BA (Hons) Dance

OUR STAFF ARE INSPIRING TEACHERS, RESEARCHERS, INDUSTRY PRACTITIONERS AND TECHNICIANS WHO ARE ALL HERE TO SUPPORT YOU WITH YOUR STUDIES AND HELP YOU TO ACHIEVE OUTSTANDING OUTCOMES.

Our teaching staff are exceptional. We’ve recently been awarded Gold by the TEF (Teaching Excellence Framework) which assesses the quality of teaching.

Our Dance degree runs in partnership with Pavilion Dance South West (PDSW), the National Dance Development Organisation for the South West. We have our own, purpose-built dance studios on campus and we also have the use of PDSW’s town centre studios. This is a perfect combination of both professional and educational environments. You will be able to build a network of collaborators and professionals to help you launch your own creative career. This degree will also enable you to understand the current dance industry and meet the professionals running it. On campus, you can make the most of our culture of collaboration by exploring AUB’s creative community and all that it has to offer. You’ll finish with a degree and the skills to be a dance artist, capable of thinking about dance in new and relevant ways. This is a competitive market, but you are one of a kind and have something great to offer. We’ll help you to become a dance professional with an edge.

LEVEL 4 (FIRST YEAR)

Train, Explore and Investigate

In your first year, you’ll develop the core skills that you’ll need to enhance your understanding of making, performing and producing for a range of dance contexts.

We’ll focus on three key practical aspects: Dance Technique, Improvisation and Composition.

You’ll work on your technical, creative and performance skills through a variety of performance opportunities and develop frameworks for reflection and analysis of a range of perspectives on dance.

You’ll gain embodied and theoretical experience of making and viewing work within different environments and contexts and have the opportunity to work as part of a group as well as individually.

You’ll also be introduced to the infrastructure for producing dance and begin to develop the fundamental entrepreneurial skills required to sustain and manage a performing arts practice.

By the end of this level you will have a sound knowledge of the fundamental technical, creative and entrepreneurial concepts related to the dance industry.

LEVEL 5 (SECOND YEAR)

From Practice to Vision

As you progress to your second year, we expect you to engage in more complex issues through your creative work, as well as in the more theoretical units. You’ll continue to gain experience of performance in various environments.

You will deepen and extend your technical knowledge base through the study of a variety of dance techniques and deepen your consideration of the audience as an integral factor in the creative process.

You’ll learn current industry standards for safe and effective dance practices, while working creatively on more complex choreographic and performance projects.

At Level 5, we encourage you to think about specialised areas of study appropriate to your developing interests in performance, choreography, and applied dance practice or producing. Further theoretical frameworks and methodological tools will also deepen your understanding and enhance your practical work.

By the end of this level, you should be confident in your ability to organise your working methods and you will be prepared with key knowledge and skills that will allow you to enter the third year of study with confidence.

LEVEL 6 (THIRD YEAR)

From Vision to Industry

At Level 6, you’ll consolidate your expertise and take your work into more advanced areas, including public performances.

You’ll be given the opportunity to test the working methods that you’ve developed in the previous two years and apply them to an independent project, collaborating with fellow students involved in performance, choreography, applied practice or producing, to a professional level.

The Investigative Study unit gives you the opportunity to pursue a course of advanced independent research in your chosen specialism. This allows you to demonstrate your skills in research, analysis, and criticism.

By the end of this level, you should be able to evaluate your development in performance, choreography, applied practice and producing. You’ll consider your strengths and weaknesses and demonstrate an understanding of the business aspects of working in dance and your ability to work at a professional level.

Throughout the course, you’ll have opportunities to engage with artists working at Pavilion Dance South West as Guest Lecturers, Visiting Tutors, and workshop providers and possibly as Directors/Producers/Choreographers for Level 6 productions.

COURSE TRIPS

As part of your course you may also get the opportunity to take part in course trips, previous trips have included:

• London
• Roche Court
• Salisbury