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Dance

BA (Hons)

Undergraduate degree - single honours

Award
BA (Hons) Dance
School/s
Bath School of Music and Performing Arts
Campus or location
Newton Park
Course length
Three years full time, or four years full time with professional placement year. Part time available.
UCAS codes
Institution Code: B20
Course Code: W500 or W501
Campus Code: A,BSU

Entry requirements

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed under 'Typical offers' in the main column below. For combined courses, please check both subjects. If your qualification is not listed, please email admissions@bathspa.ac.uk with your specific details.

Build the skills you need to become a creative dance professional. Create. Perform. Transform.

  • Experience rigorous, practical training with daily technique and performance classes in our purpose built dance facilities.
  • Immerse yourself in a unique creative environment, making exciting new work for both live and digital performance environments.
  • Gain industry experience and contacts, working regularly with our extensive network of professional artists and companies.

Immerse yourself in an exciting and challenging artistic environment. By studying Dance at Bath Spa University, you’ll be joining a training programme with a strong focus on practical studio work. You'll use dance to explore yourself and the world around you within an inspiring and supportive community of people.

This Dance degree is designed to give you skills and experiences in making new work for performance. Exploring creative ideas is central to the ethos of Dance at Bath Spa and you'll have regular opportunities to present your projects alongside your peers and our network of professional artists. The course suits creative individuals who are looking for a degree that is both physically and intellectually stimulating.

Find out more about our Dance at Bath Spa University and take a look at our Instagram.

University of the Year for Social Inclusion

Sunday Times Good University Guide, 2024

Joint 2nd in the UK

and #1 in the South West for Value Added in Drama and Dance (Guardian University Guide, 2024) 

#10 in the UK

and #1 in the South West for Student Satisfaction in Drama, Dance and Cinematics (Complete University Guide, 2024) 

Find out more about our events and graduates.

Create. Perform. Transform.


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“The best thing about the course was the constant creative stimulus and the attitude I developed through the course. I was always accompanied by very supportive lecturers that provided us with contacts, strategies and tips to get into the professional world. After graduating in 2020, I immediately started teaching and choreographing.”

João Oliveria, Dance graduate

“I truly feel lucky that I spent three years in a place where all my aspirations and ideas, even the craziest ones, were respected and supported. This course gave me everything I needed to become a skilful dancer and a creative artist.”

Delicia Sefiha, BA Dance graduate and Artistic Director of AllouAqui Dance Theatre

What you'll learn

Overview

On our BA Dance course, you'll be encouraged to make work for both the live and digital arena and you'll be supported by the expertise of a specialist team of tutors and industry contacts. We’ll encourage you to develop a critical and analytical mindset that will support your creative enquiry.

Your physical training is an important feature of your programme and requires you to take part in daily technique classes and regular performances. The majority of your training focuses on contemporary techniques (Cunningham, release, somatic practices, contact improvisation) but the course also provides opportunities for you to explore other styles and genres. There's a strong focus on developing a holistic understanding of safe and healthy dance practices in order to ensure that you can work in a sustainable and ethical manner.

Engaging in live public performances is an important feature of the course. Each year you’ll be part of exciting performance modules with visiting professional companies. As part of this, you’ll take part in intensive projects that build your skills as a maker and performer.

Modules in dance making and choreographic enquiry offer you the chance to create work for live performance both as an independent and collaborative artist. You'll also have a chance to explore Screendance, emerging digital technologies, and how dance intersects with other art forms.

Course structure

Year one
Your first year will be a fast-paced, challenging experience that builds your skills in the key areas of performance, creativity and critical thinking. You’ll work on regular performance projects, creating solo, small group and large ensemble work. We introduce you to new ways to think and move that will help you to broaden your skills as a dance artist. You'll develop a detailed understanding of safe and healthy dance practices which will help to support your health and wellbeing during your studies and beyond.

Regular sessions with visiting companies and artists will help you expand your understanding of the dance industry and inspire you to think about your own career aspirations.

Year two
You’ll stretch your creative and performance skills in exciting new directions. A wide range of practical sessions will deepen your understanding of how performance work can be created for different contexts; we encourage you to see yourself – and the work you make – within a broader perspective.

The visiting guest artist programme continues to provide you with inspirational workshops and residencies that help to build your knowledge of the field and inform your artistic practice.

Year three
You'll focus on developing a specialist area of study and preparing for the employment market. You'll work regularly with industry practitioners to develop a broad understanding of dance employment routes. You can work on a professional performance project, complete a work placement and undertake a substantial independent study.

Regular individual tutoring is provided by specialist dance staff to help you build a plan for after you graduate. The University's Careers and Employability team will also continue to support you for up to three years after graduation.

How will I be assessed?

We’ll assess your work in a variety of ways such as practical performances, presentations, portfolios and essays. Practical projects may be assessed on your creative process, the final product or both. There are no written tests or examinations.

How will I be taught?

The course has a strong practical focus with workshops, technique classes and creative sessions. These are led by qualified staff and visiting choreographers and artists.

Digital technology plays a significant role in the course; we apply it to creative practice as well as using it to teach. Screendance, and the integration of digital media in live performance work, are distinctive features of the course.

To find out more about how we teach and how you'll learn, please read our Learning and Teaching Delivery Statement.

Course modules

This course offers or includes the following modules. The modules you take will depend on your pathway or course combination (if applicable) as well as any optional or open modules chosen. Please check the programme document for more information.

Year one (Level 4) modules
  • Body in Training 1: The Healthy Dancer
  • Dance Making 1
  • Exploring Screendance
  • Body in Training 2: The Mindful Dancer
  • Dance Making 2
  • Performance Project 1
Year two (Level 5) modules
  • Body in Training 3: The Responsive Dancer
  • Creative Worlds
  • Performance Project 2
  • Applied Techniques
  • Performing Self
  • Creative Lab
Year three (Level 6) modules
  • The Company
  • Somatics for Performance, Health and Wellbeing
  • Dancing Knowledge
  • Professional Practice
  • Independent Project (20 credits)
  • Independent Project (40 credits)

Opportunities

Study abroad

As part of your degree, you could study abroad on a placement at one of Bath Spa’s partner universities.

Work placements, industry links and internships

Our students have completed work placements with many professional dance organisations including Ballet Cymru, Hofesh Shechter, Pavilion Dance, ITV, The Egg Theatre, Impermanence Dance Theatre, Circomedia, Be U Dance Company, and Jean Abreu Dance.

Visiting guest artists and companies

One of the key features of Dance at Bath Spa is the exciting variety of ways that professional artists and companies are integrated into the delivery of our courses. We have an extensive network of contacts who work alongside the Bath Spa teaching team on both weekly classes and intensive projects.

Previous guests who have worked with our students include: Theo Clinkard, Impermanence Dance Theatre, Lila Dance, Lea Anderson, Wendy Houston, Alexander Whitely, Protein Dance, Maresa von Stockert, Jean Abreu, Laila Diallo, James Wilton Dance, FAR FROM THE NORM, Kennedy Junior Muntanga, Richard Chappell Dance, Dan Canham, Kapow, TRIBE, Vincent Dance Theatre, Kip Johnson and Sam Amos.

Careers

Our dance graduates work in a range of professions including:

  • Performance
  • Choreography
  • Community dance work
  • Teaching in a variety of educational settings
  • Dance movement therapy
  • Arts management / administration

Whether they’ve continued their education or progressed to the professional performing arts, our dance graduates have gone on to do amazing things. Bath Spa dancers emerge with a sophisticated understanding of the interplay between technical, creative and critical modes of enquiry in dance. Read more about what our entrepreneurial graduates go on to do after studying with us.

Performances and events

As a Bath Spa dancer, you'll be part of a busy events calendar that will allow you to both participate in and watch professional dance performances. We’ll encourage you to participate in dance festivals and exhibitions, and you’ll have the opportunity to apply for choreographic platforms and screen dance festivals. 

Global Citizenship

If you’re a full-time undergraduate student starting your first year at Bath Spa University, you can apply for the Certificate in Global Citizenship, which you’ll study alongside your degree.

You’ll gain global awareness and add an international dimension to your student experience, and funding is available. On successful completion of the programme, you’ll be awarded a Certificate in Global Citizenship. This is in addition to your degree; it doesn’t change your degree title or results.

Adobe Creative Campus

Develop a wealth of indispensable digital skills that you can take into your future career. One of only three Adobe Creative Campuses in the UK, we provide all Bath Spa students with access to the full Adobe Creative Suite, giving you the tools to communicate creatively, whatever your course or chosen professional field.   

Professional placement year

Overview

This optional placement year provides you with the opportunity to identify, apply for and secure professional experience, normally comprising one to three placements over a minimum of nine months. Successful completion of this module will demonstrate your ability to secure and sustain graduate-level employment.

By completing the module, you'll be entitled to the addition of 'with Professional Placement Year' to your degree title.

Preparation

Before your Professional Placement Year, you'll work to secure your placement, constructing a development plan with your module leader and your placement coordinator from our Careers and Employability team.

How will I be assessed?

On your return to University for your final year, you'll submit your Placement Portfolio, detailing your development on your placement.

"I felt like the whole course and experience was one big highlight of life so far. I've learnt so much, not just academically, but in life. I feel like I really lived and experienced these three years of my life to the fullest."

Raquel dos Santos, BA Dance graduate

Facilities and resources

Where the subject is taught

The course is taught at our Newton Park campus.

You’ll work in our dance studios, which are fully equipped for choreography, performance and work with digital media. We regularly host professional performances and workshops from leading dance artists in the University Theatre

Bath Spa University offers many other excellent facilities including:

Specialist technical resources

You can hire out equipment through the SISO, Bath Spa University’s free equipment loan service. We provide a huge variety of equipment including laptops, ipads, projectors and cameras. You'll also get access to the media creation app Adobe Spark for mobile and web to help you with your digital projects.

Our greatest resource is, perhaps, the professionalism and experience of the tutors who teach on the course and our professional associates and partners.

"The Bath Spa dancers were an absolute delight to teach, and very responsive to material... I’ve gone on to hire a Bath Spa graduate dancer to participate in my professional dance project, where she will perform across the South West."

Steve Johnstone, Off The Map Dance Company

Fees

2024 entry
Student Annual tuition fee
UK full time £9,250
UK part time £4,625
International full time £16,905

Professional Placement Year

During the placement year, the fee is reduced to 20% of the full time fee. This applies to UK and EU/International students.

  • UK: £1,850
  • International: £3,381

Interested in applying?

What we look for in potential students

We are looking for individuals who are:

  • strong and confident performers;
  • creatively open-minded and willing to take artistic risks;
  • good team players;
  • passionate about dance and prepared to work hard to see results.
Typical offers

We accept a wide range of qualifications for entry to our undergraduate programmes. The main ones are listed below:

  • A Level – grades BBB-BCC including a grade B in Dance, Performing Arts or a related subject preferred.
  • BTEC – Extended Diploma grades from Distinction Distinction Merit (DDM) to Distinction Merit Merit (DMM) in a related subject, or evidence of experience in Dance or Performing Arts.
  • T Levels – grade Merit preferred in a relevant subject.
  • International Baccalaureate - a minimum of 32 points are required in addition to evidence of involvement in dance or performing arts.
  • Access to HE courses – typical offers for applicants with Access to HE will be the Access to HE Diploma or Access to HE Certificate (60 credits, 45 of which must be Level 3, at Merit or higher) together with evidence of involvement in dance and performing arts.

If you don’t meet the entry requirements above, we may be able to accept your prior learning or experience from outside of formal education. See our Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) page to learn more.

English Language Requirements for International and EU Applicants

IELTS 6.0 - for visa nationals, with a minimum score of IELTS 5.5 in each element.

Course enquiries

For further information about the programme or entry requirements, please email us at admissions@bathspa.ac.uk.

How do I apply?

Ready to apply? Click the 'apply now' button in the centre of this page.

Need more guidance? Head to our how to apply pages.

Interview and portfolio guidance

If you apply, we’ll ask you to attend an audition day so that we can assess your suitability for the programme. The audition gives you a chance to demonstrate your physical dance skills and your creative abilities. Your personal statement is your chance to show your skills and experience in dance. We want to know about what inspires you and what you hope to achieve with your training.

Auditions will consist of:

Technique class
We're looking for commitment, enthusiasm and physical evidence of dance training to an appropriate level (alignment, accuracy, energy).

Creative workshop
We're looking for creativity and imagination, the ability to work as a group and to create and present work in a contemporary style.

Course overview/ Q and A session
This session should clarify what you can expect from the course in terms of practical and written requirements, workshops, projects and placements. We'll also be able to answer individual questions to help you to decide whether this course is right for you.

Eligible applicants will be invited to auditions at our Newton Park Campus between December and March. We don't charge an audition fee.

Course leader: Sarah Alexander
Email: s.alexander@bathspa.ac.uk

Subject leader for Dance: Michelle Elliott
Email: m.elliott@bathspa.ac.uk

Three year course
With placement year

Website feedback to web@bathspa.ac.uk