Dance and Drama BA (Hons)
Subject and course type
- Dance, Drama and Music
- Undergraduate
Step into a career in the creative industries with the Dance and Drama BA (Hons) course at Kingston School of Art. Our incredibly strong links with industry mean you will benefit from guest speakers, such as performers, playwrights and theatre companies. There are also many opportunities to gain professional experience in the community, so you can flex your dance and drama muscles and graduate with excellent employability.
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Hone your craft among our dynamic dance and drama community
Engage critically with a range of approaches to the performing body.
Our Dance and Drama BA (Hons) course benefits from our well-equipped dance and drama studios.
The dance studios are located in the Town House, which features three large dance studios, each equipped to professional standards with fully sprung floors, mirrors and barres.
You'll also develop your project management and performance skills with regular performances at The Rose Theatre, the International Youth Arts Festival and national fringe festivals.
Why choose this course
The BA Dance and Drama at Kingston allows students to engage critically with a range of approaches to the performing body as it moves across the related fields of drama and dance. Our lecturers have practical and professional experience in the theatre industry, so you'll have access to practical help and career advice from people with insider knowledge.
On specific modules, you'll also work with guest speakers and visiting companies. Past guests have included:
- Actors and performers, such as Peter Hall, Jude Kelly, Marcello Magni, Anna-Helene McLean and Miss Tempest Rose
- Playwrights, such as Howard Barker, Alecky Blythe, Stephen Jeffreys, Anthony Neilson, Steve Waters and Laura Wade
- Theatre companies, such as Frantic Assembly, Third Angel, the David Glass Ensemble, Told by an Idiot, Apocryphal Theatre and Song of the Goat
At the heart of our dance and drama course is a strong theatre industry link with the Rose Theatre, the largest producing theatre in south-west London. Every Kingston drama student receives a complimentary ticket to all Rose Theatre productions. The theatre also hosts regular classes and occasional masterclasses from industry experts, sharing and networking events, research platforms, Director's insight events, company Q&As and behind-the-scenes events.
To ensure our students continue to graduate with excellent employability, all single honours drama students have the opportunity to undertake volunteer placements at the theatre in their first year. These cover departments like marketing, development, producing and front of house.
Students can shadow important technical production processes, and work on spring and autumn mini arts festivals at the theatre. In addition, students taking our Applied Theatre module can approach the Rose Youth Theatre for a placement. Some graduates have even gone on to work full-time at the Rose.
Finally, all Kingston performing arts students are celebrated in an end-of-year, main-house showcase called Kingston on Stage.
The Art School Experience
As part of Kingston School of Art, students on this course benefit from joining a creative community where we encourage collaborative working and critical practice.
Our workshops and studios are open to all disciplines, enabling students and staff to work together, share ideas and explore multi-disciplinary making.
Course content
Each level is made up of four modules each worth 30 credit points. Typically, a student must complete 120 credits at each level.
Optional modules only run if there is enough demand. If we have an insufficient number of students interested in an optional module, that module will not be offered for this course.
Year 1
Core modules
60 credits
This module offers students the opportunity to develop technical and performance skills in a range of diverse dance techniques which reflect the current global dance industry, and to acquire contextual knowledge of dance as a socially and culturally-produced practice.
Students will learn through intensive studio classes led by professionals in the field and interactive seminars. This mixed-mode delivery will enable students to enhance their fitness levels, expand their movement vocabulary, acquire the fundamentals of safe dance practice and engage with relevant case studies and themes within the cultural study of dance.
By integrating embodied knowledge of dance forms with active awareness of their socio-historical contexts, the module allows students to extend their technical and anatomical understanding of specific movement styles/techniques, while exploring how culture is practised through dance.
Students will develop a strong body of practice and techniques from a range of traditions. These will form a foundation for further development and study throughout the course. Students will be able to reflect on the language used in the dance sector and become equipped with the tools relevant for the discussion of the role of history and culture in the practice of different dance forms.
30.00 credits
This module complements and extends knowledge and understanding of key concepts of performance developed in Making Theatre Happen by focusing on the relationship between the actor and the written playtext.
There are two interweaving strands and each is designed to serve as a foundation for your ongoing studies. You will explore fundamental components of drama such as plot, action, character and dialogue and examine ways in which each is presented in a series of written playtexts. These plays are studied in detail and each is identified as a pretext for performance. You are introduced to ways of interrogating the texts and develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of the relationship between what is written on the page and what is presented on the stage. The same playtexts are also used to explore a range of differing performance methodologies that can be utilised to identify the performance potentials of a text in a workshop environment. You are led through cycles of Preparation, Exploration and Realisation – understanding what these terms mean and the actions they consist of will be an important aspect of the module. You will not only learn appropriate ways in which to create intelligent and imaginative performance informed by a written text but also develop a range of acting skills necessary to perform them effectively.
Throughout the module you are also introduced to the basic principles of theatre lighting and sound and will be encouraged to explore the impact of these technical elements when used in a performance context.
30 credits
In this module, you will be introduced to the technical skills which form part of theatre production: lighting and sound design, scenography and stage management, as well as basic marketing skills. This will be supported through skill specific workshops leading to a collaborative performance production which fully considers the role of technical elements which make for effective theatre practices. You will be specifically encouraged to reflect in practice on your work's ecological impact and openness to diversity.
Year 2
Core modules
30 credits
Devising and ensemble practice support the development of skills and competencies that are not only applicable for theatremakers of all kinds but also valued by employers in a range of different professional sectors.
Exploring the work of ensembles embracing a collaborative approach to the creative process and supporting the acquisition of skills and methodologies they engage with; the module demonstrates the value of motivation and commitment; self-discipline; adaptability and flexibility; creative problem solving and an ability to work under pressure.
Ultimately, these skills and attributes are brought to bear in the Explore element of the module which enables you to engage with students from other courses, schools and faculties, to create new and original interdisciplinary dramatic work.
30 credits
This module provides students with the opportunity to further develop their technical and performance skills through engagement with learning, developing, refining and performance of dance techniques from contrasting styles (e.g. Hip Hop and contemporary dance styles). Students will learn through intensive practical classes led by professionals in the field, accompanied by seminars to support their ability to critically reflect on their development. There will be regular opportunities to present their work, experimenting with a variety of communication technologies and reaching multiple audiences.
30 credits
This module gives you the opportunity to continue advancing your acting training and begin exploring the discipline of directing for live and filmed performance. These two electives complement each other allowing the student actors to be directed by the student directors.
This module will advance your understanding of the theatre industries through collaborative practice which develops specific skills and experience in direction, devising, script reading, but also transferrable skills of time-management, producing, critical thinking, active listening, communication, and presentation skills.
Within the acting elective you will explore the themes and principles of Naturalism in theory and practice on stage and screen.
Within the directing elective, student directors navigate contemporary theatre practitioners and theoreticians, and are given the opportunity to lead a group of creative artists towards their own unified vision for a performance. The role of the stage and film director is examined through the lenses of design, script analysis, working with actors, proxemics and semiotics.
30 credits
This module provides you with the opportunity to develop your creative practice as a dance artist developing technical, creative and performance skills through one of two electives: choreography or hip hop performance practices.
Through a combination of practical and theoretical learning this module develops necessary skills and knowledge to become critically aware, articulate and accomplished practitioners in a specialist area of dance practice. The module will enable you to develop an applied understanding of the significance of the aesthetic, kinaesthetic and creative foundations of choreographic practice or hip hop performance practices.
Emphasis within this module will be placed on the need for risk taking during the creative process and you will develop your practices through project-based learning to develop a range of artistic experiments applying your contextual knowledge to develop work for a range of settings. There will be opportunities you to collaborate with students across electives through projects that explore different performance outputs, for example, site-specific performance and screen dance.
Optional year
You have the option to take an additional year to study abroad.
Final year
Core modules
30 credits
This is a practical module designed to take students through the process of making a dance production, from initial conception to final performance whilst also further developing and applying advanced levels of dance techniques and dance training. The focus of the module is to provide students with the experience of being in a dance company and of working closely within professional contexts of training, creating, refining and consolidating final production pieces suitable for professional performance environments. Students will apply ideas and creative problem-solving skills acquired through prior learning, in more diverse performance settings. Students will work in company environments with their choreographer both in scheduled learning time and during independent study hours to create, rehearse and produce full-scale dance-based productions. Students will work in companies led by a module tutor with choreographic experience. The companies will be set by timetabled classes.
30.00 credits
This module is a core requirement for single honours students. It enables students to develop ideas and research and carry them through to realisation. The assessment for this module is a capstone project which allows students to draw together their learning from across the degree and apply it in a 'real-world' context through the creation, rehearsal and performance of a theatre production.
This module is largely undertaken through independent group-based rehearsal, although there is also a series of presentations and workshops addressing specific areas such as group work strategies, problem-solving, rehearsal planning and scheduling, managing budgets and publicity and marketing. Students form groups, select roles and choose scripts, themes and modes of performance based on a 'pitch' they make and the feedback received at the end of Teaching Block One. The size of groups may vary but groups should not be made up of fewer than five students or more than 12. Each group will have a designated supervisor and a budget allocated on the basis of group size. The rehearsal process will be constructed around a series of formatively and summatively assessed stages such as work in progress performances, group and individual reflective exercises, submission of design and technical plans and presentation of publicity materials. Performances will be scheduled across a number of weeks in consultation with the Drama Technical Production Manager.
30 credits
This module provides you with the opportunity to develop and produce a dance project of your choice. It will enable you to develop leadership, communication and organisational skills whilst experimenting, innovating and producing an output that aligns to your interests by following one of three electives: choreography (live and screen), hip hop, or research and practice as research.
The module also enables you to draw on all aspects and disciplines explored throughout the course to support your emerging professional identity as a future leader and becoming an articulate and socially aware entrepreneur in the dance industry. This prepares you to seek work in the private commercial and public arts sectors as a choreographer, dancer, dance artist, teacher, producer or researcher.
30 credits
This is an employability-focused module that encourages students to consolidate their individual approaches to career management and future learning by continuing to enhance their reflexivity, plan their own personal and professional development, and formulate their exit strategy from the university.
Future Skills and career opportunities
Our Dance and Drama graduates go on to work in the creative industries, as performers, writers, choreographers, directors, stand-up comedians, community artists, outreach workers, technicians, producers and events managers.
In addition to pursuing careers in the creative industries, our graduates have also gone on to work in publishing, journalism, advertising and marketing, arts management, new media, fitness instruction, public relations, business and the therapeutic fields.
A significant number of graduates also go on to postgraduate study in related fields or to teacher training.
Our Future Skills programme is embedded within every course curriculum and throughout the whole Kingston experience. Its purpose is to help you to become a future-proof graduate by providing you with the skills most valued by employers, such as problem-solving, digital competency and adaptability.
As you progress through your degree, you'll learn to navigate, explore and apply these graduate skills. You’ll also understand how to demonstrate and articulate to employers how Future Skills give you the edge.
At Kingston University, we're not just keeping up with change, we're creating it
For more information on how Kingston prepares you for the future job market, visit our Future Skills page.
Teaching and assessment
Scheduled learning and teaching on this course includes timetabled activities including lectures, seminars and small group tutorials.
It may also include critiques, project work, studio practice and performance, digital labs, workshops, and placements.
Outside the scheduled learning and teaching hours, you will learn independently through self-study which will involve reading articles and books, working on projects, undertaking research, preparing for and completing your work for assessments. Some independent study work may need to be completed on-campus, as you may need to access campus-based facilities such as studios and labs.
Our academic support team here at Kingston University provides help in a range of areas.
When you arrive, we'll introduce you to your personal tutor. This is the member of academic staff who will provide academic guidance, be a support throughout your time at Kingston and show you how to make the best use of all the help and resources that we offer at Kingston University.
A course is made up of modules, and each module is worth a number of credits. You must pass a given number of credits in order to achieve the award you registered on, for example 360 credits for a typical undergraduate course or 180 credits for a typical postgraduate course. The number of credits you need for your award is detailed in the programme specification which you can access from the link at the bottom of this page.
One credit equates to 10 hours of study. Therefore 120 credits across a year (typical for an undergraduate course) would equate to 1,200 notional hours. These hours are split into scheduled and guided. On this course, the percentage of that time that will be scheduled learning and teaching activities is shown below for each year of study. The remainder is made up of guided independent study.
- Year 1: 26% scheduled learning and teaching
- Year 2: 23% scheduled learning and teaching
- Year 3: 19% scheduled learning and teaching
The exact balance between scheduled learning and teaching and guided independent study will be informed by the modules you take.
Your course will primarily be delivered in person. It may include delivery of some activities online, either in real time or recorded.
Types of assessment
- Year 1: Coursework 45%; practical 55%
- Year 2: Coursework 34%; practical 66%
- Year 3: Coursework 39%; exams 8%; practical 53%
Please note: the above breakdowns are a guide calculated on core modules only. If your course includes optional modules, this breakdown may change to reflect the modules chosen.
We aim to provide feedback on assessments within 20 working days.
Your individualised timetable is normally available to students within 48 hours of enrolment. Whilst we make every effort to ensure timetables are as student-friendly as possible, scheduled learning and teaching can take place on any day of the week between 9am and 6pm. For undergraduate students, Wednesday afternoons are normally reserved for sports and cultural activities, but there may be occasions when this is not possible. Timetables for part-time students will depend on the modules selected.
The size of your class will vary by module and academic year.
Fees and funding
| Fee category | Fee |
|---|---|
| Home (UK students) | £9,535* |
| International | |
| Year 1 (2025/26): | £18,500 |
| Year 2 (2026/27): | £19,200 |
| Year 3 (2027/28): | £19,900 |
The tuition fee you pay depends on whether you are assessed as a 'Home' (UK), 'Islands' or 'International' student. In 2025/26 the fees for this course are above.
For courses with Professional Placement, the fee for the placement year can be viewed in our Fees and Funding section. The placement fee published is for the relevant academic year stated in the table. This fee is subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body.
* For full-time programmes of a duration of more than one academic year, the published fee is an annual fee, payable each year, for the duration of the programme. Your annual tuition fees cover your first attempt at all of the modules necessary to complete that academic year. A re-study of any modules will incur additional charges calculated by the number of credits. Home tuition fees may be subject to annual increases but will not increase by more than the fee caps as prescribed by the Office for Students or such other replacing body. Full-time taught International fees are subject to an annual increase and are published in advance for the full duration of the programme.
Eligible UK students can apply to the Government for a tuition loan, which is paid direct to the University. This has a low interest-rate which is charged from the time the first part of the loan is paid to the University until you have repaid it.
Scholarships and bursaries
For students interested in studying this course at Kingston, there are several opportunities to seek funding support.
Additional course costs
Some courses may require additional costs beyond tuition fees. When planning your studies, you’ll want to consider tuition fees, living costs, and any extra costs that might relate to your area of study.
Your tuition fees include costs for teaching, assessment and university facilities. So your access to libraries, shared IT resources and various student support services are all covered. Accommodation and general living expenses are not covered by these fees.
Where applicable, additional expenses for your course may include:
Our libraries have an extensive collection of books and journals, as well as open-access computers and laptops available to rent. However, you may want to buy your own computer or personal copies of key textbooks. Textbooks may range from £50 to £250 per year. And a personal computer can range from £100 to £3,000 depending on your course requirements.
While most coursework is submitted online, some modules may require printed copies. You may want to allocate up to £100 per year for hard-copies of your coursework. It’s worth noting that 3D printing is never compulsory. So if you choose to use our 3D printers, you’ll need to pay for the material. This ranges from 3p per gram to 40p per gram.
Kingston University will pay for all compulsory field trips. Fees for optional trips can range from £30 to £350 per trip.
Your tuition fees don’t cover travel costs. To save on travel costs, you can use our free intersite bus service. This route links the campuses and halls of residence with local train stations - Surbiton, Kingston upon Thames, and Norbiton.
There may be costs for participating at external shows and exhibitions, such as travel costs, which will vary according to the location.
Course changes and regulations
The information on this page reflects the currently intended course structure and module details. To improve your student experience and the quality of your degree, we may review and change the material information of this course. Course changes explained.
Programme Specifications for the course are published ahead of each academic year.
Regulations governing this course can be found on our website.
Key information
The scrolling banner below displays some key factual data about this course (including different course combinations or delivery modes of this course where relevant).
