FOCUS ON. Performing Arts

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1 FOCUS ON Performing Arts

2 2 Welcome If you re reading this, you must be thinking about taking a degree in performing arts. That s a good decision, and you won t regret it. But which course? You need to research the options go to tees.ac.uk/ ug/performingarts&music for detailed information, and come to one of our open days you ll find the next one at tees.ac.uk/opendays. And while you re waiting, check out our facilities at tees.ac.uk/campustour. So you ll know more about the course and the career it leads to but can you imagine what it will be like? You don t have to wonder in the following pages you can read how people just like you chose their course, enjoyed their studies, and went on to a satisfying and successful career. Read on make your mind up apply and you ll never look back. See you soon FOCUS ON Rachel Highfield BA (Hons) Dance Helge Musial Senior lecturer Dance First-class facilities Professor Gerda Roper Dean School of Arts & Media Find out more T: E: [email protected] tees.ac.uk/ug/performingarts&music Twitter: twitter.com/teessideunisam

3 3 Use our dedicated music labs, performance spaces, professional-level recording studios and sound stage Elizabeth Sayer BA (Hons) Performance for Live and Recorded Media News Gabriella and Sophie seize the moment Charlotte Brinksman BA (Hons) Dance Student work Find out more Find out more, FOCUS ON the facts > We are the UK s top new university for student experience (Times Higher Education survey 2011) > Learn transferable skills such as teamwork, communication skills and critical skills that employers are looking for, as well as technical proficiency and artistic expression > Use our dedicated music labs, performance spaces, professional-level recording studios and sound stage > We are in the UK s top five universities for Students Union satisfaction (National Student Survey 2012)

4 4 A graduate SAYS Rachel Highfield founder, Full Swing Dance BA (Hons) Dance, class of 2011 Rachel s dance degree helped her set up a successful dance company. I have danced all my life, and when I saw that my local university was offering a new degree in dance, I jumped at the opportunity. I was part of the first cohort. We were all very close, we learned a lot from one another, and I m still in touch with most of my fellow graduates. The course covered everything I needed. We started every day, five days a week, with 1½ hours of technique, learning different styles. All the modules were useful, but two were particularly relevant to my career plan Dance in Education and Dance Facilitation. We were inspired by visiting lecturers, including international choreographers. When I graduated I set up Full Swing Dance, with another graduate. Full Swing provides dance education in schools and in the community. We deliver one-off workshops in primary schools, afterschool classes, and evening classes which are open to everyone within the area around our studio. As well as our website, we market our classes by distributing leaflets to schools and through social media. Above all, we rely on word of mouth recommendations by people who have enjoyed our classes. After a hard year getting established, we now have so much work that I have taken on two new members of staff. One of them will teach Zumba, a Colombian dance fitness programme with dance and aerobic elements. As the business develops, I hope to offer a Saturday performing arts workshop, bringing in staff to teach drama and music. The degree was just what I needed to live my dream of running a dance company. I learned so many styles of dance, how to teach dance, and I gained the encouragement and confidence to set up a business. The dance students who graduated along with me are doing similar things back in their home towns. The course covered everything I needed.

5 Staff PROFILE Focus on Performing Arts Helge Musial Senior lecturer Dance Helge brings to his teaching decades of experience as a performer and choreographer, and an infectious enthusiasm for the possibilities of dance. I studied dance in Berlin in the days before the Wall fell. There was an exciting experimental scene at the time my dance style was inspired by my interest in martial arts, and I mixed dance with music performance, playing saxophone. Later I trained in contemporary dance and classical ballet in New York, Amsterdam and Riga. As well as performing, I started teaching at the Berlin University of the Arts. And I studied choreography and worked with theatre people as well as dancers. After performing and teaching in Berlin and elsewhere around the world, I spent five years teaching at Dartington College in Devon. And after returning to Berlin for two years as Professor in Choreography to implement three new courses, I joined Teesside University in I was excited by the opportunity to teach on a newly established degree and join a team of excellent teachers. Although I had never been this far north in England before, I took to the area at once. I live in Saltburn I love living by the sea. We teach different approaches to dance and all the necessary dance skills, of course and we also place a strong focus on our students personalities, skills and interests. Popular television programmes have given dance a high profile, but they have also trivialised it. There s more to dance. Above all, it s important to be serious about making a career in dance. Yes, we are playful, creative and expressive about our ideas and we need to treat our bodies properly, and think long term by having strategies to be creative and inventive. So, if you love to dance, come to Teesside. We ll teach you all the skills and styles you need, and help you turn your passion into a career. It s important to be serious about making a career in dance. 5

6 6 Stage FOCUS ON Athena TV studio

7 7 our first-class facilities Dance studio SEE MORE OF OUR FACILITIES Watch a great video about our facilities at tees.ac.uk/campustour

8 8 Elizabeth Sayer BA (Hons) Performance for Live and Recorded Media A student SAYS Elizabeth s degree is a key step towards her chosen career. After school, I went to my local college and took a national diploma in acting. I chose Teesside s performance for live and recorded media degree because I hope to teach drama at secondary school level. When I graduate I will take a PGCE so I am qualified to teach. Teesside is my local university and I live with my parents. I have a wellbalanced social life I can go out on week nights and stay with friends while having all my home comforts too. Another big plus is that I got a scholarship from the University to cover my tuition fees for getting the highest possible mark on my college course. I really love my course. We spend most of our contact time in practical workshops rather than lectures. We have lots of rehearsal space and free time to plan and study. The campus has everything I need I don t want for anything. We spend most of our contact time in practical workshops rather than lectures.

9 9 A graduate NEWS Gabriella and Sophie seize the moment Gabriella Garroway and Sophie Read are taking all the opportunities offered on their BA (Hons) Dance course. Sophie and Gabriella are Year 2 students on the BA (Hons) Dance. One of the best features of the course is that staff encourage us to go out and find things, to take opportunities, says Sophie. So when Debbie Waistell, a local dance practitioner, came in to talk to students about her work and offered places in a new dance group, Youth Dance England, Gabriella and Sophie auditioned. They were offered roles along with two other dancers and rehearse every Tuesday evening and Saturday. The group will perform in schools around the North East. It s great experience which will look good on our CVs, and we can use the dance studios in Stockton any time we are free, Gabriella enthused. Sophie, from Leicester, and Gabriella, from Sunderland, became friends within the first weeks of their course. As Gabriella points out, It s in the nature of dance to work together, and we do a lot of group work. The pair, along with Charlotte Brinksman (see p10), plan to take up an even more exciting opportunity. They will spend the summer of Year 2 at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts (Hochschule für Schauspielkunst Ernst Busch ) in Berlin, an exchange organised through the Erasmus scheme. They had to apply for the exchange and write a proposal, explaining how a term in Berlin would benefit their studies. It s another experience to enhance their CVs. Both Gabriella and Sophie auditioned at several other universities before deciding to come to Teesside, mainly because they found the staff so welcoming. The prospect of the Erasmus exchange was another big attraction. One of the best features of the course is that staff encourage us to take opportunities.

10 10 Charlotte, inspired by the dance degree, dreams of running her own dance company. Dance has always been my passion I took it for granted that I would do a dance degree. I researched the options through various prospectuses and the final choice was between Teesside and one other university. When I came here for my audition, I fell in love with the campus I knew that I had already made my mind up. There s more to the degree than I had expected. Obviously we spend a lot of time learning dance techniques and styles, but we also had a Year 1 module An Introduction to Dance Science where we learned anatomy and physiology. The teaching offers us research ideas about dancers, choreographers, musicians whose work we might look at and encourages us to develop our own style. We also have workshops with visiting specialist teachers on styles such as Zumba, Pilates, hip hop and jazz which helps us to understand different styles. Of course our written work still has to meet academic standards in Year 1 we had to produce a research portfolio which, in my case, was a series of essays reflecting on what we had been taught and what I had read. I had never been to Middlesbrough before I m from Warrington but I settled in well. I lived in halls of residence in my first year, and now I m sharing a house with other dance students. My social life also includes taking time to attend performances at Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (mima) and Stockton Arts Centre to keep my creativity fresh. In Year 2 I m particularly enjoying the Dance for Camera module we learn how to create dance pieces specifically to film and edit. At the end of the year I will be spending three months, with two other Teesside students, at the Ernst Busch Academy of Dramatic Arts in Berlin. The teaching will be predominantly in English but I m learning German from friends so I can cope with ordinary life there. The option of an exchange was another of the reasons I chose Teesside. My long-term ambition is to have my own contemporary dance company. I d like to challenge the conventional image of dancers petite, pretty girls who trained in ballet. I d like a company which focuses on how people dance, not how they look. A student SAYS Charlotte Brinksman BA (Hons) Dance The teaching offers us ideas and encourages us to develop our own style.

11 FOCUS ON our students' work Focus on Performing Arts 11 Get involved Get ahead Our dedicated portal to get you ready for the world of work tees.ac.uk/getahead

12 Visit us and find out for yourself. There s really only one way to appreciate the campus and what it s like to live and study here. tees.ac.uk/opendays If you need this magazine in an alternative format, get in touch. T: E: [email protected] Teesside University Middlesbrough Tees Valley T: +44 (0) TS1 3BA UK tees.ac.uk facebook.com/teessideuni twitter.com/teessideuni CAG 7938/MB