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University of Bedfordshire
Park Square
Luton
Bedfordshire
UK, LU1 3JU
Dance has existed as a subject area in Bedford since the early
Twentieth Century, and it continues to thrive to the present day, producing
graduates whose careers extend into professional performance practice,
education and teaching in a range of Further and Higher Education institutions,
and in schools and community contexts. Graduates have also gone one to explore areas
of advanced academic research, and management and administration in dance and
the creative industries.
At undergraduate level, dance is taught primarily through the BA (Hons) Dance and Professional Practice course, although students on the BA (Hons) Performing Arts course also engage with areas of dance practice including technique and choreography. At postgraduate level, the University is one of a select few UK institutions offering a specialist PGCE in Secondary Dance. A suite of Masters level courses are currently in development and are scheduled for a 2011 start, including; MA Dance Performance, MA Community Dance Leadership, and MSc in Dance Science.
The BA (Hons) Dance and Professional Practice course was developed in 2007, and has enjoyed strong growth and healthy application figures ever since. The course focuses primarily on your development as a skilled dance practitioner and as an independent, creative and entrepreneurial individual. It is studio-based and practice-led, emphasising engagement with current ideas, practice and debates in the subject through; performing, making, watching, questioning, writing and talking about dance!
Teaching and learning on the course focuses on the key areas of; dance technique, choreography, performance, improvisation, applied choreography, dance infrastructure and enterprise, critical and cultural analysis, and dance and media. Additionally, visiting speakers and lecturers from the national, regional and local dance industry contribute to learning and teaching on the course, adding currency and creating opportunities for you to build connections and networks in dance and in the wider creative industries. Strong and ongoing links with Youth Dance England, Arts Council England, Dance East National Dance Agency, Northants Dance Agency, Dance Digital, SCODHE, and local and regional professional venues, form part of this important dance network.
Dance in the University is housed in a suite of large and purpose-built dance studios, and in the 280–seat theatre, and theatre-studio. Additionally students have access to sports halls, gyms and movement laboratories. An extensive library collection of dance books and journals, and DVD recordings of dance, significantly adds to the culture of learning in the subject.
Dance staff have extensive professional experience as dancers, choreographers, artistic directors, educators and teachers, film-makers and community dance practitioners. Research in Dance at Bedford has a strong and vibrant culture, emphasizing practice-led activity in areas of performance, e-science, choreography and collaborative practice. Staff research is seen as central to developing and maintaining the excellent quality of teaching in the subject area. This is evidenced through the work of professional dance company Ersatz Dance (directed by Head of Department, Professor Helen Bailey) which has been based at the University since 1998, and which has received several large Arts Council, and Research Council funding awards for its professional and practice-led activity.
Additionally, the University is home to other staff-led research, education and professional work including; Two Thirds Sky and Bedfordshire Youth Dance Company (directed by Senior Lecturer Lisa Spackman), SHUNT Dance (directed by Lecturer Sadie Hunt), and Base Dance (directed by Lecturer Diccon Hogger).
Senior Lecturer and Course Leader, James Hewison, achieved national recognition in 2006 for his ongoing contribution to professional dance performance when he was awarded an Artist’s Sabbatical as part of the prestigious Arts Council England: Artist: Space/Time/Money award scheme.
Engagement with professional practice is central to the culture of dance in the University, and in this respect you will benefit from on-campus professional dance, music and theatre performance through seasons of programmed work in the University’s professionally equipped Theatre and Studio-Theatre spaces. You will have access to associated workshops from visiting companies and artists, and examples of recent such work includes; Nigel Charnock, Jonathon Burrows, Ultima Vez, Shobana Jeyasingh, KADAM, Julyen Hamilton, Walker Dance, Vincent Dance Theatre, Rosie Kay, New Art Club, Sarah Rubidge, Igloo, Henri Oguike, Mavin Khoo, Mark Murphy, Sonia Rafferty, Thea Barnes, Kerry Nicholls, Willi Dorner, Michael Joseph, Henry Montes, Marina Collard, State of Flux, and Retina Dance Company.
Additionally, you will be able to engage directly in the operation of the professional theatre seasons through voluntary roles in front-of-house, box-office and technical theatre. (Please visit: www.beds.ac.uk/theatre for more information on the theatre)
Wider access to dance in the University and in the local community is enhanced through a range of opportunities to engage in dance-related activity including; the University’s rolling programme of dance and performance Evening School classes, which offer extra-curricular training and education to students and to local professionals. Further, you are able to access intensive workshops linked to the professional theatre seasons, University summer schools, student-led Dance Societies and clubs, the University’s Gym and Fitness Centre, and open-classes in private and commercial dance schools in the area.
