CHOREOGRAPHY- MA
Programme Length
Full time: 13 months
Validated by City University, London
Programme Content
You will be able to experiment, take risks and develop an individual artistic
voice. You will also gain insights into different creative practices in
dance and other art forms through contact with visiting artists, while
exploring the different artistic and social contexts for the creation and
reception of work. You will be encouraged to create pieces in a range of
settings and media, and work collaboratively with artists from other
disciplines.
The taught element of the programme consists of the
following modules:
Examining Practice
Creative Synergies and
Transformations
Methods of Practice
Research and Development
To
complete the programme, you will also undertake an in-depth independent
research project. This may take the form of a publicly presented major
choreographic work, or works, which represent your own distinctive
practice as it has developed on the programme.
Please note that
technical training (technique classes) is not provided within the fee
structure of the programme. However, classes may be available on payment
of a supplementary fee to cover direct teaching costs; alternatively
evening classes offered by the Education and Community department are
available.
A range of professional classes are also offered at our
partner organisation Greenwich Dance Agency, located some 15 minutes walk
away.
Educational Aims
The focus of the programme is on the student's individual development
as a choreographer, and thus one of its main aims is to challenge the
student to question their current artistic practice from a variety of
perspectives.
· To support critical reflection on practice and to allow further critical and
research issues to emerge.
· Offer opportunity for structured investigation and research in choreographic
practice
· To support a culture of open dialogue within a secure environment which
promotes critical feedback and an appreciation of appraisal and appropriate
commentary
· Provide opportunities for collaborative exchanges with other artistic
practice
and encourage a reflexive attitude through collaborative encounters with other
artists and art-forms.
· Provide a context to interrogate the student choreographer's current
practice,
engage in critical dialogue with their work from a variety of perspectives, and
to review and define their individual fields of artistic interest
· Develop in students an appreciation that choreography is a continuous
process of creation
· Enhance students' understanding of choreography as a nexus of ideas,
intentions, movement concerns and production values
· Enable students to develop as innovative, independent choreographers who
will take initiative in contributing to the profession
· Enable students to challenge the existing boundaries of practice and to meet
the changing realities of the professional field
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies
The taught aspect of the programme comprises workshops led by staff and
visiting artists, lectures and seminars. These introduce and define key areas
of subject matter and offer strategic information to enable students to review
and re-inform their choreographic outlook.
Through workshops students will encounter different approaches to making
work: for example, the idea of score, use of choreographic devices, the act of
performing and witnessing work, the subjective/objective frame, the act of
being and feeling in relation to the act of observing and reflecting.
Assessment is through a variety of assessment modes designed to create
opportunities for students to recognise different skills, definitions and
values
that are a part of practice-based research. Assessment also prepares
students for engagement within a variety of contexts and situations of
choreographic practice.
Assessments take the form of lecture demonstrations: portfolio presentations
and theatre performance projects.
These are designed to test students' ability to: bring together a line of
thinking, transform their ideas, articulate what they have learnt at a
particular
point in time, and importantly, to reflect critically upon process and product.
Assessment
Assessment is through assignments and the presentation of a major practical
choreographic project in performance.
