Honours
Masters
PhD
HONOURS
The curriculum comprises 3 taught courses (96 NQF credits) and a research essay/project (30 credits).
All Honours students are required to complete two semester academic courses (Readings in Performance A and B) and a research essay course. In addition to these, students then have a whole year practical studio work course, in one of the following streams:
This course is an introduction into becoming a Dance researcher in the performing arts, cultural and educational contexts. It explores some of the key discourses in Dance in the late 20th and 21st centuries including Dance and Cultural formation, History and Aesthetics. Coursework is by seminars, practical workshops, engagement with on and off campus dance groups, conferences and symposia. The course also involves extensive reading, writing and deepening of observation and analytical skills. Students are expected to have prepared prior to the learning and teaching activity each week. Such preparation will include critique of audiovisual materials and research essay writing. The course objectives are:
To extend understandings of the field that is Dance archival research.
To investigate digital archives (mostly located in the global south) that are examining dance especially dance on film.
To strengthen an ability to conduct comparative analyses and build synthesis in Dance research.
To refine and deepen an ability to undertake focused enquiry of the dance object in a specific place and time.
MASTERS
Masters in Theatre (Research)
Areas of specialized research in the Centre include: Theatre Making, Directing for the Theatre, Performance Studies, Theatre and Media studies, Educational and Applied Drama, Theatre Voice Practice
MA in Dance (Research)
Areas of specialized research in the Centre include: Contemporary Dance, Dance Pedagogy and Applied Dance, South African Dance, Choreography, Classical Ballet.
The Centre welcomes all enquiries as the possibility of joint supervision with other departments allows for a much broader range of theoretical enquiries than the areas of specialisation suggested above.
MA in Theatre and Performance (Theatre Making)
This Masters programme focuses on the activity of creating theatre pieces in a South African tradition of collective theatre making. Many of the practical explorations and the final thesis production that map the student’s enquiry are therefore original, new South African works. The programme offers theatre practitioners – directors, actors, playwrights – the opportunity to explore and develop their individual impulses within the practice of making theatre. The aim of this course is to produce mature, highly skilled, independent and creative theatre practitioners capable of creating, producing and managing their own work. The course extends over two years of full time study, with the November to January period in the middle being a research period
MA in Theatre and Performance (Voice Practice)
This Masters programme focuses on the activities of directing and theatre voice practice. The programme offers theatre practitioners – directors, theatre voice practitioners – the opportunity to explore and develop their individual impulses and enquiries within the general practice of theatre. The aim of this course is to produce mature, highly skilled, independent and creative directors and theatre voice practitioners capable of producing and managing their own work. The course extends over two years of full time study, with the November to January period in the middle being a research period.
MA in Applied Theatre and Drama Studies
The MA programme in Applied Theatre is a coursework degree over two years, consisting of 4 courses and a dissertation. The programme is designed to be flexible in developing core skills of applied performance, namely facilitation, pedagogical practices, contextual aesthetics and ethics of practice, and project design and implementation in dance or theatre or an interdisciplinary context. The programme also offers the individual student an opportunity to develop their own interests within the applied performance field, provided that staff are suitably qualified to supervise the studies. The programme comprises of a Studio Practice course, a Seminar series, and a Fieldwork course.
The fourth course (Topics) is either an elective from another discipline or an independent topic of special interest to the individual student (supervised). The dissertation is expected to be based on Fieldwork, 25 000 words.
The Applied Theatre programme is convened by Associate Professor Veronica Baxter (theatre), with Ms Lisa Wilson (Dance), Dr Gerard Samuel (Dance) and Ms Terri Elliott (theatre) as core lecturers.
We invite applications from students wishing to work in applied performance contexts including education, social justice, disability/inclusive and social health.
PhD
Theatre
Areas of specialised research in the Centre include:
Dance
Contemporary Dance,
Dance Pedagogy and Applied Dance,
South African Dance,
Choreography,
Classical Ballet.
The Centre welcomes all enquiries as the possibility of joint supervision with other departments allows for a much broader range of theoretical enquiries than the areas of specialisation suggested above.