BA (Hons) Musical Theatre and Dance

UCAS Code: W500
Institution Code: B39

View course on UCAS

A three year full-time degree course available at:


The BA (Hons) Musical Theatre and Dance undergraduate course will provide you with a balance of creative and artistic modules and with knowledge and practical skills, allowing you to explore the demanding world of the professional performing arts industry.

This is an industry that is constantly evolving and requires performers with the ability to be flexible and adaptable to its shifting needs. The course also aims to enrich the student experience by offering both rigorous training and a level of optionality, allowing the student to shape their own creative identity.

This undergraduate course has high contact hours to enable you to fulfil your potential as a professional artist. You will have a diverse and intensive programme of training that will facilitate you with the subject-specific skills and knowledge, enabling you
to graduate as an industry-ready professional.

performers-singing-group-colourful

At Performers College, we believe the opportunity to work in the performing arts profession should be available to all and not prevented by monetary, physical or cultural restrictions. The three years are underpinned with a curriculum spine that develops both transferable and life skills essential for longevity within your chosen career path. On successful completion of the BA (Hons) Musical Theatre and Dance, graduates will be equipped with the necessary skills to access a variety of roles with optimum technique and a suitable level of autonomy to enter the world of performing arts.

Performers College is exceptionally proud of the success and longevity of its alumni. Graduates of Performers College can be seen in many West End shows, UK Tours, on prestigious television programmes and performing worldwide.

Performers College is part of BIMM University, and the course is awarded by BIMM University. In 2019 BIMM University was granted Taught Degree Awarding Powers in the UK by an Order from the Privy Council, having demonstrated that it meets the criteria to become a ‘recognised body’ for awarding degrees in the UK.

As such, BIMM Univeristy has overall responsibility for the academic standards and the quality of the qualifications we offer, and we are able to award our own undergraduate and Masters degrees. BIMM University validated courses undergo a rigorous approval process, overseen by our Academic Board, that includes advice from external academic and creative industries experts to ensure that they are aligned with the UK Quality Assurance Agency’s Framework for Higher Education Qualifications and the relevant Subject Benchmark Statements, and meet the needs of the industries they serve.

male-dance-solo-bw

Course Specification

Mode of Attendance: Full-time

Length of course: Three years

Awarding institution: BIMM University

Campus delivery: Birmingham and Essex

Language of study: English

Final award: Bachelor of Arts (Hons)

Minimum Requirements

Normal entry requirements are 80 UCAS points from three A-Levels at CDD (or an equivalent level 3 qualification), plus five GCSEs at C/4 or above, including English Language.

For applicants with significant prior professional experience, offers may be made under the BIMM University Recognition of Prior Practice Policy.

Audition: Candidates will be required to attend an audition and demonstrate ability in dance, singing and acting. Applicants with high levels of performance skills may be considered for entry with a lower UCAS point requirement.

 

Progression

Graduates can progress directly to employment in theatre and related creative industries.

Course Fees

Student loan finance is available for BA (Hons) Musical Theatre and Dance Please visit our Fees page for information on access to Student Loans.

Please note, UK students eligible for Student Loans are able to borrow the full course fee for Performers College degrees.

Year 1

All students take the following core modules in their first year of study.

This module is intended to introduce you to a range of performance and technical skills required in a variety of dance genres. You will undertake technical and artistic classes in ballet, tap, contemporary and jazz. The module ensures a steady and well-founded development of fundamental dance skills, building upon any existing knowledge and developing individual progress. You will look to develop a dancers’ mind and body with reference to strength, flexibility, alignment, co-ordination and range of movement quality within each dance genre.

You will learn to address individual physical characteristics to enable you to reach your full potential alongside an understanding of how to perceive and express concepts and personal responses in order to develop aesthetically and artistically. There will be direct connection to promote the capacity of personal evaluation to develop technically and to encourage an understanding of the performer as an individual artist.

The aim of this module is to introduce you to the different styles of vocal and character work that you will cover during your time at Performers College. Fundamental elements of vocal techniques will be clarified and developed. Respectful and healthy exploration of each individual voice and voice type will be promoted. You will gain a basic knowledge of appropriate working practices necessary for professional acting work in all forms of live and recorded media.

This module aims to build basic good practice by breaking down inhibition, freeing up imagination and creativity and facilitating confidence. During this module you will develop an initial understanding of basic dramatic principles including the rules of improvisation, physicality and body language and character development and status.

The first Creative Industries module will introduce you to the strategies and tools to set you on the right path toward pursuing a successful career. Whether focused on a particular career goal or considering several future possibilities, you will broaden your knowledge of the opportunities available to you as a future creative industry professional.

This module is intended to build on the technical skills already achieved but with strong emphasis on performance quality and expression, developing the student as an individual artist. You will undertake technical and artistic classes in ballet, tap, contemporary and jazz. The module ensures continued development of fundamental dance skills, building upon any existing knowledge and developing individual progress.

You will continue to develop a dancers’ mind and body with reference to strength, flexibility, alignment, co-ordination and range of movement quality within each dance genre. You will be able to address individual physical characteristics to enable them to reach their full potential alongside an understanding of how to perceive and express concepts and personal responses in order to develop aesthetically and artistically. There will be direct connection to promote the capacity of personal evaluation to develop technically and to encourage an understanding of the performer as an individual artist.

This module builds upon the key skills needed for acting and singing. You will work towards delivering sustained and varied performances across a range of genres and styles, in both singing and acting. You will perform on increasingly public platform levels when appropriate: small class groups, large class groups, year groups, and to the whole college. You will be encouraged to use the appropriate terminology and conduct background research of all material in order to develop a wider understanding of different genres, context and key practitioners.

In this module, you will further develop your investigative skills, exploring relevant underlying concepts and principles and interpreting these within the context of your area of study. You will explore the nature of creativity, the wider context of the industry and practice reflective techniques.

You will also evaluate sources and consider issues such as potential biases and cultural diversity. This evaluation will contribute to developing an enhanced awareness of your creative identity and greater insight into the topics that inspire and motivate you. In addition, you will improve your understanding of how your area of interest intersects with the wider creative industry.

Using academic enquiry, you will develop a reflective journal to evaluate your strengths and areas for self-development in relation to your studies, careers and personal aspirations. This investigative work will help establish a connection between the skills you have identified concerning specific careers and areas of the industry, enhancing your understanding of what is required to be a successful professional practitioner.

Year 2

A range of option modules can be selected in Year 2 subject to availability and student demand.

This module is intended to extend a range of performance and technical skills acquired throughout Level 4. Students will continue to undertake technical and artistic classes in ballet, tap, contemporary and jazz. The module ensures a progressive and challenging development of dance skills, building upon existing knowledge and developing individual progress. Students will look to cement a dancers’ mind and body with reference to strength, flexibility, alignment, co-ordination and range of movement quality within each dance genre.

Students will be equipped to address individual physical characteristics to enable them to reach their full potential alongside an understanding of how to perceive and express concepts and personal responses in order to develop aesthetically and artistically. There will be direct connection to promote the capacity of personal evaluation to develop technically and to encourage an understanding of the performer as an individual artist in a mature fashion.

The aim of this module is to develop the skills acquired in acting and singing in level 4 and to explore further styles and techniques. In singing you will discover a wider range of musical genres and styles and start to build a personal repertoire of performance material, improving your knowledge of musicianship. In acting you will study a variety of texts and you will work on a range of duologues from different eras to give you an increased understanding of purpose, form and style.

You will work on delivering a believable characterisation, with increased truth and spontaneity of performance. You will work on sight-reading in both singing and acting and you will strive to gain an enhanced presentation and audience engagement This module builds upon the essential core skills and techniques to increase your technical, physical and emotional musical theatre skills.

The creative arts have the power to bring people together, unite communities, support mental wellbeing, raise awareness of social issues and above all, bring joy to many people around the world. In Creative Industries & You 2, you will discover how you can turn your passion and talent into a collaborative project with a positive impact on society. Employing research and networking skills, you will develop a greater understanding of a charity, cause or campaign. In teams of students from all courses, you‘ll select a cause and identify a way to support its key objectives, either by raising awareness, raising funds or contributing as volunteers. You will be introduced to your college’s partner charities but you are also able to find your own, or work independently of an existing organisation.

Through this collaborative project, you’ll develop essential interpersonal and communication skills, experimenting with various digital tools for enterprise. You’ll reflect on your own values, applying theories of human psychology to explore how to get the best out of yourself and each other. Building on your industry research skills, you will assess your target audience and define clear SMART targets for your project that will enable you to execute an element of the strategy and evaluate its success. In teams, you will spend time working on your project both in class and in your own time, developing effective collaborative working methods.

You’ll record your project activity in your Personal and Professional Development Plan, reflecting on how you have developed and changed over the course of your first year and a half at Performers College

This module continues the exploratory work you began in Context & Culture of the Creative Industries. You will directly apply ideas to your own discipline and development, selecting an area of investigation relevant to your own practice, and communicating your argument via your medium of choice.

The concepts you encounter will actively critique claims to authenticity and originality; themes you will encounter frequently throughout your career as a Creative Professional. You will debate artistic production, the motivations for it, and the problems of creative autonomy.

You will investigate relevant contemporary cultural issues and theories relating to society, race, gender, technology, and the environment to develop your contextual understanding of how these relate to your own creative practice, professional values, and sense of personal agency.

You will be encouraged to meet with your Personal Adviser in a 1:1 tutorial to help you reflect on the strengths and areas for development identified in your PPDP in the first year, tracking your academic progress and setting new actions that will support you to achieve your best work. The research methods and study habits you develop throughout this module will prepare you for next year’s Final Project, in which you will self-direct a significant piece of academic, creative and/or professional practice.

. Working with your Personal Adviser you will identify objectives, opportunities and actions that will help you stay on the path to success for the second half of your journey towards becoming a Creative Industries Professional.

This course module looks at the creation of a devised performance through the processes needed to successfully create a piece of theatre combining the disciplines of movement, acting and song. You will gain a knowledge of the creative processes involved in production, deliver a confident and focused performance whilst being able to reflect on your success in extending your own skills base. You will begin to appreciate collaborative working methods through contributing to group interaction whilst underpinning performance through suitable preparation and research.

This module will begin to develop your knowledge of creative processes and how to utilise these in performance. You will gain knowledge of working within the performance industry and start to hone your skills to begin setting yourself on the path for developing yourself as an artist.

You will work on creating an abridged musical alongside a director and gain valuable knowledge on the application of stagecraft and the use of appropriate theatre vocabularies. You will gain awareness of the value of direction, responding actively and positively, including the practical application of notes, whilst developing company mentality and ethos.

This module continues the exploratory work you began in Context & Culture of the Creative Industries. You will directly apply ideas to your own discipline and development, selecting an area of investigation relevant to your own practice, and communicating your argument via your medium of choice.

The concepts you encounter will actively critique claims to authenticity and originality; themes you will encounter frequently throughout your career as a Creative Professional. You will debate artistic production, the motivations for it, and the problems of creative autonomy.

You will investigate relevant contemporary cultural issues and theories relating to society, race, gender, technology, and the environment to develop your contextual understanding of how these relate to your own creative practice, professional values, and sense of personal agency.

You will be encouraged to meet with your Personal Adviser in a 1:1 tutorial to help you reflect on the strengths and areas for development identified in your PPDP in the first year, tracking your academic progress and setting new actions that will support you to achieve your best work. The research methods and study habits you develop throughout this module will prepare you for next year’s Final Project, in which you will self-direct a significant piece of academic, creative and/or professional practice.

This module is the final step in your journey and will support you as you look to enter your chosen field as a creative professional. Drawing on evidence from throughout your time here. you will critically self-evaluate your personal learning journey and industry engagements to date. You will explore concepts and theories of personal and professional development to support, challenge and test your assumptions, to determine your readiness for work in the creative industries. You will have the opportunity to discuss this with your peers and learn from your collective experiences in both small degree path groups and large mixed discipline sessions.

With this position in mind, you will then be challenged to create and consolidate creative assets to give you the edge over the competition in your chosen field. Specialist workshops will be offered throughout the module, informed and delivered by our wide-reaching connections and specialist lecturers in the creative industries. This culminates in the creation of a portfolio which tells the story of your personal and professional journey so far, communicating your unique professional identity and future career plans in the creative industries.

This course module looks at the construction of movement vocabulary, through thorough physical investigation. It will make use of improvisation in order to aid devising and will look at choices made in use of the body and movement vocabulary, spatial decisions, use of time and dynamics, general structural devices and intention through movement. There will be various stimuli in form of photo/ picture, text, emotion in order to create original and appropriate vocabulary and key in making informed choices. There will also be opportunity to see live production and digital media. Verbal analysis throughout the course will provide a constructive layer in observation, reflective practice, critical response and informed decision making.

The Applied Musical Theatre module will help you to develop a deeper practical application of Musical Theatre Practitioners and the contextualisation of them within Musical Theatre today. You will explore pivotal eras and influential professionals who have shaped Musical Theatre and develop a more complex understanding through reading, research and critical thinking. Through this project you will develop essential communication and presentation skills whilst building on your performance skills to engage with an audience

This module is designed to introduce you to acting for camera, facilitating both your ability and confidence in this medium. The module seeks to embed the processes and terminology involved in screen acting. You will become well versed in the medium and have experience of acting for camera and the specific skills set that this entails. Being equipped to audition and work in a variety of genres, such as soaps, commercials, drama, comedy and film enhance employment opportunity. All sessions will be practical, allowing you the maximum amount of time to become comfortable being filmed and to make sure you fully understand the acting requirements for different shots and situations. During the sessions you will be given scripts that make different demands on you in terms of style and choice. You will become used to working quickly, with very little rehearsal, depending on the genre, and to making clear decisions quickly. Audition technique for film and TV will play a part in the practical sessions, as will self-taping.

Year 3

A range of optional modules can be selected in Year 3 subject to availability and student demand

In this module, you will undertake a significant project of your own choosing. It’s your chance to explore your passion within the industry and creative arts: experiment, take risks, strengthen your skills and create a product/cohesive portfolio of work that you are proud to showcase at the end of your degree. This module will support you in consolidating the broad learning and development from the course so far, building a bridge into the industry, the workplace and future opportunities. You will be supported to self-direct your own learning through a series of lectures, seminars and 1:1 tutorials with expert supervisors.

This module is the final step in your journey and will support you as you look to enter your chosen field as a creative professional. Drawing on evidence from throughout your time here. you will critically self-evaluate your personal learning journey and industry engagements to date. You will explore concepts and theories of personal and professional development to support, challenge and test your assumptions, to determine your readiness for work in the creative industries. You will have the opportunity to discuss this with your peers and learn from your collective experiences in both small degree path groups and large mixed discipline sessions.

With this position in mind, you will then be challenged to create and consolidate creative assets to give you the edge over the competition in your chosen field. Specialist workshops will be offered throughout the module, informed and delivered by our wide-reaching connections and specialist lecturers in the creative industries. This culminates in the creation of a portfolio that tells the story of your personal and professional journey so far, communicating your unique professional identity and future career plans in the creative industries.

This module is intended to extend and solidify a range of performance and technical skills acquired throughout Level 4 and 5. You will continue to undertake technical and artistic classes in ballet, tap, contemporary and jazz, as well as acting, song and voice work. The module ensures a progressive and challenging development of dance skills, building upon existing knowledge and developing individual progress and establishment as a well-rounded ‘triple threat’ performer. You will display active practice in understanding professional convention within each genre and will appreciate the correlation and interdisciplinary qualities and skills needed in technical and performance skills.

You will be equipped to address individual physical and emotional characteristics to enable you to enter the professional environment as a well-rounded and skilled artist. You will be able to perceive and express concepts and personal responses in order to develop aesthetically and artistically. There will be direct connection to promote the capacity of personal evaluation to develop technically and to encourage an understanding of oneself as a performer and individual artist in a mature fashion.

This course module looks at the creation of a devised performance through the processes needed to successfully create a piece of theatre combining the disciplines of dance, acting and song. You will gain experience in working with a musical director to collaborate collectively in producing a professional performance through musical narrative. You will draw on previously learned skills in devising theatre to deliver a focused professional performance with effective integration of core technical skills and artistic performance.

This module consists of audition, development, rehearsals and performance of a production in a professional theatre. You will audition for your role within the showcase in line with current industry practice. In dance auditions you will be expected to be able to pick up a routine with speed and execute it with excellent technique and appropriate style. In singing auditions, you will be expected to choose and perform your material with an intelligent understanding of necessary style and a confident and accomplished delivery. For the acting auditions you would be expected to have studied the given material and be able to perform it with the ability to convey character, style and intention. All auditions will be performed in front of the artistic team for the productions, in keeping with industry practice.

You will engage creatively and critically with the skills and processes of performance and production. You will be expected to demonstrate a highly skilled, engaging and sophisticated performance with a clear ability to convey intent to the audience. This module adheres to a professional working environment; the audition process, rehearsal period and the performance will replicate, as far as possible, a professional engagement. Individual student skills will be identified by tutors and aimed to be maximised at each showcase. The showcases will consist of relatively small groups of graduates, thus maximising potential for exposure. Each production will undergo an audition process in line with industry practice. Small casts allow equal opportunities for all students to be featured accordingly thus ensuring the best platform for exposure. To ensure that all students are showcased, shows will be tailored to include solo numbers, duets and trios and small ensemble numbers with featured tracks.

Any questions?

Our enquiries team is always available to answer your questions. Just call 01273 840 346 or email [email protected].

 

 

© 2024 Performers College
All Rights Reserved