The Student Room Group

Is there a point to BA Dance...?

Hello all,

So I have a friend who wants to come study in the UK.
She wants a career in Dance (hip-hop/street dance to be precise). Her situation is the following: She is a pretty experienced hip-hop performer, having trained for about 3 years now, but VERY intensively (2-4 sessions a day with different crews). She performs regularly, but there isn’t much room for development in her country. The question is: is there a point to studying Dance at undergrad? From what she says, the Dance BA is pretty basic in terms of imparted skill, and not specific enough. She’s uncertain if she actually NEEDS the degree to be able to develop professionally as a dancer in the UK. She has three paths ahead:
1) Take out a loan to cover tuition and study Dance while working part time and going to major studios in London in her free time as an... apprentice I guess, so she can make a name.
2) Take out a loan to study Business Marketing part-time, another thing she’s interested in, while working and going to major studios in her free time. She’d presumably have more time to train in her free time (due to part-time studying), but in hip-hop specific studios, and will have a BM degree after it’s all said and done which will no doubt be useful in life.
3) Just find work in London and live there, forgoing university for now and focusing exclusively on working and dancing (though Brexit might impact her).

I guess my question is what would be the best path if she wants to try her luck in professional hip-hop in the UK? She definitely has the skill and attitude for it. She’s built like a race-horse but moves gracefully as hell. Trains her a*s off daily. Definitely has a bright future and I really wanna help her out. Does she need a the BA Dance, or can she work and develop without it...?

I have no idea how a person is supposed to develop in this area... advice is welcome.

Thanks guys!
Original post by RickyN7
Hello all,

So I have a friend who wants to come study in the UK.
She wants a career in Dance (hip-hop/street dance to be precise). Her situation is the following: She is a pretty experienced hip-hop performer, having trained for about 3 years now, but VERY intensively (2-4 sessions a day with different crews). She performs regularly, but there isn’t much room for development in her country. The question is: is there a point to studying Dance at undergrad? From what she says, the Dance BA is pretty basic in terms of imparted skill, and not specific enough. She’s uncertain if she actually NEEDS the degree to be able to develop professionally as a dancer in the UK. She has three paths ahead:
1) Take out a loan to cover tuition and study Dance while working part time and going to major studios in London in her free time as an... apprentice I guess, so she can make a name.
2) Take out a loan to study Business Marketing part-time, another thing she’s interested in, while working and going to major studios in her free time. She’d presumably have more time to train in her free time (due to part-time studying), but in hip-hop specific studios, and will have a BM degree after it’s all said and done which will no doubt be useful in life.
3) Just find work in London and live there, forgoing university for now and focusing exclusively on working and dancing (though Brexit might impact her).

I guess my question is what would be the best path if she wants to try her luck in professional hip-hop in the UK? She definitely has the skill and attitude for it. She’s built like a race-horse but moves gracefully as hell. Trains her a*s off daily. Definitely has a bright future and I really wanna help her out. Does she need a the BA Dance, or can she work and develop without it...?

I have no idea how a person is supposed to develop in this area... advice is welcome.

Thanks guys!


the way I would do it is a lot of research and talking to organisations or even better people doing the job she wants to do. Linkedin is a start or a school that specialises in hip hop. Normally youd learn several trypes.

It would have to be a research project to decide if you developed a career through training and or academics.

Here are a few links that highlight the options and the dance schools available.

Finance is a very important issue.

http://www.onedanceuk.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Careers-Guide-Digital-version.pdf

http://www.cdet.org.uk/

https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/dancer

http://www.avantgardedance.com/learn/
http://www.hiphoppop.net/dancers

They need to get used to asking and talking to people. Do not spend any money till they are sure its the right path.

Quick Reply

Latest

Trending

Trending