MA Dance: Performance

Unit 1: Encounters (60 Credits)

This unit will focus on experiential learning through exposure to different processes of researching, creating and sharing dance performance. This will serve to establish a community of practice within the cohort, fostering a sense of belonging and developing a supportive peer group, alongside familiarising students with the demands of project work and the rigours of daily training experiences.

Students will explore methodologies for contributing to, and reflecting upon, devised performances, the learning of existing repertory and the use of improvisation skills in performance. These will be investigated through their application to modes of presentation to various audience contexts, both live and virtual. Students will be exposed to different performance mediums representative of established and emerging mediums of performance from the professional environment.

Students will critically investigate strategies for self-evaluation and peer feedback as methods for enriching intrinsic motivation and for the dissemination of their embodied research. These will be supported by practical classes for physical and mental preparation and seminars which explore discursive contexts and professional frameworks alongside seminars exploring theory and academic literature from the fields of Dance Science and Performance Psychology.

Unit 2: Contexts (60 Credits)

This unit will build on the experiential learning in the previous unit and continue to expose students to new collaborative processes for researching, devising, learning repertoire, improvising and will further interrogate how these processes modulate across contexts for performance. Students will be introduced to a range of mentors from across the professional sector and investigate how to initiate and resource self-directed research into performance experiences, resulting in a proposal for an actualisation portfolio project.

This unit will emphasise ongoing self-practice as the means by which the professional dance artist maintains and develops a base of technical proficiency and artistic availability. Students will be supported to lead sessions with the cohort sharing the development of their own personal practice as a means of exploring how to disseminate individual interests in training and skill building. Supplementary seminars will explore freelance skills of negotiating contracts and devising and managing budgets, network building and the development of multi-stranded communication and promotional skills.

Unit 3: Portfolio (60 Credits)

This unit will consolidate the learning from the previous units and enable the student to plan, realise and reflect upon a period of self-directed exploration into the career trajectories of contemporary dance performing artists. Together with support from the course team and an industry mentor the student will actualise a process through which they will investigate their own performance practice within a wider professional setting. They will initiate the communications support required for this independent exploration and resource the technical skills and training needed to support this process. The final presentation of a reflective portfolio and artistic manifesto will draw upon the previous encounters with performance alongside the consolidation and integration of the knowledge gathered through their independent process, and the student will explore modes and multimedia strategies for documenting, framing, and disseminating their experiential learning from these events.

The standard minimum entry requirements for this course are:

• BA (Hons) degree or equivalent academic qualifications

• Alternative qualifications and experience will also be taken into consideration

• Personal statement

If you don't meet the above requirements, you might still be considered with additional strengths or alternative evidence such as:

• Related academic or professional experience in in dance, film, arts, media, fine arts, performance, or similar field

• The quality of the personal statement

• A strong academic or other professional reference

• A combination of these factors

English language requirements

IELTS level 6.5 or above, with at least 5.5 in reading, writing, listening, and speaking

Student Visas

If you are an overseas student, you might require a Student Visa to study with us.

STAGE ONE - Application Form

You are required to complete our online application form where you input details about yourself, your educational and employment history, and a personal statement covering why you want to join the MA Dance: Performance programme. On this form you will also select your preferred location to attend an admissions workshop.

STAGE TWO - Admissions Workshop

You will then attend our one-day admissions workshop.

There are no recalls or cuts during our admissions workshops.

After the admissions workshop please allow up to 2 weeks to hear an outcome from our admissions team.

£12,950 – UK Home Fees
£24,500 – Overseas Fee

Find out more about our financial support for your studies.