This course will provide you with the practical, academic and promotional skills needed to be a versatile dancer or choreographer across all genres, and also prepare you for postgraduate study and careers in related areas such as movement and dance education.
The course has a practical focus, with regular studio skills sessions and public performances across the South West and beyond forming an important part of the programme.
Performance is at the heart of the course, so you will work with an ensemble and as a soloist to devise and realise original and devised routines, and perform to the dance-lovers in the public.
In recent years, dance students at UCW have performed in professional venues including Loco Klub in Bristol and in our spectacular end of year show in Weston’s Playhouse Theatre.
The course is taught by still-practising dance and performing arts professionals, and you will also learn from expert guest lecturers who will help you develop your online portfolio and encourage you to make a professional network within the dance industry.
You will also gain an understanding of performance physicality and explore the key historical and stylistic developments, practitioners and productions in dance and undertake projects in areas of academic and professional interest.
The programme’s international emphasis extends beyond the syllabus, with students on this course having recently had the opportunity to visit Los Angeles at an additional expense.
The UCW Academy of Performing Arts has also developed a partnership with the Studio School in LA, with students from both institutions collaborating to produce a music video.
The course is taught in the recently-renovated rehearsal spaces and dance studios in the UCW Academy of Performing Arts at our Knightstone Campus. You’ll also attend lectures in the brand new learning and teaching facilities in the University Centre of our Winter Gardens building, which is also in the centre of Weston.
Please contact the course leader Corrin Martin or UCW’s HEART team if you have any questions. It would also be great to meet you and show you around at our next Open Day.
Students who pass this course are awarded a BA (Hons) Degree from Bath Spa University. The agreement between Bath Spa University and UCW is reviewed on an ongoing basis to ensure academic standards are maintained.
2020 entry full-time tuition fees: £8,250 per year.
2021 entry full-time tuition fees: £8,500 per year.
This covers all of the teaching and assessment elements that are required for you to complete the course.
However, students on this course will need appropriate clothing
and footwear for dancing and other types of performing. Additional expenses also apply to some props and costumes.
The tuition fees also include:
- The use of all UCW facilities and equipment.
- Attendance at guest lectures at UCW.
- Annual £10 printing and photocopying allowance for full-time students.
- The use of UCW computers at any of our campuses and access to Microsoft Office 365 while you are enrolled with UCW.
- The loans of books from our libraries.
- Access to all of the UCW student support and careers services.
It does not include:
- Optional theatre trips at an approximate cost of £50 each.
- Optional residential visits at an approximate cost of £75 (UK) and £100 (overseas) per night.
- Extra printing and photocopying above the £10 limit.
- The cost of books you may wish to purchase.
- Transport between our campuses, and to/from your partner university and any work placements. We encourage students to take advantage of termly bus passes to reduce transport costs.
- Accommodation and other living costs.
UCW publishes its Tuition Fees Policy on the Wider Information Set page of this website.
You may also be eligible for additional financial support, depending on your circumstances.
All of the modules on this course are compulsory and worth either 20, 40 or 60 credits each. Successful completion of all three years is worth 360 credits and will lead to the award of a degree at Level 6.
Year 1:
- Ballet 1 (20 credits)
- Commercial Dance Technique (20 credits)
- Dance Skills (20 credits)
- Jazz Dance 1 (20 credits)
- Performance and Creative Practice (20 credits)
- The Dancer’s Body (20 credits)
Year 2:
- Ballet 2 (20 credits)
- Commercial Dance Technique (20 credits)
- Dance Skills 2 (20 credits)
- Jazz Dance 2 (20 credits)
- Performance and Creative Practice 2 (20 credits)
- Personal Reflective Practice 2 (20 credits)
Year 3:
- Dance Independent Study (20 credits)
- Professional Dance Projects (60 credits)
- The Professional Dancer (40 credits)
This course is taught and assessed via a combination of lectures, seminars, workshops, skills classes, in-class performances of devised work, presentations, individual and group work, written assignments and public performances. UCW’s Higher Education Library Plus (HE.LP) team also deliver a series of sessions on degree-level research and academic writing to all first-year students. When not in scheduled lectures and seminars, students are expected to continue learning through independent self-study. This involves reading relevant literature, working on individual and group projects, and undertaking research in preparation for coursework.
This course has an average of 26 hours of scheduled teaching per week.
Assessment is via a combination of practical exams and coursework. The assessment breakdown is 65% practical exams and 35% coursework. There are no written exams on this course.
- Graduates are eligible to apply for postgraduate courses such as the Master’s Degree in Dance at Bath Spa University.
- Graduates could also seek freelance and contracted dance and choreography roles and, subject to further study, aspire to work in mainstream or specialist dance education.
Industry Insight
Almost a third of dance graduates who enter employment with six months of graduating are employed as dancers or choreographers.
A minimum of CDD at A Level, or a BTEC Extended Diploma at MMP, or equivalent, preferably in a related area. Applications from those studying two A Levels or alternative Level 3 qualifications will be considered on an individual basis. Applicants are also required to attend an audition.
