News

New Programme Leaders have been appointed for Trinity Laban’s pioneering MSc/MFA Dance Science programme, the new Contemporary Dance Foundation Programmes, and the MA/MFA Creative Practice in the Faculty of Dance.

Dr Liliana Araújo is Programme Leader for the MSc and MFA Dance Science

Over 2017-18 Dr Araújo led MSc Dance Science and MFA Dance Science on a temporary basis, and has made a significant contribution to the delivery of taught modules and to the supervision of Dance Science student projects. She also teaches performance psychology sessions for students in Trinity Laban’s Faculty of Music and has supervised students on the MFA Creative Practice programme.

Dr Araújo is a psychologist and lecturer and researcher in performance psychology. She holds a PhD in psychology from University of Minho, and a PGDip in educational psychology and a Licenciate degree in psychology from University of Évora, Portugal. She has also trained extensively in dance education and holds a PGCert in Dance Education from Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon.

Under Head of Dance Science Professor Emma Redding, Trinity Laban is an established leader in the rapidly expanding field of Dance Science, a discipline examining the disciplines of physiology, biomechanics and psychology as applied to dance, and the intersection of these disciplines in practice.

Trinity Laban was the first institution in the world to introduce a Masters programme in the subject. Graduates become consultants for dance companies, training institutions and national dance organisations, go onto further study, or use their dance science knowledge to inform their own practice as dancers, teachers, rehearsal directors or choreographers.

In 2019 a three-year BSc Dance Science launches at Trinity Laban.

 

Will Aitchison will take up the position of Programme Leader for Contemporary Dance Foundation Programmes, following the successful validation of the new BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance with Foundation Year and BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance with International Foundation Year.

Prior to his appointment, Will led Trinity Laban’s Centre for Advanced Training, delivering technique and creative sessions as well as devising and overseeing the technique and creative curricula. He also teaches contemporary dance technique to students on Trinity Laban’s undergraduate dance programme.   

Will trained at London Contemporary Dance School where he gained a BA Hons in Contemporary Dance. In 2004, he was a member of Transitions Dance Company at Trinity Laban, before going on to perform in Matthew Bourne’s ‘Swan Lake’ completing two international tours, a UK tour and a Sadler’s Wells season. Will is still performing and choreographing professionally and recently co-founded his own company called Anecdotal Evidence.

Trinity Laban’s new foundation programmes provide an intensive year of study, with students who are successful in achieving the required standard at the end of that year gaining automatic progression to the BA (Hons) Contemporary Dance. 

 

Dr Becka McFadden has been appointed Programme Leader for the MA/MFA Creative Practice.

Dr McFadden holds a PhD in Theatre and Performance from Goldsmiths, University of London and an MA in Theatre from Villanova University. She previously held roles as Associate Lecturer at Goldsmiths, Research Facilitator in the Department of Drama, Theatre and Performance at University of Roehampton, and Assistant Professor of Performance and Theatre Arts at Richmond, the American International University in London.

Dr McFadden is the founder of the Beautiful Confusion Collective, and as a freelance performer and director, focuses on site-specific work, community performance and new European writing.

The Faculty of Dance at Trinity Laban offers two MA/MFA Creative Practice pathways, MA/MFA Creative Practice: Dance Professional Practice (delivered in conjunction with partner organisations, Siobhan Davies Dance and Independent Dance) and MA/MFA Creative Practice: Transdisciplinary. The programmes enable experienced practitioners to develop their artistic practice in a stimulating environment of intellectual and creative inquiry.