BA (Hons) in Dance
Bath, United Kingdom
BA
DURATION
4 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time, Part time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
EARLIEST START DATE
23 Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
GBP 16,905 / per year *
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* international full time | UK part time: £4,625 | UK full time: £9,250 | professional placement year full time for UK: £1,850 international: £3,381
Fast-track counseling
By contacting the school, you'll get access to free priority counselling for any study and application questions.
Key Summary
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.
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.
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)
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.
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 inquiry in dance. Read more about what our entrepreneurial graduates go on to do after studying with us.
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.
Course length
Three years full-time, or four years full-time with a professional placement year. Part-time available.