Drama Foundation – Classical & Contemporary Acting
This three-term, conservatoire-style Actor training programme is designed for ambitious students seeking progression to leading drama schools or universities, and are aspiring to build successful careers in the professional performing arts industry.
Through intensive, industry-focused training, you will develop the skills, discipline and creative confidence needed to thrive as a professional actor and take the next step in your performing career.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Success in the competitive world of performing arts requires focus, determination and creative courage. Students will develop their craft across all areas of performance, building confidence, emotional depth, physical awareness and creative resilience while being encouraged to take risks and experiment as a performer.
Regular one-to-one coaching with specialist tutors supports you in refining audition material and developing your individual strengths, alongside frequent opportunities to perform in live productions.
The course is designed to shape you as a versatile, self-aware performer ready for the demands of drama school and the industry beyond.
Students studying this course will benefit from:
- A programme modelled on a first year Conservatoire-style training programme.
- Up to 25 hours per week of contact time with experienced teaching staff with extensive professional backgrounds in the performing arts.
- Weekly one-to-one sessions with acting tutors to support your development as an actor.
- Weekly group classes in Acting, Movement, Dance, Physical Theatre, Text, Voice, and Scene Study.
- Small class sizes, allowing for more tailored learning and personalised feedback.
- A teaching approach dedicated to helping you discover your full creative potential as a unique performer.
- A community of developing artists who support each other to take risks, push boundaries and grow as performers.
- Regular performance opportunities throughout the course.
THE AWARD
At the end of the year upon successful completion, you will be awarded the UAL Level 4 Professional Diploma in Performance.听
鈥淲e have all improved enormously since the beginning of the course because we are now willing to throw ourselves in and we are less self-conscious. We have been taught: 鈥渄on鈥檛 think, just do!鈥 If you want to be an actor, I could not think of a better place to go than 最新麻豆视频.鈥
Tom – Drama Foundation student
VIDEO
OVERVIEW
Course Location听
颁补尘产谤颈诲驳别听
Course Length听
1 year (3 terms)听
Course Start听
September听
Tutor Support听
Up to 25 hours per week听
Studio Access听
Students have access to our Bridge House studios 5 days a week, from 8:00am to 8:00pm Monday to Friday. Our Sturton Street studios are open to students 7 days a week, from 8:00am to 8:00pm Monday to Friday and from 11:00am to 5:45pm on Saturdays and Sundays.
Awarding Body听
University of the Arts London Awarding Body听
How your Work is Assessed听
Performed and written assignments and projects following the specification set by UAL Awarding Body
English Language听
Up to 5 hours per week if required听
Progression听
Our students have gone on to study Undergraduate courses at top Drama Schools and Universities: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Central School of Speech & Drama, American Academy of Dramatic Arts (New York), Birmingham School of Acting, Goldsmiths University of London, Rose Bruford, East 15 Acting School, Mountview Academy of Performing Arts, University of Surrey
ENTRY
Age听
17听 years +听
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Educational Level听
Completion of High School is needed or a minimum of 1 x Level 3 qualification, preferably in a relevant creative subject (i.e. A level) and 3 x GCSEs at grade 4 or grade C, including Maths and English and at least one of which should be in a creative arts subject.
Students who do not meet these entry requirements will still be considered on their own individual potential to succeed.听
English Level for International Students听
IELTS 5.5+ (no element under 4.0)听
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Audition听
An audition is required for entry to this course. Please refer to the Audition Guide below for more information.听
HIGHLIGHTS
STRUCTURE
This unit gives you a real insight into the demands of a professional working environment, helping you develop the rehearsal discipline, etiquette, and industry standards expected of a working actor. You鈥檒l learn how to conduct yourself in the rehearsal room and beyond, while beginning to take ownership of your own professional growth. The focus is on building the mindset, responsibility, and working practices needed to thrive in drama school auditions and succeed in the performing arts industry.
In this unit, you鈥檒l take part in a wide range of practical performance projects designed to develop and refine your acting technique across different styles and historical contexts. You鈥檒l build technical skill and versatility while learning to apply professional rehearsal and performance standards in a disciplined, industry-focused environment.
Alongside your practical work, you鈥檒l develop your ability to analyse your own performance choices and understand their impact on an audience. You鈥檒l also explore influential practitioners and performance theories, gaining insight into how theatre has evolved and how ideas about performance are shaped, questioned, and reimagined, helping you become a more informed, reflective, and dynamic actor.
In this final unit, you鈥檒l take full ownership of your training by creating, developing and performing in a specialist performance project that reflects your individual artistic ambitions.
Working independently, you鈥檒l define your own creative focus, set clear objectives and manage your rehearsal process from concept to performance, bringing together everything you鈥檝e learned across the course. This is your opportunity to apply your specialist acting skills in a professional context, shaping a fully realised performance for a defined audience while demonstrating the discipline, creativity and self-direction expected of a drama school applicant and emerging performer.
SUBJECTS
In these classes be prepared to challenge your thinking, what does it mean to act, and what is the role of the actor? There will be a mix of acting theory, drawing on several critical perspectives, and practical work involving movement, voice and all the tools of self-expression. We will workshop a variety of material with tutors, peers, and guest lecturers all in support of your application process for university or drama school.听
Scene Study classes follow the process of preparing, rehearsing and presenting a scripted text. The rehearsal room is where actors experiment with and apply their training in relation to different theatrical forms and rehearsal processes. The classes enable actors to explore, develop and take risks. Scene study is where all acting techniques learned on the course are put into practice and critique given for the benefit of all in the class.听
A stalwart for all actors in training is developing a healthy and robust speaking voice. This class is a physical practice; working with your body and breath, turning sound into speech, and applying this work to different styles of text for performance. Work on resonance, volume, clarity, articulation, pitch, and develop your sound through experimentation and practical application.听
This class will breakdown dialects of English with sessions on anatomy and how vocalised sound is made. Learn the international Phonetic Alphabet as it applies to RP (Received Pronunciation) and apply this understanding to different dialects and how a phonetic understanding can help you deliver text with control, clarity, and confidence.听
Discover your body鈥檚 expressive potential and have at your disposal the techniques which will allow you to achieve the physical and imaginative transformations required as an actor. The classes explore key movement influences, including Laban, Lecoq and Anne Bogart’s Viewpoints training. The focus of the classes is to embody movement with imagination at its heart, working on body awareness, improvisation and developing original performance and choreography that allows you to clearly express ideas, emotions and enrich storytelling.听
Establish a process for working with words as a starting point, turning the written word into the spoken word. Develop your practice of finding the drama and making sense of any text. Particular attention will be paid to Shakespeare along with poetry, prose, and a healthy dose of sight reading!
The ballet course provides students with strong technique and understanding of the basic requirements for ballet. Through a structured programme of floor work, barre and centre practice the students learn how to maintain correct posture and how to correctly use their turnout, while also developing a knowledge of the French vocabulary and common dance patterns. By the end of the year they will be confident in dancing short sequences and responding to a variety of music, leaving them well prepared for college auditions.听
Play will be your final lesson of the week; come together with all performing arts courses in a lesson dedicated to play. Through this class you will develop a strong, positive group dynamic and find more freedom and possibility in performance through theatre games, trust exercises and the exploration of improvisation techniques.听
These classes shed light on a range of influential practitioners across theatre and performance training. We will explore the key ideas and approaches that have formed the background to theatre鈥檚 development and pivotal moments in actor training practice.听
Identify and apply the skills and specific training related to devised performance. Extend your creative development, addressing acting as an embodied and exploratory art form at the heart of the theatre-making process. Interpret and evaluate performance methodologies from a diverse range of critical perspectives, with a focus on contemporary companies and practitioners.听
FACULTY
GALLERY
AUDITIONS
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS
Students can attend an audition in person by contacting the college to arrange an audition with the Head of Drama. If an in-person audition is not possible, please submit a video audition. See our Audition Guide for advice on how to prepare both for the in person audition and also video submissions.听听
INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS
International students who cannot attend the audition in person can submit a recorded audition. Please ensure you can be seen and heard clearly in the recording and that your whole body is visible. Following this you may be asked to attend an online interview.
AUDITION GUIDE
What We Look for in an Audition guide, to prepare fully for your audition at 最新麻豆视频.
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