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If you're interested in a career in the performing arts, this course will give you all the skills and preparation you need. With a studio-based approach to the study of contemporary performance, the course focuses on current practice in cutting-edge theatre, dance and performance. Throughout the degree you'll have the opportunity to work as a director, actor, dancer, choreographer and project leader. The course aims to create innovative graduates, who are able to adapt their skills to different professional performance contexts.
Performance is at the heart of all learning and assessment, and our approach develops articulate, skilled and knowledgeable practitioners. At stage one, you'll develop a common vocabulary for your studies across dance and theatre, culminating in an end-of-year performance. At stage two, you'll apply this knowledge to both the development of choreographic practice and a full-scale production of a dramatic text. At stage three, you'll undertake an independent research project, alongside advanced study of performing, directing, choreography and community performance practice. How to work as a professional in the performing arts industry underpins practical elements of the course across all three stages.
As a graduate in Performing Arts, you'll have the opportunity to progress to careers in acting, dance performance, teaching, small-scale touring, arts management, community arts and educational outreach and technical theatre production. Performing Arts graduates also have the opportunity to pursue Master's or PGCE study and research.
Students also have the chance to work towards a NCFE Level 1 Certificate in Technical Theatre, enabling you to gain formal recognition of your skills and an additional qualification, alongside your academic studies.
During this course you will:
Areas of study you may cover on this course include:
As a student on Performing Arts you will be assessed on your development as an interdisciplinary practitioner within the following, broad, categories:
You will undertake a range of assessment tasks under each of these headings. A Written Assessment may be a formal essay or it may be a piece of professional writing such as a Funding Application, or a draft CV. A Practical Presentation could be a full scale production but it could also be a workshop for a client group, or a site-specific piece of work. In every unit you will be assessed across more than one activity, for example, a Production unit will require that you are assessed as a performer but the assessment may also consist of a practical presentation seminar and a reflective journal either in written, or e-form, a theory-based unit will require you to demonstrate and articulate your understanding of theory in a formal essay, but it will also consist of a seminar presentation in which you explore theory in practice.
Each of these categories includes research as a foundational condition for all elements of the course. Whilst the contexts within which these broad categories are assessed will differ, the generic qualities subsumed within each of them will appear consistently in your assessment criteria. At each level of study it is expected that your response to assessment tasks will become more sophisticated as your skill and subject knowledge develops; the level of study will be reflected in the level of response required by assessment criteria.
At each level of study you will be asked to participate in formative assessment procedures which require you to consider and grade your own work against the agreed assessment criteria. This allows you to reflect upon your own practice, with tutors, and to take responsibility for acknowledging areas of strength and weakness in your work. Wherever you feel that your work could be strengthened you will be offered appropriate professional support to facilitate this.
You will receive detailed feedback on all your work, both written and practical. In all cases this will be in the form of a written feedback sheet which you should read carefully and if necessary, discuss further with the tutor who has written it. It is your responsibility to follow up on any recommendations within the feedback although you can always seek advice from the marking tutor. In some instances where the assessment has included a period of practical preparation you will be given detailed verbal feedback on your work as well as written.
Your training as an interdisciplinary practitioner is at the core of the degree course and the professional qualities which accompany this training are articulated and embedded in the assessment criteria. The emphasis placed upon your professional identity recognizes the requirements of your chosen field of employment.
Team working is fundamental to the study of Performing Arts and throughout your time as a student you will constantly be asked to work in groups of varying sizes and to consider the skills needed in order to operate effectively in this context. One of the most important elements of team work in an understanding of the level of dependency involved in the process of rehearsal or collaboration, and the attendant responsibilities this implies for each individual member of the team. From the moment you arrive as a student you will be working in collaboration with others and issues of responsibility, trust, and flexibility will be addressed as central to your academic, professional and creative development.
At each Level of the degree you will be required to work with others either in the preparation of a seminar, a presentation of performance piece, a devised or choreographed piece, or a reflection upon the work of others. At Level 1 group tasks will be structured by the tutors; as the course progresses you will be given more independence in the development of structures which suit the particular requirements of the task. Each year you will undertake a full production and a series of smaller creative projects each requiring different approaches and group structures.
You will sometimes be assessed as a member of a group and at other times for your individual input to the group.
Throughout the first two years of your Performing Arts degree you will be introduced to, and required to practice, the professional standards and values integral to your discipline. In each unit you will be encouraged to think of yourself as a practitioner applying yourself to the acquisition of skills, ideas and techniques which will develop your practice. You will also maintain Progress Files throughout this time; these allow you to chart your progress academically and practically by creating clear records of your achievements, self-evaluation documents, and action plans. You should consider your Progress Files to be the foundation for your developing CV and portfolio.
The Performing Arts degree embraces the philosophy of SOAR, the University of Bedfordshires student centred process of integrating personal, academic and career development. SOAR is an acronym representing the dynamic relationships between Self, Opportunity, Aspirations, and Results.
The development of self-awareness is integral to your development as a student and professional on the degree, at the beginning of each year you will undertake a skills audit with both a Student Support tutor, and a Careers tutor. This will allow you to think realistically about the skills you are acquiring through your studies, and those which need to be addressed or supplemented. In addition to this you will receive regular, detailed feedback on all your assessment tasks and you will be given regular opportunities to discuss this feedback with your tutors in one-to-one or group tutorials. These tutorials allow you to eflect upon your performance in relation to the relevant assessment criteria. In this way, self evaluation and critical reflection upon your skills becomes an intrinsic part of the assessment process.
Throughout your university career you will be made aware of opportunities to develop yourself and your career. At the beginning of the course you will attend an induction to the universitys Centre for Personal and Career development, and you will be made aware of the support services they can offer, such as information on career paths, postgraduate studies, one-to-one careers advisory sessions, online tools to develop your career management skills, CV writing and job searches. In your third year you will be given the option to take a unit in Professional Practice which will help you to prepare for employment beyond university. The unit provides a structured series of workshops on CV writing, applying for work, preparing proposals of work, speculative approaches to prospective employers, and starting up a small-scale company. In addition to this you will have the opportunity to use your skills within community contexts, and to participate in one off workshops with client groups as well as sustained periods of work with groups outside the university environs. The unit will be enhanced by a series of talks given by a range of professionals working in the Creative Industries.
Throughout the three years of your degree you will continually be invited, through the full range of units taken, to clarify, test, decide and implement aspirations both for the present and the future. You will be given increasing responsibility throughout your second and third years for the management of creative projects and in both these years you will participate in the five week student festival showcase. Project management will provide you with valuable skills in relation to your own career aspirations, and help you to plan your approach not only to your academic work but also to your career management.
Your final year as a Performing Arts student allows you to test your skills in a range of contexts, and to evaluate your results in relation to your aspirations. You will place your work before a public audience, prepare and facilitate workshops in the community, manage a research project for your dissertation, and present contemporary work in progress before your peers and tutors. Year 3 gives you the opportunity to specialize by creating your own programme of work from the units offered. This allows you to think carefully about the kind of practitioner you wish to be and the kind of work you would want to pursue beyond university.
On completing this course you are likely to progress into the following areas:
Further study:
A foundation degree will be of particular interest if you have completed a Modern Apprenticeship, vocational A levels, BTEC National or equivalent.
Foundation degrees are also particularly suitable if you want to qualify while working.
Many students studying for foundation degrees come to us through work-based routes so you can apply for a foundation degree even if you don’t have traditional academic qualifications.
We welcome applicants with relevant work experience.
We will consider you as an individual and take into account all elements of your application, not just your qualifications. We are looking for both breadth and depth in your current studies as well as enthusiasm for the subject you wish to study.
The general requirement is one of the following:
As a general guide, to apply for a place on an undergraduate course (BA/BSc) at the University you need to have completed your high school education and have the required English qualification.
We have students from all the European Union member countries so we are quick to make decisions on most qualifications.
(Please note that applicants on a full student visa are not eligible for part-time study)
We recommend that you apply directly to the University where possible, as this allows us to offer the quickest turnaround time for your application.
Please read the Direct application instructions before completing the course application form.
Application forms for accommodation in the student halls at Bedford campus and Luton campus are available in the Student life section
APL is available for international students applying for undergraduate (Bachelor degree) study. Please do not use this APL form to apply for postgraduate courses.
Use the APL form to tell us about any non-standard qualifications and/or work experience you have that you think should be taken into consideration with your application. `
The APL form should be submitted at the same time as the course application form.
We regret we are unable to process APL forms from students who have not submitted a formal course application form.
Return your completed application to:
University of Bedfordshire
International Admissions
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
LU1 3JU
United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)1582 489326 (non-EU Students)
F: +44 (0)1582 743469
E: international-admissions@beds.ac.uk
The course welcomes students with disabilities. During the application process disabled students discuss their needs with individual members of the academic staff, as well as staff from the Disability Advice Team. It has normally been the case that disability has not provided an obstacle to students participating fully in the practical aspects of coursework.
The Disability Advice Team is available to discuss any issues students may have and can provide services such as sign language interpreters, note takers, dyslexia screening / tuition and support with mobility on campus. They offer confidential advice and information about academic and personal issues, adjustments in examinations, applying for the Disabled Students' Allowances (DSA) and buying suitable equipment.
You will improve your chances of employment by:
Communication
To help with the development of this you will:
Participate in a range of activities requiring you to communicate verbally, in written forms, through movement text, and in e-forms. Additionally those who are diagnosed with a need for extra support with writing and communications skills development may be required to take extra sessions provided by the University.
Technique and Skills:
These modes of study on your degree will introduce you to a vocabulary specific to your chosen field. The skills and techniques you develop will allow you to communicate clearly and articulately both with audiences and with each other. The range of skills and techniques developed over the three years of your degree will prove a valuable resource for making work, and for application of your work to non-specialist contexts.
Performance Work:
Throughout your three years of study you will be involved in a range of performance work created for different audiences (Foundations for Performance, Production Processes, Contemporary European Performance, Staging New Writing). You will be required to utilize the skills and techniques you are acquiring in order to develop a piece for performance. At times you will be required to work in small groups towards the development of a performance from a given stimulus (Turning Points). At Level 3 you will be given the opportunity to communicate your skills to groups unfamiliar with them (Professional Practice). In each of the three years you will reflect upon the process of developing and evaluating your work and the work of others in Creative Notebooks.
Interdisciplinary Theory:
Your introduction to interdisciplinary theory will help you to develop your skills as an academic researcher in order to enable you to articulate ideas and theoretical perspectives in written and practical form. At Level 1 you will consider the historical context for interdisciplinary studies and be introduced to the academic disciplines of researching and presenting your material. (Introduction to Movements in Performance) At Level 2 you will consider the cultural context out of which performance arises and interrogate the complex relationship between theory and practice (Theoretical Approaches to Performance). At Level 3 you will undertake and manage a research project (in the form of dissertation or practice as research) which will involve a lengthy written submission on a topic of your choice (Performance as Research).
Professional Practice:
Throughout your three years of study you will be encouraged to keep detailed records of your work as a performer in your Progress Files; these records will eventually form the basis of your CV and professional portfolio. At Level 3 you will have the option to take a unit devoted to the development of your professional identity in preparation for your work beyond university (Professional Practice). In this unit you will hone the communication skills necessary to articulate yourself professionally (eg. Your aims, your skills, your experience) in appropriate forms.
Information Literacy
To help with the development of this you will:
Participate in workshops, tutorials and developmental workshops in order to familiarize yourself with a wide range of resources that can support your studies.
Technique and Skills:
Your practical acquisition of techniques and skills will be supplemented, at all levels, by research into the source and context out of which they emerge. At Level 1 you will be given structured research tasks in order to aid the generation of material for discussion and presentation. At Level 2 you will be expected to be more independent in the acquisition and management of your research material and at Level 3 you will take responsibility for using the library resources to locate and acquire relevant materials.
Performance Work:
The generation of material to aid the production of performance work includes the sourcing of literary texts, visual materials, audio material and electronic data. The varied nature of the work undertaken by Performing Arts students in the context of performance will require of you a developing sophistication in the resourcing of materials using databases, IT resources, books, DVDs and web-based material. You will be encouraged to work closely with the Specialist Librarian in order to maximize the potential offered by the wide range of resources in the library.
Interdisciplinary Theory:
At Level 1 you will be introduced to the library resources in workshops embedded in Introduction to Movements in Performance. A series of project-based tasks will ensure that you feel confident using the library catalogue, BREO, databases, search engines and reference resources available through the internet. You will also be introduced to the assessment of source material as an integral component of your research. All your units will make use of BREO in the posting of resources and the use of blogs, group pages, wikis and course announcements. In Level 2 you will be expected to work more independently and confidently with the library resources at your disposal. You will be expected to source materials above and beyond the unit reading lists, and to undertake methodical literature searches as part of your research process. You will provide annotated bibliographies for essays and be familiar with a range of research resources appropriate to the study you are undertaking. At Level 3 you will plan and submit a dissertation based on a topic of your choice (Performance as Research).
Professional Practice:
Alongside your academic research you will be utilizing your skills to explore your employment options, and familiarizing yourself with the networks, funding opportunities and organizations, knowledge of which will be fundamental to your success in your career beyond university (Professional Practice).
Research and Evaluation
To help with the development of this you will:
Undertake a range of research tasks either within the context of developing your academic or practical knowledge.
Skills and Techniques:
The knowledge of skills and techniques as a practitioner is dependent upon a practical and academic exploration of them. You will be required to undertake research as part of your development of your practical vocabulary as a practitioner. At Level 1 you will be given clear guidance as to the reading you should undertake. At Level 2 you will be expected to work more independently as a researcher, acknowledging the interdependence of practice and theory in your work (Production Processes, New Media).
Performance Work:
In Year 2 you would be expected to work more independently in considering and initiating appropriate areas of research and managing its process, with tutorial support. At Level 3 you will have more freedom in choosing either the stimulus or text out of which your work will emerge and this will necessitate a greater degree of independence in selecting, sourcing and applying appropriate research material (Dance Technique and Choreography 3, Staging New Writing).
Interdisciplinary Theory:
At Level 1 you will be introduced to a range of study skills in Introduction to Movements in Performance which you will be required to practice in different contexts across the units. The research tasks you will encounter across the degree will vary according to the type of work you are undertaking and so you will need to be adept at understanding the skills involved in sourcing, selecting and utilizing appropriate material. Your research skills will be supplemented in Theoretical Approaches to Performance at Level 2, and you will begin to take responsibility for research as a process of enquiry. At Level 3 you will undertake a major research project.
Professional Practice:
The development of your Progress Files will encourage you to evaluate your academic development at key stages in your career as a student. As a result of your evaluation you will be encouraged to develop an action plan for the following year. At Level 3 you may opt to take Professional Practice which will give you the opportunity to engage in detailed research concerning your career aspirations.
Creativity and Critical Thinking
To help with the development of this you will:
Undertake a range of activities which will both prove foundational and developmental to your creative practice and critical thinking.
Skills and Techniques:
A thorough knowledge of the skills and vocabulary which define your field of study is fundamental to creative practice within your field of study. Throughout your three years as an undergraduate you will develop a comprehensive understanding of the skills and techniques which underpin and define your practice. At Levels 2 and 3 you will be encouraged the reflect critically upon your own development in this area and to set yourself goals for your achievement.
Performance Work:
In all your performance work you will be required to apply your skills and techniques to a creative process. This will involve problem-solving, decision making, team work, collaboration, preparation and organization of material. Throughout your three years you will have the opportunity to repeat this process in a number of different contexts, and with increased responsibility.
Interdisciplinary Theory:
A developmental understanding of theory and its application to practice enables you to develop your critical understanding of your subject area. You will be given a range of theoretical perspectives throughout Levels 1 and 2 which will facilitate a rigorous questioning of both your own practice and that of contemporary practitioners working in the field. At Level 3 you will locate a research question as the starting point for your dissertation.
Professional Practice:
Throughout Levels 1 and 2 you will be encouraged to reflect critically upon your own development practically and academically through your Progress Files. At Level 3 you will have the opportunity to consider and reflect upon the skills base you have amassed, and to consider ways in which your skills can be utilized professionally within a range of contexts.
Throughout your three years on the Performing Arts course you will be encouraged to manage your process of learning in collaboration with tutors, support services and peers. Verbal and written feedback on your work is a regular feature of the course and this will occur within practical sessions, seminars and at assessment points. As a practitioner you will be helped to respond actively to feedback given on your work, and to give feedback to others which promotes active response. After all practical assessments you will be given detailed feedback on your individual input / performance. In written work you will be encouraged to read your own and peers work critically, in draft form, as a means of improving it. You will then be given detailed written feedback and the opportunity of discussing this with the marking tutor. Tutors will be explicit where they feel that you would benefit from the range of services offered by PADS.
Throughout Level 1 you will be introduced to foundational Study Skills for your subject area. In Introduction to Movements in Performance you will be given strategies for reading effectively, and critically, managing your independent study time, and structuring the process of essay writing through planning, draft form, proof reading and final product. In all your practical units you will work within models of practice that allow you to receive frequent feedback from your tutor and your peers. You will also develop skills in offering constructive feedback to your peers and critically evaluating your own performance. The ability to give and receive constructive feedback is considered central to your process of learning in Performing Arts and continuous attention is given to the development of skills which enable this. This programme of embedded study skills continues at Level 2 in Theoretical Approaches to Performance and in the increasingly sophisticated levels of practical assessment across the units.
On arrival at the university you will be allocated a Personal Tutor who will meet regularly with you throughout your first year of study. These sessions will allow you to review the grades you receive throughout the year and consider ways in which you can improve your skills through taking advantage of the services offered by PADS.
In your first year of study you will be introduced to the use of Progress Files through meetings with your Personal Tutor. The Progress File is a document charting your development as a student; it is made up of three parts:
Your Personal Tutor will guide you through the initial stages of preparing your Progress File, for example, after your first set of assessments you will have a tutorial which will give you the opportunity to reflect on your grades and consider ways in which you might improve specific skills and/or build on the strengths demonstrated. Much of the material for your Progress File will be generated through your work in Performing Arts which will include digital records as well as paper ones.
After Level 1 it will be your responsibility to maintain your Progress File but you will be supported in this by the generation of appropriate materials in units throughout the degree course.
Professional values and standards are central to study and employability in the field of the Performing Arts. In order to develop an appropriate professional attitude we expect of students:
The development of professional attitude and values is fundamental to your work as an interdisciplinary practitioner. It is embedded in all the units you will take it impacts on all your skills and production assessments.
Throughout your studies at Level 1 you will be introduced to the professional standards which are expected of you in each area of the work you undertake. You will be required to apply these standards consistently across technique classes, small group projects and full-scale production work. At Level 2 it is expected that you will regulate your own work in relation to professional standards and feedback will comment upon this element of your work.
At Level 3 you will find yourself in contact with groups from outside the university and the professional standards you bring to this work will determine, to a large extent, the quality of experience you have as a practitioner. Increasingly, over the three levels you will be required to manage your own learning and this requires a sophisticated level of self and group management, built on a shared set of professional values and standards.
