Dance Centre Facilities and Equipment

The Dance Studios are fitted with various specialist pieces of equipment. This equipment and its usage will be introduced to you during the early part of your course. The Dance Studios and their equipment are under the control of the Technician.

The Dance Studios have the following technical facilities:

a) Stage Lighting Equipment

We possess a fixed installation which consists of various bar positions and a stock of approximately 40 luminaries. This system is continuously being improved and upgraded. The system can only be used in the presence of and under the supervision of Vince Field (or in the event of Vince's absence, Mike Spice, Related Arts Technician responsible for the Sound Studio).

b) Sound System

This high quality system consists of multiple tape and Compact Disc sources, a 12 channel desk, 2 power amplifiers and four monitor loudspeakers. The system has proved to be flexible in its usage and this should be expanded with the acquisition of new source equipment for class/rehearsal use. The equipment at ground level may be used by any student but the main part of the system which is used for shows requires the supervision of a technician.

c) Video and Monitor

This is primarily for use by teaching staff but may be of use for personal rehearsal. To gain access to the controls you have to obtain a key from the Library. There are instructions for this equipment on the wall.

d) Access and Staging Equipment

There are various pieces of this type of equipment in the Dance Studio. This equipment is for use under the supervision of the Technician.

We are fortunate in having a very extensive collection of dance books and periodicals in the Bishop Otter College library as well as an increasing collection of dance videotapes, slides and resource packs.
A large collection of music records, tapes, compact discs and scores are also housed in this part of the library for your use. Additional music resources are held in the Sound Studio.

There are several CD-ROM databases available for extending research. These include Art Index, British Humanities, Dance on Disc, Discovering Authors, General Academic Index and The Guardian. Students are also able to use the Inter-Library Loan facility to obtain items not held in library stock.

The Subject Librarian works closely with the field and with the students to provide appropriate library resources and support. All students receive an introduction to the library service at the beginning of their programme from the Subject Librarian. Special library workshops are also arranged to familiarise students with reference materials and methods in the subject of their choice. Thereafter, the Subject Librarian is available, at any time, to provide further instruction or help at the request of the student or teaching staff, including CD-ROM searching and research skills. Help on using the Internet can also be provided. Various subject guides and in-house publications are also produced.