Overview

The Aberystwyth Masters in Practising Performance will provide an excellent opportunity for you to explore and augment your practice as a performer.  Upon graduation, your art and craft as a performer will have been transformed into that of a creative, sensitive and innovative practitioner with undoubted abilities in reflection and academic analysis.

This course delivered through a strong mixture of stage time and class time, supported with coaching in self-reflection and analysis.  The emphasis on performance may be seen across the board in every module: for instance, in Performance Practice you will train with an experienced practitioner; in Practice into Production you will work under the direction of an experienced director; and in the Research Project you will have the opportunity, if you desire, to create a work of ‘practice-as-research’, submitting performance as an element of final assessment with an element of critical refection.

Throughout this MA, you will develop advanced interpersonal skills necessary for the independent and collaborative projects you will enjoy as a professional performer.  You will also become highly conversant in the theory of practice through the stud y of the advanced intellectual frameworks for the description, manifestation, documentation and analysis of performance kinds.  Not only will this inform your personal practice, but it will sharpen your critical awareness and inform further academic research into the subject, should you choose to pursue it. 

The course is a full-time programme, taught over one year, and is divided into two parts over three semesters.  The programme is designed to be professional and practice-related in focus but also to provide preparation for research and deepening subject knowledge. MA students learn through a structured combination of: taught elements, independent practice and independent research. Assessment is through coursework (Part 1), independent practical project or dissertation (Part 2).  The descriptions relating to all the study modules can be found on the .

Upon graduation from the Masters in Practising Performance, you will have demonstrated excellence in performance, academic rigor and demonstration of interpersonal skills which will define you as a thorough and thoughtful performer.

Fact File

Duration:	One year full-time. The academic year is divided into three semesters, but this course is administered in two parts: Part One runs from October to May; Part Two runs from June to September.
Contact Time:	Approximately 10-14 hours a week in the first two semesters.  During semester three you will arrange your level of contact time with your assigned supervisor.
Assessment:	The taught part of the course (Part 1) is delivered and assessed through lectures, tutorials and essay projects. Successful completion of your research project (Part 2) leads to the award of an MA.
Entry Requirements:	BA honours degree (2:1) in a related subject at undergraduate level and accompanying references.  We will consider applicants with other experience which gives an equivalent basis for entry
English Language Requirements:	If you have a Bachelor’s degree from a UK University, you do not need to take an English proficiency test. Non-native English speakers who do not meet this requirement must take a University-recognised test of academic English language proficiency: IELTS or TOEFL.  The required IELTS minimum proficiency level is 6.5. For TOEFL, the minimum scores are as follows: 580 for the paper-based test; 237 for the computer-based test (with an essay rating of 5.0); and a score of 93 for the internet-based test.  More information on IELTS can be found here and, for TOEFL, here.
Course Fees:	For details of fees, please view this page. [Link: http://www.aber.ac.uk/en/postgrad/funding-fees/eu-taught/tuitonfees/ There are a number of Aberystwyth Scholarships and International Excellence Scholarships (AIES) to help fund the studies of students who meet specific criteria.  In addition, accommodation is guaranteed to all international students.



Practising Performance

Part One: Core Modules	Part One: Option Modules Candidates must choose one of the following:	Part Two
PFM0130 Concepts And Theories Of Performance	PFM0330 Post-dramatic Theatre	PFM0660 Research Project
PFM0230 Performance Practice	TFM0830 Audience And Reception Research Practices	Click on any module code to find out: what the module covers; how it’s taught and delivered; how it’s assessed.
PFM0410 Practice As Research	TFM0800 Research Practices: Methods And Methodologies Of Audience And Reception Research
PFM0520 Practice Into Production



Career Development

Qualification:             Masters in Practising Performance

This degree will suit you:

• If you wish to strengthen every aspect of your performance practice;
• If you are ready to approach performance in a thoroughly theoretical, interpersonal and practical manner;
• If you aim to sharpen your professional abilities in order to pursue a performance career;
• If you wish to develop a cache of widely marketable skills alongside your subject-specific training.
  

Employability

Every aspect of the Aberystwyth Master’s in Practising Performance programme is designed to enhance your employability.  Simply by graduating from a prestigious performance MA course will prove how highly you prize your craft and your dedication to personal excellence.  In addition, you will also be equipped with widely applicable skills and abilities that will suit many employment contexts. 

Alongside the development of your performance techniques and abilities, an especially noteworthy strength of this course is the emphasis on personal and interpersonal development.  You will possess many of the critical skills that employers look for in creating a productive and professional work environment.  Your sensitivity and perceptive nature will make you excellent in management contexts.  In addition, your conceptual and creative abilities will stand you in excellent stead for entry into the jobs market as employers seek personnel with the ability to find and prove thematic and motivational connections across broad subject matter.

Every module within this MA teaches subject-specific information by using widely applicable skills.  For example, one module explores and enacts strategies, methodologies and techniques of devising performance, requiring of you careful planning and preparation in order to be successful. Another module requires you to present your response to a question through a mixture of video, slides, sound, data projection, OHP and elements of live demonstration and performance.   You will be pushed to unusual performance situations and expected to succeed.  The applications in business for such skills experience are endless.  Though the course conditions and subject matter may be specific to live performance, you will learn widely applicable and highly marketable skills in the process.

Whether your chosen path involves further study, professional acting, criticism, education or any of countless other routes, your Masters Degree in Practising Performance from Aberystwyth University will signal to prospective employers your commitment to personal excellence, professional rigour and high academic quality.

Contacts

The Programme Leader for this course is Heike Roms hhp@aber.ac.uk

 

Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies
Aberystwyth University
Parry-Williams Building
Aberystwyth
SY23 3AJ

Tel: (01970) 622828

Fax: (01970) 622831

Email: tfts@aber.ac.uk

 

Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies

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