Introduction

The Performing Arts degree programmes are three-year courses designed to enable actors, dancers, singers and theatre technicians to develop their creative abilities. You will develop your work as performer and director; your critical knowledge and understanding will deepen; and you will hone your production and management skills to a professional standard.

All students follow a core of modules covering a broad spectrum of activity in the modern Performing Arts Industry, but you choose your specialist pathways according to the programme for which you are registered. Most importantly, there is greater emphasis on your own creative work as you progress through the three-year programme. You should leave with confidence that you have the knowledge and ability to take your place anywhere in this country’s lively, varied and challenging creative and performing arts industry.

The specialist pathways are:

• Dance
• Drama
• Technical Theatre
• Vocal Studies

The Performing Arts programme is delivered in new, specialist facilities: the University Centre Folkestone, and its next-door-neighbour, the theatre we call ‘Quarterhouse’. These are the largest developments in Folkestone’s ‘Creative Quarter’, the main area of artistic activity in the town, and there’s an exciting mix of creative businesses on our doorstep here - from film-makers to florists, ceramicists to street theatre. It all gives students a lively culture to enjoy and a rich resource to learn from. Folkestone is now an exciting place to be, with many creative artists choosing to re-locate here and a burgeoning programme of year-round arts activity filling the town’s streets and theatres.

The University Centre itself is a beautifully-refurbished former Glassworks, with specialist, state-of-the-art facilities for the Performing Arts, Business and IT, and Fine Art with Digital Media. Quarterhouse is 100 yards away, and boasts an auditorium offering raked seating for 250 for performing arts events, lectures, conferences and formal concerts, with state-of-the-art sound and lighting rigs. This is a professional, commercial venue, and our students are involved in it as learners, administrators and creatives. The benefits of this first-class facility in such close proximity to the University Centre are obvious.

This partnership with a major public/private initiative is a cornerstone of the degree programme, and our work with practitioners in the Performing Arts industry in our area is an important feature of the student experience. We have forged excellent working relationships with theatres, arts organisations and public agencies with a particular interest in the performing arts in and around our community. These potential future employers are involved in the delivery of the programme, which is staffed primarily by specialist tutors who are themselves professional practitioners in music, dance, drama and technical theatre. It is becoming clear, to say the least, that important employment opportunities emerge from this sustained collaboration.

Content and Structure

YEAR 1

Core modules:

• Technical Theatre 1a
• Theatre Design 1
• Critical Studies 1
• Arts Management 1

Options:

EITHER

• Performance Techniques 1 and
• Drama 1, Dance 1 or Vocal Studies 1

OR

• Technical Theatre 1b (40 credits)

YEAR 2

Core modules:

• Technical Theatre 2a
• Theatre Design 2
• Critical Studies 2
• Arts Management 2

Options:

• Drama 2, Dance 2, Vocal Studies 2 or Technical Theatre 2b (40 credits)

YEAR 3

Core modules:

• Arts in Professional Context
• Devising and Directing (40 credits)
• Individual Study

Options:

• Drama 3, Dance 3, Vocal Studies 3 or Technical Theatre 3 (40 credits)

Further information about options within degree programmes can be found here.

Important Information

Application Requirements

Entry is competitive and normally subject to an audition/portfolio inspection and interview. Candidates will be expected to have one of the following, see the entry requirements page for more information:

For the BA (Hons) programme:

• 240 UCAS points including CCC at A2 Level (including a relevant Performing Arts subject), supported by 3 GCSEs (grade A-C)
• DD grade in a relevant BTEC National Certificate or MMM grade in a relevant BTEC National Diploma
• a relevant Access qualification
• an International Baccalaureate with 24 points
• an equivalent qualification or experience

The Performing Arts degree programme welcomes applications from mature students and those from overseas. All equivalent international qualifications are acceptable, as are applications from students possessing alternative qualifications and/or work experience. Students who live overseas and are unable to attend an interview/audition may submit a DVD along with their application form to the University’s International Office. Guidelines as to the material which should be shown on the DVD, and the manner of its presentation, can be found here. 

INTERVIEW / AUDITION

At interview, candidates will EITHER be asked to perform one or two short pieces, total time between 3 and 5 minutes, demonstrating their ability in one or more areas of the Performing Arts OR, in the case of applicants for the Technical Theatre degree programme, be asked to present a portfolio of relevant work they have done.

All candidates will be invited to discuss their work, and the interviewing tutor(s) will be looking for:

• The student’s ability to articulate their views on their own work
• A commitment and enthusiasm for the subject
• A potential for sustained professional development
• An ability to form and present opinions on other performing arts work - with an emphasis on any contemporary theatre they may have seen

HOW TO APPLY

Application for the full-time programme is online via UCAS, see here.

For further course information please contact the Programme Director, Chris Price, on:
Tel: 01303 760602
Email: chris.price@canterbury.ac.uk

> Department of Music Website
> University Centre Folkestone website