Music Theatre Performance 2A

Undergraduate | 2026

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Area/Catalogue
MUSI 2004
Course ID icon
Course ID
204313
Level of study
Level of study
Undergraduate
Unit value icon
Unit value
6
Course level icon
Course level
2
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Inbound study abroad and exchange
Inbound study abroad and exchange
The fee you pay will depend on the number and type of courses you study.
No
University-wide elective icon
University-wide elective course
No
Single course enrollment
Single course enrolment
No
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Note:
Course data is interim and subject to change

Course overview

Dance: An emphasis on more advanced technical work is addressed along with a greater understanding of style, along with the encouragement of more rapid and accurate learning of basic choreographic combinations. Greater strength and flexibility is also addressed along with stylistic accuracy. Pas de deux continues with a focus on ensuring students are capable of dancing in harmony with a partner in different styles, and able to perform moves such as lifts and turns safely.
Voice/Movement: Second year voice brings students to a practical awareness of the way they use themselves as actors: working towards greater physical freedom and relaxation; increased breath capacity and control; more effective resonance; increased pitch range; and greater articulatory agility. The second year of voice production is largely exercise oriented, focusing on heightened language while connecting to vocal presence and action. Character voice is the primary focus, while resonance, vocal placement and support continue to be addressed. Students connection to language, the importance of oracy, the deeper need of words and rhetoric, and awareness of the three-dimensional physical muscularity of body/vocal tract and language/image. Using Shakespeares text, students will learn to trust the instincts and needs of the character rather than the intellectual presentation of the language, poetry and style of the play.
Acting: This course builds on the foundational skills achieved throughout the first year of study by focussing on the issue of performance 'style'. Specifically, Non-Naturalistic text - material with a strong sense of heightened theatricality and overt poeticism - and is designed to increase the musical theatre performer's ability to adapt the performing self to the demands of text in a heightened style. Students will be asked to explore text from a variety of stylistic genres, examining each with a mind to formulating work methods and rehearsal strategies that might accommodate performance demands.

Course learning outcomes

  • Understand the basic technical requirements and physical characteristics of classical ballet,pas de deux, tap and jazz dance styles within a theatrical context
  • Develop strength, coordination and rhythm, and experience the body as an expressive instrument
  • Identify idiosyncratic, habituated physical and vocal patterns and establish an understanding of vocal physiology and its application to performance
  • Recognise and apply improvisational techniques to develop imagination, the principles of play, developing spontaneity and stimulating an awareness of others
  • Define the proper care of a performer's physical instrument, and apply safe techniques to explore the alignment, posture, stamina, flexibility and strength of your body in dance, acting and vocalisation.

Prerequisite(s)

N/A

Corequisite(s)

N/A

Antirequisite(s)

N/A