Dance and Early Childhood

Dance and early childhood is an unusual but practically rich combination, connecting two fields that have more in common than might first appear. Dance, as a performing art and a bodily practice, is deeply developmental: children engage with movement, rhythm, and physical expression from the earliest stages of life, and movement-based learning is increasingly recognised as important for cognitive, social, and emotional development. Understanding early childhood gives dance practitioners the knowledge to work with young people in genuinely meaningful and developmentally appropriate ways.

At Liverpool Hope University, this three-year full-time degree develops you as an adaptable, reflective, and independent dance artist alongside a grounded understanding of the developmental, social, and educational contexts in which children and young people grow. The dance component is demanding and rigorous, developing your performance and choreographic practice, encouraging you to foster creativity and develop your own signature artistic approach through engagement with diverse techniques and theories. The early childhood strand gives you the theoretical and practical knowledge about child development, safeguarding, policy, and educational practice that is essential for anyone working professionally with young children.

The programme includes a sandwich year, a year abroad option, and work placements. The typical entry tariff is 104 UCAS points.

Graduates of dance and early childhood programmes work as dance teachers and practitioners in schools, dance companies, community settings, and arts organisations, alongside roles in early years education, children's theatre, dance therapy, and community arts with young people. The combination is particularly well suited to careers that involve both artistic practice and work with children, and many graduates build careers that weave between performance, teaching, and therapeutic practice. Postgraduate study in dance education, arts therapy, early childhood, or related fields is a natural next step for those who want to develop their specialist expertise.