Performing Arts Courses: Acting, Dance, Drama, Musical & Production Arts

If you’re creative, enjoy performing and working in the theatre…

Our Performing Arts courses are delivered by a team of experienced staff who are active professionals and their expertise is valued by our students.

Further education performing arts programmes focus on developing a wide range of skills to prepare students for careers in acting, dance, musical theatre or technical theatre.

Career options include:

  • Actor
  • Cruise Ship Entertainer
  • Dancer
  • Dance Teacher
  • Musical Theatre Performer
  • Stage Hand
  • Stage Manager
The strong practical content of the course appealed to me and I’ve gained valuable skills and knowledge working on College shows and productions. I’m currently freelancing to develop my technical experience and CV, my ambition is to work in lighting design, production, and stage management in London’s West End.”Tommy - Technical Theatre Level 3

There are excellent facilities for students including dance and drama studios, recording studios and two iMac suites running Logic, Reason, Sibelius and Soundtrack Pro. We also have a concert hall (which can be booked for performances, shows or events) and practice rooms for bands and orchestras.

Our course programmes are designed to develop proficient and versatile practitioners, with qualifications available in acting, musical theatre and technical theatre.

@colchesterinstitute Find out what one of our Performing Arts students likes most about studying here with us! 🎭 #colchesterinstitute #college #acting #performingarts #study #essex #colchester #fyp ♬ Lisztomania – Instrumental – Phoenix
@colchesterinstitute A huge congratulations to all our students who took part in the Level 3 Dance Show! ✨ AND a big shout out to our fabulous student tech team for their hard work 🎭 #colchesterinstitute #college #dance #performingarts #colchester #essex #performance #acrobatics #ballet #student #fyp ♬ Ice Cube – Lolo Zouaï

Full-time Courses

Acting Level 3
Dance Level 3
Musical Theatre Level 3
Technical Theatre and Production Arts Level 3

Johnny FordJohnnyLevel 3 Musical TheatreI decided to study here at this course would provide me with
the best platform to go to a drama school to study my degree.
There's lots of collaboration between all of the courses and
I get to work with industry professionals to.
Georgi ArthurGeorgiLevel 3 ActingI have had the opportunity to really break down my strengths
and weaknesses in not only acting, but singing, voice and
movement to. I have had incredible support from my
tutors who want to see my success in my future career.
JoeyLevel 3 Musical TheatreI feel that every day is incredibly well formatted and there's
always something to work on. All of the tutors are really
supportive, helpful and detailed in their advice. The dance
studios areincredibly spacious with ballet bars to practice.
Joey Price
SophieLevel 3 Musical TheatreI decided to study at Colchester Institute as I had heard
great things about the course. I like how practical my course
is and how supportive the teachers and students are. We
have great facilities, multiple studios and practice rooms.
Sophie Parton
GraceLevel 3 Production ArtsI'm much more hands on in my approach so I wanted to do
a practical course. We get lots of experience with extra
support from tutors to further our learning. I plan to take
a year out working in the industry before going to university.
Grace Mcburney

Apprenticeships

Event AssistantLevel 3 Apprenticeship