Dance

Dance as an academic discipline goes far beyond performance training: it is the study of movement as a form of human expression, communication, and cultural practice, examined through the combined lenses of creative practice, theoretical inquiry, and historical and cultural analysis. Dance encompasses an extraordinary range of forms and traditions, from the codified vocabularies of classical ballet and contemporary dance to social, folk, and global performance traditions, and studying it academically means engaging seriously with all of these dimensions. The discipline asks how movement creates meaning, how choreography is conceived and realised, how dance functions in different social and cultural contexts, and what the relationship is between practice and theory in the performing arts.

At the University of Lincoln, this three-year full-time programme explores the link between creative practice and theoretical study as its central animating principle, as the current description reflects. You will work across technique, choreography, performance, teaching, and research, developing practical skills in movement and performance alongside the ability to analyse and contextualise what you are making and doing. You will study dance history and theory, examining how dance has been theorised and what different critical and cultural frameworks reveal about specific forms and works.

Choreographic practice will ask you to develop your own creative voice and methods while also engaging collaboratively with others. Research skills are taught as an integral part of the programme, reflecting the academic seriousness with which Lincoln approaches the discipline.

The programme includes a sandwich year and work placement, giving you professional experience outside the university. Placements in professional dance companies, arts organisations, educational settings, or community arts contexts allow you to apply your practice and knowledge in real working environments and to build the professional networks that matter in performing arts careers.

Graduates from dance programmes pursue careers as performers, choreographers, dance teachers and educators, community arts practitioners, arts administrators, movement directors, and researchers. Postgraduate study in dance, performing arts, or arts education supports those seeking advanced performance training or academic careers.