitanism and the gendered nature of the popular. Distinctive features of the course will include the use of a wide range of research strategies to assist information retrieval in an under-represented area; a Special Topic module allowing some practical exploration and the impact of ‘Capital of Culture’ status on popular theatre production. Theatre visits will also be built into the programme.

The Award Director for the MA is one of very few academics researching and publishing in the field of popular theatre. Research is one of the strengths of the programme and students will be working alongside scholars who will be disseminating new material in this field.

The programme will begin with the year-long taught module, Contemporary Contexts which will look at aspects of cultural theory and aesthetics. This will run in parallel with the supervised Special Topic module and both will be assessed at the end of the first year. The Special Topic module will involve a small amount of practical work. The Dissertation module will be launched in the first year with the allocation of supervisors and the agreement of research areas and will be assessed at the end of the second year. The Regionalism module will consider aspects of Localism and will be taught and assessed in the second year.

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This new MA in Theatre and Performance Research will focus on preparation for research at MPhil/PhD level, while also enabling students to update their knowledge of contemporary trends in theatre and performance studies. It will draw on the existing academic strengths and international outreach of the department, and help students to develop theoretical insights into contemporary theatre and performance theories and practices in areas such as trauma and performance, political performance, interculturalism, dramaturgy, performance-making and historiography.

There are two core modules - Theoretical Thematics and Research Methods - and students may take a further two optional modules.

Additionally, all students undertake a written or practical dissertation as a part of their assessment. The School has a strong history of placing students in PhD programmes and a dynamic research culture. It also has a good relationship with Warwick Arts Centre, which provides regular performance events on campus.

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The MA Somatic Practices by Independent Research focuses on the study of somatic practices and somatically informed movement practices in a contemporary and historical context.

It offers practitioners a means of validating and accrediting their prior experience and professional training and an opportunity to develop and deepen critical understanding of specific somatic practices and how to conduct somatically informed research.

The programme will enable you to analyse, critique and articulate your somatic and/or movement practice in relation to current industry practices, protocols and conventions and situate your work within the U.K, European and North American field of somatics.

It offers practitioners a means of validating and accrediting their prior experience and professional training and an opportunity to develop and deepen their critical understanding of specific somatic practices and how to conduct somatically informed research.

In particular, the programme provides you with opportunities for developing an understanding of individual practice in relation to current trends, practices and opportunities within the wider fields of somatic and somatically informed movement practices.

For further information please contact Jane Bacon: [email protected]

Where this can take you
This course is suitable for you if you are a practitioner with 3 or more years of professional practice and/or a diploma in a somatic practice such as Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy (IBMT), Body-Mind Centreing, Somatic Experiencing, Feldenkrais Technique, Alexander Technique, Tamalpa Practice, Yoga, Skinner Releasing Technique.

It will offer you …

an opportunity to reflect on your professional practice and prior training
time to deepen your understanding of your professional skills through research and scholarship
Professional Development
deepening your ability to articulate what you do in written and spoken form
a stepping stone toward PhD study
You will develop skills in…

Problem solving
Creative and critical thinking
Working independently
Research and the articulation of that research in writing
It will give you…

A qualification that will aid your membership to the International Association of Somatic Educators Association or other professional training organisation
Preparation for further study i.e. PhD or professionally-related qualifications.
Indicative modules
This course consists of 2 modules. Prior to beginning the course you will have your prior professional learning accredited. This is done through an interview, the submission of a professional portfolio and an essay (for more details see ‘how to apply’ below).

Module 1: Somatically-informed Research Methodologies

Aims: This module aims to provide students with:

a solid grounding in research methods, which will be of value in postgraduate study in the study of somatics and body oriented research projects, and will facilitate students’ development as reflexive practitioners;
strategies for research that is somatically informed (or practiced);
strategies for research that are appropriate to the study of the body as subject (eg. phenomenology and heuristics which focus on lived experience rather than on an object of study)
an understanding of how somatic practices might fit within broader cultural and discipline contexts, debates and practices
Module 2: Somatic Practices Dissertation

Aims: This module aims to provide students with the opportunity to:

work independently on a substantial written research project of your choice;
further develop their research skills in an extended in-depth investigation;
produce self-reflexive innovative research presented in a scholarly and professional manner.
situate your research in a broad context of somatic and movement practices;
develop and apply appropriate somatically-informed research methodologies relevant to your research
develop theoretical insights and awareness of critical and/or philosophical concepts relevant to your research;
Teaching assessment
Assessed through a portfolio of prior work/training, the completion of a Research Methodologies module (30 credits) and a Dissertation module (60 credits), the programme addresses the needs of mature learners and professional movement practitioners who seek to extend and develop their professional learning through Masters study.

The M.A Somatic Practices by Independent Research degree offers Higher Education study to professionals who may not wish to engage with a taught programme of study but seek to validate their professional training and practice through accreditation of prior standing and through the completion of a Research methodologies module and through the completion of a Dissertation project developed through independent study.

The programme will be of interest to those who have completed professional training existing outside Higher Education (examples of such trainings in the UK and internationally include: Body-Mind CenteringÒ, Integrative Bodywork and Movement Therapy, Feldenkrais, Alexander, Skinner Releasing Technique) who seek flexibility of study.

The research methodologies module can be delivered in concert with the current MA Reflective Practice module and/or as a stand-alone module with flexible delivery (online, weekends, summer). Dissertation supervision will draw on existing staff research expertise and are normally delivered through a combination of face-to face tutorials, Skype, and email correspondence.

Applications & Course Pre-requisites
Application to the course is made by completing the online application form and completing the additional requirements as listed below. You will also be invited to attend an interview.

Your prior knowledge and skill as a somatic practitioner will be assessed prior to acceptance on the programme. This will take the form of an interview and the submission (prior to interview) of 1) a portfolio and 2) an essay.

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