Dance and Fitness with Foundation Year

With this BA degree you’ll gain a broad understanding of the dance and fitness industry, and the ability to manage a successful career in this exciting field. With a focus on dance science, you’ll become a thinking practitioner in the world of movement, performance, and the human body.

There are many opportunities and potential career routes within the dance industry. This course will help you to extend your skills, nurture your talent and turn your passion into a fulfilling career, whether you want to become a fitness instructor, personal trainer or dancer and choreographer.

Why study BA (Hons) Dance and Fitness 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. Our Students’ Union offers a range of free societies and nights out for you to enjoy, from a dance society to our yearly festiball event, there is something for everyone.

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 BA (Hons) Dance and Fitness course you share a first year with BA (Hons) Dance. 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?
This degree puts a focus on both dance and fitness. You’ll explore movement in relation to the human body and performance, and you’ll discover the must-knows for anyone considering a career within the dance and fitness sector.

You will gain in-depth psychological and physiological knowledge and be confident in fitness testing and personal training other people. You will regularly work in the Human Performance Lab and university gym, planning fitness programmes, analysing movement and researching the effects of different fitness interventions. You will gain useful knowledge about injury prevention and rehabilitation.

Foundation Year
Core Modules
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 Three
Core Modules
Advanced Dance Techniques
Progressions in Dance Science
Exercise Programming and Testing
Personal Training
Independent Project

This industry focused 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.

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.