We are always pleased to talk to businesses about the range of business support, advice and expertise that the School of Performing Arts can offer. This could be anything, from providing a work-placement student to a student consultancy project, management training or a Knowledge Transfer Partnership to grow your business.

Consultancy and Research

Our research and professional experience underpins our work and supports our areas of consultancy and expertise. We have superb performing arts facilities and advanced performance science equipment and facilities.

Recent projects include:

• Event production at international dance/sport events (including production in the Olympics London 2012)
• Dance science support for the Birmingham Royal Ballet and English National Ballet
• Writing the Labanotation score for the resource pack publication Vocalise: Improving Dance Performance II. This was produced by Jacqueline Smith-Autard and Jim Schofield from Bedford Interactive.
• Developing a new training methodology for vocational training (18 yrs+) for ArtEZ, Institute of the Arts Netherlands
• Acoustic design, 'Magic Pickle' recording studio, Ironbridge, Shropshire (2009)
• Developing the vocational dance curriculum for 8-18yr olds for Ginasiano Escola de Dança, Porto
• The Haptic Drum Kit/Haptic iPod - Music Computing Lab, The Open University (2009-present) - http://mcl.open.ac.uk/hsphttp://mcl.open.ac.uk/haptic/
• Designing and developing innovative dance shoes for Inspire Future of Dance
• Evaluation of Triangle Theatre’s sport based performance project Knickers and Vests, documenting and analyzing the development process and performances in multiple venues. The evaluation took place through participant observation, interviews, online questionnaire and performance analysis.
• Evaluation of Central Youth Theatre Everybody Dance Now project through interviews, observations and an online survey. Everybody Dance Now was a complex and varied project which included an oral history project and exhibition, the commissioning and performance of four new one act plays, a variety of social dance nights, and the visit of six international youth theatre groups.
• Inset training on Performance Enhancement for the Centre for Advanced Training, DanceXchange, Birmingham.
• Harmony Space - Music Computing Lab, The Open University (2009-present) - http://mcl.open.ac.uk/hsp
• Technology inspired design for pervasive healthcare - Centre for Research in Computing, The Open University (2011)
• Advising on Popular Music assessment for World Skills (2012)
• Gateway College; design of the recording studio, music computing lab and rehearsal rooms (2007)
• New College Telford; design of music computing lab (2012)
• Music in Higher Education for Roland UK Ltd (2011-12)
• Preservation and reconstruction of professional dance repertoire

Our expert staff can provide:

• Monitoring, evaluation and report writing for Creative Projects in the Arts and Education
• Performance enhancement training for performers and teachers
• Bespoke Vocal and Communication Skills programmes
• Workshops in all aspects of the Performing Arts curriculum
• Inset Training for Drama and Dance Teachers
• Performers and Facilitators for Role-play Training programmes
• Storytelling Techniques
• Acting and Directing for Amateur Drama Societies
• Development of distance learning programmes for online learners/training
• The production of bespoke musical products for business e.g. jingles, radio broadcast recordings etc.
• Providing consultancy to music businesses on their music technology needs
• Offering acoustic measurement and treatment advice
• Sound Installations design
• Music as a corporate teambuilding activity
• Bespoke music software and hardware design

Student Placements

Employability is really important to us – we recognise that students need both a qualification and relevant experience, so in their second and third years students undertake hours of work placement. In their final year students deliver projects focused upon real music business activity, including production and performance work. If you would like to take advantage of these resources then we can help with the recruitment and selection of students to help your business. Please contact us for more information.

Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge Transfer is a great way to work with School of Performing Arts. It involves you recruiting a graduate who works in your business. This student is supported by our staff who provide academic supervision, giving the business access to all the research and resources at the University. There are 2 subsidised projects available:

• KTP - A national programme available to large companies and SMEs.
• KEEN - A West Midlands based programme for SMEs and third sector organisations.

For further details please contact us.

Conference and Events Management

With four campuses, three theatre venues, rehearsal rooms and second to none audio visual media support, plus a dedicated conferencing department and knowledge of the latest trends in the performing arts industries, we can plan and deliver the most innovative of events both on and off campus.

In 2010 we hosted the Annual Meeting of the International Association of Dance Medicine and Science in Birmingham in collaboration with the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Jerwood Centre. After our move into our superb Performance Hub, we hosted the Laban Guild conference in 2012.  

Training and Professional Development

From training courses to academic qualifications, we are always happy to discuss individual and organisational requirements for professional development in the performing arts, for both paid staff and volunteers, and can offer accreditation and/or certificates of attendance. We offer Pro tools training to students and in addition we can offer these qualifications to businesses, and can always tailor-make a training solution to meet your needs. We can also offer individual specialist modules from our current course portfolio.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Study in the UK and Overseas  

For people seeking to grow their expertise and develop their career we offer a number of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, as well as PhDs. All of our courses offer strong vocational links. For further information, or to talk to us about any of our business initiatives contact us