Performing Arts

Performing arts is a discipline that encompasses singing, dancing, and acting as integrated practices, developing the technical skills and artistic understanding needed to perform across a range of theatrical and live performance contexts. It is a field that rewards both physical and intellectual engagement, requiring performers to develop their bodies and voices as expressive instruments while also developing a theoretical understanding of performance traditions, choreography, and the social and cultural functions of theatre and live art.

At the University of Gloucestershire, this three-year full-time programme builds practical techniques across all three performance disciplines alongside the theoretical knowledge that contextualises and deepens the practical work. Optional modules allow you to focus on the areas that matter most to you, including choreography, digital theatre, and business development, so that you can shape your degree to reflect your own interests and career intentions. The programme provides genuine access to professional performance venues, including Cheltenham's Everyman and Playhouse theatres, as well as opportunities to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, one of the world's most important platforms for emerging performers, and to engage with workshops and events in international contexts.

These real-world performance opportunities give you a professional portfolio and network before you graduate.

Graduates go on to careers as performers, choreographers, directors, drama teachers, workshop facilitators, arts administrators, and community arts practitioners. Many graduates work as teaching artists, combining performance with education across schools, community settings, and arts organisations. The Edinburgh Fringe and international workshop experiences help graduates build the professional identity and industry connections that sustain portfolio careers in the performing arts.

Postgraduate study in performance practice, theatre-making, or arts education is a route for those who wish to develop their practice or specialise further.