BA (Hons) Dance

Module: 5DC006

Credits: 20

Period: 2

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

The Choreo Lab is a module where students will work to develop their all-round choreographic and performance making abilities. With a particular focus on the scenographic process and the impact of technology on performance making and realisation, lectures will explore the making processes that apply to the devising of theatre dance and screen dance, through both contemporary and jazz dance genres, utilising learning in choreography, scenography, technology and performance.

Module: 5DC002

Credits: 20

Period: 2

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

This module aims to reflect current professional dance practice in technical training which develops physical and mental preparation for performance, and allows the dancer to perform safely in class and in performance. The module aims to give students a clear understanding of the technical and artistic styles of specific dance genres (Ballet, Jazz, and Contemporary), the ability to apply safe practice in training based on current lab research, and the opportunity to develop and refine performance skills. Personal interpretation of the material and a sense of artistry in class, rehearsals and assessment classes are a fundamental part of the learning experience on this module.

Module: 5DC007

Credits: 20

Period: 2

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

This module aims to introduce students to some of the many areas of study/research in dance, building on ideas introduced at level 4 in Academic Skills and Ways of Seeing Dance. Students will choose TWO areas of study from a range of options offered by staff reflecting their research interests. These may include, for example, dance science, dance history, dance education, dance history, dance and technology or dance and cultural studies.

Module: 5DC003

Credits: 20

Period: 2

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

This module aims to reflect current professional dance practice in technical training and performance, and more specifically in the performance of professional repertoire. The module content will help students to develop physical and mental preparation for performance, develop their awareness of safe practice in dance, and give them experience of the physical and artistic demands of professional repertoire. Students will gain a clear understanding of the technical and artistic styles of specific dance genres, and the opportunity to develop performance skills. Personal interpretation of the material and a sense of artistry in class, rehearsals and assessment performances are a fundamental part of the learning experience on this module.

Module: 5DC004

Credits: 20

Period: 2

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

The aim of this module is to prepare students for employment through work-based learning in relation to their career aspirations. Engaging with PDP will be essential. Students will negotiate a proposed project for learning in the workplace – this could be, for example, dance teaching in schools/colleges/private dance schools/community settings, small-scale choreographic projects with (youth) dance/musical theatre companies, arts administration, or other subject specific based work opportunities. The proposal will involve: discussion and approval of the proposed project: planning (timescale and objectives); contact with a ‘mentor’ in the place of employment and preliminary visit; an agreed working methodology; implementation of PDP strategies. Students are expected to be flexible in their approach and to think creatively about their contribution to the work place by considering ways in which they may implement change in their own practice and/or that of their employer.

Module: 5DR014

Credits: 20

Period: 2

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

The module is research based and aims to cultivate skills of evaluation and interpretation for theatre and performance in a variety of contexts. You will be introduced to a range of performance theories and critical perspectives relevant to your subject areas. The module will facilitate the development of your analytical skills and evaluative techniques, both of which are necessary for future study and employment.

Module: 6DC003

Credits: 20

Period: 3

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

The aim of this module is to provide students with performance opportunities and/or support their development as choreographers and independent artists. Working either in groups, as individual choreographers, or as dancers for a designated choreographer, students will contribute toward the creation of different creative outcomes which will be featured in appropriate performance venues.

Module: 6DC007

Credits: 40

Period: 3

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

This module will focus on completing research projects that include practice, teaching and/or writing about dance. These projects can be investigated with a number of different methods including dance science, cultural studies, historical analysis, dance analysis and notation and PAR (practice as research) and contain a wide range of topics in dance.

Module: 6DC001

Credits: 20

Period: 3

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

The Advanced Dancer is a module where students’ work towards becoming dancers who demonstrate both technically and artistically, an advanced level of proficiency. Through weekly classes in Contemporary and Ballet Techniques and Complementary Training for Performance programmes, students will develop technical and performance abilities which will be assessed through both a studio/class based and performance environment.

Module: 6DC002

Credits: 20

Period: 3

Type: Core

Locations: Walsall Campus

This module aims to extend students’ knowledge and experience of the performance process. Practical exploration of somatic practices and established dance styles will inform the preparation of a solo performance. Technical, artistic, and interpretative skills and experience will be developed and refined in the preparation and performance of a reconstruction of a solo from professional repertoire. Solos will be individually proposed by students and these will be agreed with tutors before the start of the rehearsal process. Weekly studio classes will extend the students’ dance experience, and independent study will include extra training programmes. Reflective work on interpretation, with reference to other artists’ performances, will enhance the quality of student performance, and place the solos in an appropriate historical and cultural context. Practical and theoretical research will be undertaken on the process of reconstruction. The practical application of this will be further reinforced by watching professional performances and by the application of movement analysis. Students will be assessed in a practical class and they will also dance their solo in two assessed performances, in a venue appropriate to the genre of the chosen solo.

Module: 6DC005

Credits: 20