Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) (B-FADANCE)

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (Dance) is a three-year full-time degree centred around studio practice, expanded dance thinking and performance. Throughout the course students develop an integrated practice as a dance artist. Expertise in dance as a way of knowing opens doorways for careers as performers, makers, leaders, activists, collaborators and cultural partners in a global world.

The program focuses on the rigorous preparation of dancers as artists and cultural leaders working across all areas of the profession including performance, community, arts management, health and wellbeing sectors. It recognises that contemporary dance takes many forms and flourishes in diverse contexts, so it prepares students through an emphasis upon dance within an arts ecosystem.

Students have opportunities for placements with local Melbourne dance organisations and can participate in international residencies through a travelling studio. The course structure also equips students with the professional skills for ensemble and autonomous careers in dance.

The course matrix emphasises the following core graduate capabilities: Practice; Make; Interact; Perform; Connect; and Reflect. These competencies are developed throughout the degree towards a graduate profile that is industry-ready whilst equipping students with skills for life-long learning and creative resilience. The learning of dance as an arts practice is a core component in the preparation of a professional dancer, and knowledge of diverse movement techniques and the concepts that underpin them, is considered essential to flexibly adapt to different choreographic ideas and opportunities.

Coordination, movement memory and performance qualities (expressiveness and focus), are fostered through embodied learning, open enquiry and exchange within a cohort experience of dancing together. Intensive skills development and practice take place alongside workshop and rehearsal processes for a range of performance situations. Students gain experience and know-how in performing for stage, art gallery and museum, gardens and outdoor sites, screen and digital spaces.

Deepening their artistic knowledge through acquiring mastery and craft, students can energetically engage with the creation of dance in both a local and international context. During their degree they have the opportunity to participate in a Global Atelier, a travelling studio programme through which students learn from leaders in the dance field and cultivate arts citizenship. Such collaborative skills and intercultural competencies are integral to their training.

Breadth subjects at each year level enable students to take cross disciplinary studies across the University.

After three years students will understand how they want to express themselves as artists within the field. A fourth year honours programme is also available for those who excel in their Bachelor of Fine Arts and wish to pursue deeper specialist knowledge in choreography, performance and dance as research.

Students may go onto postgraduate study and specialise in one of the career pathways opened through their undergraduate studies including dance education, dance leadership, arts and cultural management, and movement therapy.