Dance

Entry requirements

You’ll need a good 2:1 or first class honours degree in an appropriate subject (e.g. theatre and performance, dance, choreography, community dance, dance science) or equivalent (for instance, you may have studied something else as an undergraduate but have established an artistic practice since then).

You will also need to provide evidence that you are ready to pursue the project you propose in your application. This will take the form of a sample of critical writing and, if relevant, documentation of relevant creative or professional practice (see the How to Apply section for details).

Months of entry

September

Course content

Are you a dance practitioner, choreographer or teacher wishing to deepen your practical knowledge and critical engagement with dance? Join a vibrant research community with opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaborations. You’ll grow in confidence as a researcher with the ability to generate new ideas, connections, approaches and critical perspectives.

We welcome proposals for research in any area of contemporary dance and dance as a cultural discourse, but we are especially interested in supervising practice-as-research projects that focus on choreographic practice, screendance practice, somatic movement and embodiment practices.

Key features:

• The award-winning purpose-built House Theatre provides a state-of-the-art and fully accessible 200-seater auditorium, studio theatre and rehearsal spaces..
• Learn from highly skilled and internationally renowned practitioners and scholars. Work within the Performance, Experience and Presence (PEP) research group which greatly informs the teaching on this programme.
• Make use of the close links we have fostered with leading dance companies and professional artists, and gain extra experience that will open up your career prospects. Plymouth has a vibrant and active dance scene, with Plymouth Dance and Dance in Devon supporting the dance ecology in Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall.
• Benefit from training on the programme which explicitly embeds the skills identified by the Arts & Humanities Research Council, preparing you for MPhil/PhD programmes.
• Join BA (Hons) Dance students to take dance technique classes; the theatre and performance department also hosts a number of master classes, workshops and performance opportunities that are open to you.
• Engage with Plymouth’s vibrant theatre and performance scene with The Arts Institute, Theatre Royal Plymouth and Barbican Theatre Plymouth, alongside events and training workshops arranged by the department itself. In the past, our nationally and internationally acclaimed visitors have included Candoco, StopGap, Rambert, Flying Low, Jordi Cortes,
• Yael Flexer, Rick Nodine, Kirstie Simson, Wendy Houstoun, LailioDaillo, Epic Arts, Russell Maliphant, 2 Faced Dance, Zoielogic and Liz Aggiss.
• Choose to study full time or part time to fit in with your career plans or other commitments.
• Be part of a lively interdisciplinary arts and research community where you’ll mix with staff and students from across the arts faculty, creating opportunities for collaborative performance and practice-based research.

Information for international students

If English is not your first language, you must have proficiency in written and spoken English (normally a minimum test score of 6.5 for IELTS, or equivalent). Given the nature of the programme, you’ll be expected to read and engage with complex theoretical texts and debates for which fluency in English is essential.