Performance Innovation Future
‘
...there is only one of you in the world, just one,
and if that is not fulfilled
’
then something has been lost.
Martha Graham
6. 10. 12. 14.
THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS THE ROSE THEATRE STUDYING PERFORMING ARTS
18. 20. 22. 24.
DRAMA DANCE DRAMA, PHYSICAL THEATRE AND DANCE DRAMA, PHYSICAL AND VISUAL THEATRE
26. 28. 30. 32.
DRAMA, MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGN FOR PERFORMANCE APPLIED PERFORMANCE RESEARCH: MA, MPhil & PhD
PAGE 4 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | WELCOME
Future of Performance Making the
Welcome to Edge Hill University Performing Arts Department, one of the fastest developing Performing Arts departments in the country.
PERFORMING ARTS | WELCOME PAGE 5
Edge Hill University Performing Arts Department is one of the fastest developing Performing Arts departments in the country. Established in 2003 and building upon the success of the long standing Drama Department, Performing Arts has gone from strength to strength. In six years we have gone from offering one Drama degree to moving into a purpose-built ÂŁ5million Centre for Performing Arts and from September 2009 offering seven undergraduate programmes in a variety of performance and technical disciplines, and our first MA programme. This rapid change is significant. It tells you something of the character of the department. We pride ourselves on embracing change and being forward looking. We are determined to build a department which is independently minded, offering courses which question the nature of performance, and make the creation of new performance a central feature of study. Our courses are intended to provide opportunities to develop and educate the performance innovators of the future. From 2010 the department enters a new and exciting phase of development. We will not only be starting our eighth undergraduate programme but also introducing a new approach to the delivery of courses with a curriculum founded on production or project based learning. You will have the opportunity to study intensively on production and performance projects allowing you to experience the nature of performance creation as it is found in the professional world. This type of learning experience will then form the basis of discussion and analysis and will enable you to develop a sophisticated ability in both practical and intellectual skills.
PAGE 6 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE
Spaces for Exploration
PERFORMING ARTS | THE PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE PAGE 7
The Performing Arts Centre A student performance practitioner needs quality rehearsal and performance spaces. Edge Hill University has invested in the creation of an excellent performance environment and the department is one of the best equipped in the sector. The Performing Arts Centre includes: The Rose Theatre (a 220 seat theatre), The Studio Theatre (140 seats), two dance studios and two further studios with fully sprung floors for both Dance and Physical Theatre, two black box drama studios, three rehearsal rooms, a fully equipped theatre construction workshop, a digital sound studio, digital design suite, two theatre design studios and costume construction area. There are also seminar rooms and a green room for relaxation and socialising. The Rose Theatre has its own bar and a full professional dance, comedy, music and theatre programme. These facilities are in demand in the region as well as in the University itself.
PAGE 8 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | YOUR CAMPUS
PERFORMING ARTS | YOUR CAMPUS PAGE 9
1. Performing Arts Centre Set in an attractive rural setting with opportunities for outdoor performance and site specific work. Students often rehearse and discuss work in the grounds in the Summer months. The Rose Theatre stages an annual outdoor professional production in the Rock Garden to the rear of the facility which is a sunken landscaped garden between The Rose Theatre and the Faculty of Health café. The building has two foyers which provide opportunities for promenade performances, readings and recitals.
2. Scene Dock Between the two theatres the department has a full set and design construction workshop. Scene doors open out on to both stages and there is a mezzanine area for small prop construction. A workshop technician oversees the operation of the area and there is a training programme for students whose programme requires making skills.
3. Dance Studio The department has access to three dance studios, two in the centre and one which is part of the university’s sporting facilities. The main centre Studio is a large airy space with spectacular views over the local countryside. The studio is in high demand from regional and national organisations.
4. Rose Theatre The Rose Theatre is the original campus theatre which has been the venue for a professional programme since 1993. Supported by the Arts Council the Rose is used by students for major course productions.
5. Studio Theatre The Studio Theatre is the department’s second and newest theatre. The Studio Theatre is the venue for the Short Cuts film programme as well as the place for productions from the Rose Theatre programme and student work. It has a fully sprung stage floor and is often the first choice for Dance production work.
6. Rose Foyer One of two foyer areas in the centre, The Rose Foyer has a public bar and is a place where students often sit and relax between classes.
PAGE 10 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS
Open Arms
PERFORMING ARTS | PARTNERSHIPS AND NETWORKS PAGE 11
Partnerships and Networks As a department we welcome partnerships with regional and national agencies, and professional artists, where offering the use of the facilities can mean students having the opportunity to meet with, and observe, the work of experienced practitioners. The department has recently worked with ECITE (European Contact Improvisation Teachers Exchange), Foolsproof Theatre Company, Horse and Bamboo Theatre Company, North West Playwrights, NWHEDP (North West Higher Education Dance Partnership), Centre for Advanced Training, The GEF House Experiment and BMC (Body Mind Centering) course organisers. We have also launched PAlink, a network of applied performance practitioners and clients which is run from within the department. The Rose Theatre professional programme, which is part of the Centre’s activity, also means an important network of artists and companies connected to the life of the department.
PAGE 12 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | THE ROSE THEATRE
A Night At The Theatre
PERFORMING ARTS | THE ROSE THEATRE PAGE 13
The Rose Theatre Established in 1993 The Rose has been offering professional performance to the region since then, with support from the Arts Council, the University and regional and local government. The Rose also offers a cinema programme in the Studio Theatre – Short Cuts.
All Performing Arts students receive a subsidised season ticket for the Rose Theatre, and are both encouraged and sometimes required to see live professional work. Where possible workshop opportunities with companies are arranged, or question and answer sessions are staged after the performance. The Rose Theatre seeks to support new and emerging work and this contributes to the ethos of the department. The Rose programme will also include student work from the department and has included work from graduate companies formed by students of the department.
PAGE 14 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | STUDYING PERFORMING ARTS
Do Discuss Develop
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The Student Practitioner at Edge Hill Studying Performing Arts at university is a fantastic opportunity to develop skills and approaches for a wide range of opportunities in life. A degree in any of the Performing Arts areas will provide the skills you would expect from any graduate. You will graduate with a higher ability to write, research, develop arguments, evaluate evidence and present findings and you will develop a wide knowledge of your chosen subject, an understanding of how it developed and an informed sense of its future direction.
It is practitioners with vision who become the innovators and future of performance.
PAGE 16 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | STUDYING PERFORMING ARTS
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However, as a Performing Arts graduate you will also develop additional skills and capabilities. Performing Arts graduates are also excellent team players, creative, lateral thinkers, and excellent communicators with high levels of confidence. These are personal characteristics which are in demand in the workplace. Many performing arts graduates want to work as a performers, directors, choreographers or designers and with this in mind the Performing Arts department emphasises the notion of the student practitioner and emergent professional. The department sees itself as community of practitioners and the staff team is made up of active professionals and researchers who want to share their knowledge and experience with a new generation of practitioners. You are encouraged to take a professional attitude towards your work at all times and be self motivated and independent in your chosen specialism. You will be in a constant cycle of performance creation. All courses require exploration through workshops, the creation of work for public performance and investigations through practice. Doing, making and watching performance is at the centre of the department. This performance work is then discussed and considered from a number of critical and theoretical perspectives. It is through this dialogue between practice and evaluation of practice that the student practitioner is developed and becomes confident in his or her vision of performance. It is practitioners with vision who become the innovators and future of performance.
PAGE 18 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | DRAMA
Perform Direct Change the face of theatre
PERFORMING ARTS | DRAMA PAGE 19
Drama is the most established programme of study at Edge Hill and as well as being a Single Honours subject, is available for study alongside other subjects at the university including English, Media and Creative Writing. If you are interested in going into the theatre, want to perform or direct theatre, want to study its development, want to use drama for teaching or community development, or have a fascination for dramatic literature, a degree in Drama would be ideal. Students studying Drama in the Performing Arts department have opportunities to study major figures in the development of theatre, the history of theatre, approaches to acting, theatre in education, popular theatre, carnival theatre, installations and site specific work, the use of video, stage management, technical theatre including set design and sound design.
The study is a mixture of theory and practice with an emphasis upon production work using our two fully equipped theatres and various studio spaces. Former students have gone on to work as actors, performance artists and teachers. The Drama programme considers key concepts in Drama and Theatre and in Year 3 students study the latest developments in theatrical performance. This culminates in the creation of a major dissertation performance project where students present themselves as contemporary practitioners and are asked amongst other things to develop their own manifestos for performance. If you think you can change the way people think about performance this programme will provide you with that opportunity.
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts
PAGE 20 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | DANCE
Dance Make Dance Teach Dance
Dance at Edge Hill is enormously popular with high levels of application and interest. The appeal of the course relates to the unique and highly practical approach to the study of dance. The degree encourages you to see yourself as a dance professional with a range of possible routes to employment in dance.
I do not know what the spirit of a philosopher could more wish to be than a good dancer. Nietzsche For the dance is his ideal
PERFORMING ARTS | DANCE PAGE 21
The course covers a wide range of topics and perspectives. You will study the major historical and theoretical perspectives in dance alongside practice and technique classes in an inclusive range of styles which includes ballet, contemporary dance, contact improvisation, capoeira and jazz. These practical classes inform the study and practice of choreography. You will work with experienced tutor choreographers, and move to work as autonomous dance makers through staging of major public performances.
The course also includes the study of applied dance which is the use of dance in educational and community settings. This provides the background to work as youth dance leaders, community dance workers or in dance in education. This wide ranging curriculum is designed to produce rounded and flexible dance professionals.
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts
PAGE 22 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | DRAMA, PHYSICAL THEATRE AND DANCE
Actors Physical Theatre Dance Theatre If you have experience of both drama and dance, you may wish to consider examining the many different ways in which the body can be used as an expressive tool in a range of performance styles. Physical Theatre is a term which often refers to the way in which the body is foregrounded in theatrical presentation. You have a chance to study alongside drama students in formal drama and theatre projects as well as undertake technique and choreographic study and practice in dance. The relationship between these traditions is explored in the study and practice of physical theatre. Edge Hill remains one of the few places where the study of physical theatre is offered and the course has a reputation for creating ambitious physical theatre performances which have a strong visual dimension. These performances have been included as part of the Rose Theatre professional programme. Graduates of this programme have a wide ranging experience of performance and will have studied as actors, dancers and physical theatre practitioners and as a consequence have a number of possible career routes to pursue.
PERFORMING ARTS | DRAMA, PHYSICAL THEATRE AND DANCE PAGE 23
Expressive Bodies
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts
PAGE 24 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | DRAMA, PHYSICAL AND VISUAL THEATRE
Masks Puppets Animators Actors
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Visual Theatre The success of the Drama, Physical Theatre and Dance programme has led the department to expand opportunities in this area of work. The visual dimension of production work in Drama, Physical Theatre and Dance, and staff experience in the use of masks and puppet work, as well as the focus of design work in the department led to the development of a programme which gave opportunity to students who wished to explore street theatre, carnival performance, adult puppetry, and mask work. The programme was inspired by the work of companies such as Welfare State International, Horse and Bamboo, and Kneehigh Theatre Company. Recent National Theatre productions such as the staging of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials and War Horse indicate the significance in contemporary practice of the visual, design, mask and puppets. This course aims to produce graduates who will excel in this growing area. The students on this programme study Drama and Physical Theatre alongside other students studying these areas but also study visual theatre in partnership with the design students.
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts
PAGE 26 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | DRAMA, MUSIC AND SOUND
Composing Music or Designing Sound? Students have been involved in the creation of music and sound design as part of the Drama programme for a number of years. It was from students being active and interested in this discipline that led to the development of a new programme that specifically teaches and encourages creative experimentation in the area of music composition and sound design alongside the study of Drama. We have facilities that include a digital sound studio, technology labs, design suite and a post-production room. We have a number of laptops available to work anywhere in the building which is wireless enabled. Software includes Cubase, Adobe Audition, ProTools and Reason. Students have the opportunity to develop their own style of music as well as working alongside others and designing for live productions and installations.
The department has been active in the exhibition of composition and sound design work with installations and performances in Italy, Canada, Barcelona, Prague, London, Lisbon and Korea. This area of growing significance is firmly part of the department’s vision of the future where sound designers and composers can work alongside theatre directors and dance choreographers to create original and exciting new work. If you have practical experience of music and sound we would be happy to consider an application to our Drama, Music and Sound programme. Music and Sound can also be studied with Media. We do not ask for formal music qualifications but we do need to see evidence of your work as a performer, composer, sound designer or musician.
PERFORMING ARTS | DRAMA, MUSIC AND SOUND PAGE 27
Music is organized sound. Edgard Varèse
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts
PAGE 28 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | DESIGN FOR PERFORMANCE
Theatre Design Scenography Costume
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The Design for Performance course at Edge Hill is one of only two programmes offering theatre design in the North West of England. Whilst Theatre Design is dominated by London art colleges and a small number of other providers, Edge Hill is offering a unique alternative. The programme offers opportunity to a carefully selected cohort of students who study right at the heart of the department collaborating with directors, choreographers and performers. The programme allows you to develop your knowledge and understanding of design for performance through the realisation of full scale projects. The department has a full scale theatre construction workshop and you will learn construction skills as well as design and complete work for other programmes. This focussed and vocationally orientated course (which includes assessed work placements) is a significant alternative opportunity for design students to consider. The course is aimed at art and design or fine art students and selection is based upon interview and portfolio. Students who have an interest in costume, set design, mask creation, puppets, installation, projection and video are encouraged to apply.
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts
PAGE 30 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | APPLIED PERFORMANCE
Apply Performance Inspire Well Being. Edge Hill has a long tradition of working in what is often termed Applied Performance. This is where performers, directors, writers, designers or choreographers apply their skills in particular circumstances, or for the benefit of a particular group. These types of project are quite different to mainstream performance opportunities and are often dynamic and refreshing. Performance practitioners can find themselves working in schools, with community groups, in hospitals or in businesses. The kind of work they undertake can be communicating important educational messages, helping build team identity, opening up creative potential or helping individuals to realise their potential and overcome barriers.
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Applied Performance forms a part of both the Drama and Dance degree programmes but the department is now offering a specialist degree programme in this area. Performance and Health allows you to study dance and drama looking at their potential benefit in the applied setting of health. The programme is unique and offers a complete education for the applied performance practitioner. You are offered a thorough grounding in health studies as well as in drama and dance whilst being given opportunities to develop creative projects in health settings such as hospitals, community health locations like clinics or to work with schools promoting well being and health education. You are educated in how to work in partnership with health professionals. Graduates of this programme will be able to consider careers in both performance and health. There are opportunities for graduates to progress to postgraduate training in Drama Therapy and Dance Movement Therapy.
The department also offers a Foundation degree in Theatre, Applied Drama and Creativity in partnership with regional FE providers. This programme is a two year vocational programme which educates students in the use of drama in applied settings such as education and business.
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts
PAGE 32 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | RESEARCH: MA, MPhil & PhD
Make Performance Research Performance
Imagination creates reality Edward Bond
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Be the Future of Performance. Performing Arts at Edge Hill offers a number of postgraduate opportunities in performance. Students can study towards a PhD or MPhil by research. Staff in the department are research active specifically in the areas of creative writing, popular theatre, dance, masks and clowning and the department welcomes applications from students wishing to pursue postgraduate research. The department now offers a one year taught MA programme, Making Performance, which runs from January to January and allows MA students to create a major piece of performance during the Summer, between undergraduate years. These projects are supported in terms of production costs and you will have access to the technical resources of the department which includes two full scale theatre spaces. The intention is to offer an annual festival of MA work in September. You will undertake a series of modules in the Spring, a Summer production project and write a dissertation in the Autumn. The programme is available on a full or part-time basis and students can study to post graduate certificate or diploma level as well as the full MA. The programme is underpinned by a number of professional partnerships which the department has developed.
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts
PAGE 34 EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY | FIND OUT MORE
Find Out More?
Contact
If you are interested in studying in the Performing Arts Department of Edge Hill University you can find out more about the department by visiting the website or by visiting the department in person. There are a number of Open Days throughout the year or alternatively schools and colleges are welcome to contact the department to schedule a group visit. The department also runs two sixth form conferences every year which allows prospective students to visit the department and take part in practical work to get a feel for study in Higher Education.
If you have any questions about courses or the department do feel free to get in touch.
Make An Application If you wish to make an application this is done through UCAS (visit ucas.com). All applicants are invited to an audition, workshop or interview. The department runs audition workshop events from mid December until May. Applicants are not required to prepare audition material but all attendees undertake group practical work, discussion and a short writing task. Offers are usually made in the range of 220 to 280 points. However the department is seeking students who want to embrace the philosophy of the department and have talent, as such anyone who feels they have something to offer are encouraged to apply. The audition workshop events provide the department with a way of assessing all students regardless of background.
Karen Lauke – Senior Lecturer in Sound BA Hons Drama, Music & Sound 01695 584412 karen.lauke@edgehill.ac.uk
General Enquiries 01695 584760/650883 performing-arts@edgehill.ac.uk Phil Christopher – Head of Performing Arts MA Making Performance 01695 584688 chrisp@edgehill.ac.uk Sidsel Bech – Programme Leader BA Hons Design for Performance and BA Hons Drama, Physical & Visual Theatre 01695 584110 sidsel.bech@edgehill.ac.uk
Paula Mor – Senior Lecturer in Applied Drama Foundation Degree in Theatre, Applied Drama and Creativity 01695 650858 paula.mor@edgehill.ac.uk Dr Helen Newall – Reader in Performing Arts MPhil/PhD in Performing Arts 01695 584809 newallhe@edgehill.ac.uk James Stock – Programme Leader BA Hons Drama 01695 650851 stockj@edgehill.ac.uk
Lisa Dowler – Senior Lecturer in Dance BA Hons Performance & Health 01695 750923 dowlerl@edgehill.ac.uk Julia Griffin – Programme Leader BA Hons Drama, Physical Theatre & Dance 01695 650856 julia.griffin@edgehill.ac.uk Karen Jaundrill-Scott – Programme Leader BA Hons Dance 01695 584223 jaundrik@edgehill.ac.uk
Preston
EHU Manchester Liverpool
edgehill.ac.uk/performingarts Photography: Roger Moody; Helen Newall; Rob Nicholson; Stuart Rayner
EDGE HILL UNIVERSITY
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PERFORMING ARTS
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ST HELENS ROAD
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