ResM Dance

Graduate destinations include research and further postgraduate studies (for example PhD), teaching, lecturing, practice-as-research, professional choreography, independent portfolio artist careers, dance criticism and arts administration.

• 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.
• 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.

• Taught modules

• The ResM can be studied either full or part time. We welcome proposals for research in any area of contemporary dance, but we are especially interested in supervising practice-as-research projects that focus on choreographic practice, screen dance practice, and somatic movement and embodiment. The core modules help you to progress your individual project. You also attend individual tutorials with your supervisor alongside regular research seminars.

  After completing your taught modules, you will continue with independent research, guided by your thesis supervisor. Throughout this time spent working towards your thesis, you will be considered a full member of our research community and completely supported until you successfully complete your degree.

  Dependent upon your performance in the first year, you may apply to transfer directly into our PhD programme after 12 months (full time) or 24 months (part time), instead of submitting a ResM thesis.

  
  

  Core modules

  • Researching Dance (MAPR710)

    This module introduces the resources, practical skills, methods and issues specific to research in dance studies and dance making. It will provide an overview of the current methodologies and theoretical developments in the field of dance studies and examine recent articulations of dance operating as a critical discourse.

• Thesis and assessment

• Your thesis will be 25000 words in length (or the equivalent if it includes practice). It may be assessed entirely through written work, or through a substantial practical project that addresses particular research questions and is accompanied by an extended contextual essay. We’re pleased to support research that is embedded in and conducted through a professional performance practice.

  You will also participate in a viva voce, or oral examination. This will form part of your examination process and normally takes place between one and three months following submission of your thesis or its written elements.

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).

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.

English language requirements.