Dance with Foundation Year

Become a thinking practitioner of dance and spend time looking at performance development through choreography and dance techniques. Focusing on jazz and commercial styles, this dynamic dance degree course will also give you the opportunity to work with professional dancers, choreographers and arts organisations.

Why study BA (Hons) Dance at BNU?
Inspiring Facilities
At BNU we ensure you have creative spaces to bring your ideas to life. On this course you’ll have access to a range of our state-of-the-art facilities on campus, including a well-equipped gym, dance studios, fitness studio and a Human Performance Lab.

Each space brings with it unique features, from sprung floors to fully equipped sound systems and full-length mirrors - our dance studios are fully equipped with everything you’ll need to practice and create routines. We also understand that during your time at university, it is also just important to get involved with extra-curricular activities.

Showcase your skills
We seek to bring your work into the wider world and to bring the world into the university. During your time at BNU you’ll have the opportunity to perform at external venues and showcase your skills to the local dance community. You’ll also have access to the Wycombe Swan Theatre and Wycombe Town Hall as part of our Wycombe Swan Residency. The Swan Theatre sits adjacent to the University and is one of the UK’s leading regional theatres.

You’ll also have the opportunity to work collaboratively across the university with other courses such as Sports therapy and Photography, ensuring that you are building a varied network, like you would in the real world.

Learn from industry-experts
Led by a dedicated and experienced course team, you’ll benefit from their industry knowledge and the industry links they bring to the course. You will also have the chance to work closely with guest artists who are still active in the dance industry and who will further nurture your learning and professional development throughout your time at BNU. Our Dance courses are also ranked 1st for teaching in the UK. (NSS 2024)

Flexible learning
With our Dance course you share a first year with BA (Hons) Dance and Fitness. During this year you’ll experience the core curriculum before you further into specialised learning. This also allows you to decide your preferred degree, and choose between BA (Hons) Dance and BA (Hons) Dance and Fitness.

These courses are also offered as four-year programmes, including an initial Foundation Year. The Foundation Year will allow you to develop your academic study skills and build confidence in your abilities, identifying your own strengths and development needs for progression onto an undergraduate programme.

What will I study?
Opportunity modules are a key part of the BNU curriculum. You’ll choose modules in your first year from a broad selection in areas such as entrepreneurship, creativity, health & wellbeing and culture. Opportunity modules are designed to enable you to develop outside the traditional boundaries of your discipline and help you to further stand out from the crowd to future employers.

This degree focuses on commercial dance forms, jazz dance and classical ballet are the foundational styles but you will also have the chance to take classes in other diverse dance styles which may include K-Pop, AfroDance, Commercial, Hip Hop and contemporary. The supportive course team help to nurture your dance technique whilst also teaching you the transferable skills needed for your future career in the dance industry. In your final year you’ll focus on skills which prepare you for the dance industry. You will gain knowledge of how to contact agents, market yourself as a dance professional, undertake work experience and spotlight your skills in a final showcase performance.

Course Modules

Dance Pathway
Foundation Year
Contextual Studies: Intro to Performing Arts, research & writing
Professional Practice
Introduction to Dance
Introduction to Dance Fitness
Collaboration in Creative Practice
Project - Creative Realisation

Year one
Core modules
Foundations in Dance Technique
Development in Dance Techniques
Dance Pedagogy & Practice
Psychology for Dancers
Movement for Screen

Year two
Core modules
Dance Progressions
Dance Repertoire
The Body and Performance
Fitness Instruction
The Dance Industry in Context

Year 3
Core Modules
Advanced Dance Techniques
Dance Careers and Professional Practice
Advanced Dance Performance
Performance Showcase
Independent Project

This undergraduate dance programme is delivered through a variety of teaching mediums, with a strong onus on combining theory and practice through studio classes, workshops, masterclasses, and seminars. These are all designed to provide a stimulating authentic learning environment with multiple opportunities for you to work with professional dance artists.

Assessment has been designed to be as authentic as possible with a strong focus on practical skills and reflective practice. Assessment is ongoing and often focused on the process as well as the end point to best reflect real-world practice. The overall aim is to use innovative teaching and learning methods to guide you towards becoming more independent learners by the end of the programme, and to allow you to explore issues fully in the context of your work.

By your final year, we expect you to have attained a level of independent learning and the ability to apply the knowledge and theoretical understanding you have developed in the earlier years of the course to a particular case study or project of your own devising. Within this independent research project, you get the chance to focus in on a particular area of dance practice that interests you.