Professional Dance BA (Hons)

Absorb yourself in all that dance is, in the North East's dance hub. Adventure into new corners of dance in the studio and beyond. Make connections that last.

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Overview

This course is offered by North East dance organisation, Dance City, in partnership with the University of Sunderland.

Our unique course has been designed by leading dance professionals to prepare you for a varied and multi-faceted career, ensuring you are able to thrive in a range of roles and settings within the dance sector and beyond.

The course begins and ends in the studio, and you’ll be dancing from morning to evening most of the time. It is a challenging course that will require much of you physically, socially, and creatively across the three years of practice and study. We are committed to offering a foundation of support and care to enable you to make to the most of this opportunity.

Dance City graduates are top-class performers, teachers, choreographers, producers, and cultural managers. We have mapped our graduates into more than 50 creative career paths so far. We are proud to be empowering the next generation of dance professionals and invite you to create your dance future.

Why us?

You'll be based at Dance City in Newcastle, the National Dance Agency for the North East of England. Dance City can offer further opportunities to explore a variety of dance styles
You will benefit from the passion, experience and dedication of inspiring tutors who have worked within the dance industry as professional performers, choreographers, teachers, managers or academics
As a University of Sunderland student, you will also benefit from all of the University facilities and support on offer
Our Drama and Dance courses are 13th in the UK (Guardian University Guide, 2023)

Dance City has a unique approach, nurturing dance careers in education, health and management as well as performance
Dance training is daily and rigorous, with technique classes taught with live musical and percussive accompaniment
Nationally renowned guest artists and choreographers are regularly invited to teach and these may include Joss Arnott, Angus Balbernie, Kerry Biggin, Gary Clarke, Neus Gil Cortes, Rosie Kay, Kerry Nicholls, ReGina Wielingen and Renaud Wiser

Join our creative community: @SunderlandCreative #WeAreCreative

Course structure

The Dance City BA (Hons) Professional Dance is practically focused and has a strong emphasis on developing your dance technique and performance skills in a range of forms. You'll have strong core training in contemporary dance practices and will design a pathway of individual technical development in a distinctive model that works with our public class programme to enable you to engage regular, high-quality technique classes including commercial, ballet, tap, Bollywood, street dance and breaking, salsa, jazz, and ballroom, along with supporting practices such as Pilates and yoga. Each year you'll work with in-house and guest choreographers to create original dance work performed in the Dance City theatre, building on your technical skills to develop your unique artistry and collaborative experience. You'll also create your own work, supported by experienced choreographers, ensuring your ideas and creative identity are allowed to flourish.

Year 1 (national level 4):

Dance Technique and Performance 1
Choreographing History
Managing Dance
The Arts and Social Change
Guided Project
Introduction to Reflexive Dance Practice

Year 2 (national level 5):

Dance Technique and Performance 2
Choreographing the Contemporary in Facilitating Dance
Placement Project
Reflexive Practice, the Choreographic, and the Creative Industries

Year 3 (national level 6):

Dance Technique and Performance 3
Producing and Curating Dance
Festival Project
The Reflective Dance Practitioner

Facilities

All of your practical and academic sessions will take place at Dance City in Newcastle upon Tyne, which will give you access to professional tutors and facilities as well as placing you at the heart of the region’s dance industry networks.

You will access the library, a range of student support services, student accommodation and generous scholarships through the University of Sunderland.

Entry requirements

We don’t currently display entry requirements for United States. Please contact the Student Admin team on studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3154.

Find out how many points your qualifications are worth using the UCAS Tariff Calculator.

If you have studied for a GCSE which has an alphabetical grade, then you will need to achieve a grade C or above. Students should be able to apply for an Enhanced DBS check to support placement activity. This will be administered by University of Sunderland. If any applicant has endorsements or criminal convictions that may affect their DBS status, they should contact the Programme Team to discuss this further.

All applicants must audition and interview for a place on the BA (Hons) Professional Dance, either at an in-person session or through a self-tape process if preferred. We want to make this a positive experience; if you have questions about the application process or require an alternative, please contact us. Our team has the skill to see potential even if your experience is limited, so please be in touch if you feel you have the potential to thrive on our course.

For more information on this course and details of upcoming open days, please visit Dance City.

Fees and finance

The annual, full-time fee for this course is:

£9,250 if you are from the UK/Ireland/EU settled/pre-settled

Please note this course is not available to international students.

Learn more about settled status, pre-settled status, special discounts, visa requirements, and Common Travel Area (CTA) agreements for the Republic of Ireland applicants in our Help and Advice article.

Take a look at the Your Finances section to find out about the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

Career ready

This course develops skills, knowledge and understanding that will equip you for a range of careers in performance, dance marketing and management, choreography, dance journalism, community dance and technical aspects of production.

A creative career

At Dance City, we are experts in supporting dance professionals. We do this in our professional programme and in our artist development activities as well as in our BA and MA courses. We support and nurture our graduates to create their dance futures, and work with our graduates as colleagues, collaborators, and peers.

Career options

Dance Performance and Choreography

Our students have gone on to perform with companies including balletLORENT, Company of Others, Hit The Ground Running Dance Theatre Company, Lo-Giudice Dance, Fertile Ground, Tavaziva Dance and Anna Watkins Dance Company, and many create their own work as independent artists, including Beth Veitch, Benedicta Valentina, Alyssa Lisle, and Lila Naruse.

Dance education and community practice

Dance City graduates have embarked on successful teaching and facilitation portfolios with organisations including Phoenix Dance Theatre, Royal Grammar School, Dance City Engagement Team, Dame Allan’s, One Day Creative, Circus Central and various private dance schools.

Dance management and producing

Graduates from Dance City BA programmes include arts managers, producers, and administrators, running their own production companies, festivals, and arts organisations, including Moving Arts Management and Curious Arts.

Postgraduate study

Graduates often choose to continue onto postgraduate study with conservatoires.

Related courses

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:

0191 515 3000

student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Arts and Creative Industries.

Page last updated: 01 December 2022

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.

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