'You can build your imagination' Dance Alumna advises postgraduate students

• Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Postgraduate dance students heard first-hand advice from two alumni in a special event hosted by the Department of Dance called Life after the MA.

Rowan McLelland went to the Rambert School and danced professionally in ballet and contemporary companies in Europe. She graduated with an MA in Dance Anthropology and teaches in the Department of Dance as well as ballet and swing dance. She is currently pursuing her PhD on how ballet has been adopted in China.

Her advice to MA students who may like to apply for a PhD is ‘Before writing your research proposal, it’s important to know your field. Read all that you can about your subject area, so you may identify any gaps in research and find the best angle for your project.’

Evangelia Kolyra is a London based choreographer and performer who graduated with an MFA in Choreography at Roehampton. Her choreographic work has been featured in various festivals in England, Scotland, Greece, Italy and Sweden. One of her pieces called 10,000 litres was commissioned by The Place and funded by National Lottery through Arts Council England. Find out more about her work on her website and see a video of the piece here.

Evangelia’s advice to students is ‘In choreography, you may not always see where the movement will go, but you can build your imagination. In my artistic practice, I tend to let the idea emerge from the movement itself. I see ‘mistakes’ as a source of inspiration’.

The Department of Dance is rated number one for dance research in the UK (REF 2014). It has the world’s largest PhD programme in dance and offers a new comprehensive master’s portfolio. These outstanding degrees are MAs in Dance Anthropology, Dance Philosophy and History, Dance Politics and Sociology; MFA in Choreography; MRes Choreography and Performance; and the Choreomundus International Master in Dance Knowledge, Practice and Heritage.