Performance Design and Practice (Hons) University of the Arts London (UAL)

Overview

Course overview

On the Performance Design and Practice (Hons) program at the University of the Arts London (UAL) you will interrogate what performance means in the 21st century. The course challenges the traditional view that performance design is something to look at and performance is something to watch. We will support you to think about performance critically and how it can engage with the world in a meaningful way.

We believe that a dialogue between mainstream traditions and new practices will shape the future of performance. On this course, you will explore the expanding field of performance. In particular, you will study post-dramatic theatre, immersive and interactive events. You will undertake work which takes place outside of traditional theatre spaces. You will study different concepts of performance and its associated objects and materials.  

On BA Performance: Design and Practice, we will develop your ability to think as an artist. Our teaching strategy integrates thinking and making. We acknowledge the varied and specialist skills different roles in the creative industry demand. Our teaching falls broadly into two categories:  

• Performance design practice – The skills and knowledge required to create the visual components of performance. These include: model making, technical drawing, film shooting and editing, storyboarding and costume.  

• Contemporary performance practice – The skills and knowledge required to create performance. These include: performance-making strategies, dramaturgy, experimental film-making, resourcing, scheduling, rehearsing and collaborative working. 

BA Performance: Design and Practice challenges traditional British performance culture and its hierarchies. The course questions the long-established model of authorship in performance production. Instead, it promotes a more open structure. It encourages the view that the audio and visual languages of performance are not secondary to written text, but just as important.  

A key element of BA Performance: Design and Practice is sharing and combining ideas and practice. We are proud of the fact that our students have great success doing things we never imagined. Our graduates have gone on to work in a wide range of performance-associated disciplines. These include: visual performance, theatre design, set design for fashion, festivals, design for dance, event design and applied theatre.