Dance in USA

The School of Music, Dance and Theatre provides an inclusive, dynamic and culturally diverse learning environment in which students develop as creative artists, scholars and educators. The BFA program in dance offers an engaging curriculum that emphasizes collaboration and a holistic approach to movement and education. The program encourages artists of the 21st century to develop multiple skills for success in the arts and its related fields.

The core values of the program include creativity, inquiry and humanity. To bridge knowledge and community and to gain understanding of dance as inquiry, these values are embedded in a broad range of academic experiences and exploratory processes. The dance program includes coursework in creative practices (the study of the creative process and dance-making using improvisation, choreography and interdisciplinary approaches); dance and digital arts; dance history, ethnography and philosophy; movement practices (the study of the theory, history and technique of a range of dance forms and mind-body practices, including Afro-Latin movement, contemporary ballet, Hip Hop practices, postmodern contemporary dance and somatic practices); and seminars.

Studying commercial dance in the Pace School of Performing arts, you’ll be a part of one of the few dance programs in the country that truly opens doors to the industry. Student not only train in ballet, jazz, theater dance, hip hop, modern, tap, contemporary, aerial arts, and other dance styles, but also take acting, vocal music, other electives to broaden their experience and marketability as a dancer.

We offer a major in Dance with a rigorous curriculum that prepares students for a diverse range of career paths. We work with each student to help define and shape their individual path, and endeavor to create a positive and collaborative environment that is inclusive and responsive to the needs and goals of the 21st-century artist. The intensive curriculum prepares dancers to create, perform, produce, analyse and teach the art of dance.

Students pursuing an undergraduate degree in dance gain in-depth knowledge of dance as an art form and an area of scholarly inquiry. The degree provides a foundation for eventual careers in professional dance, dance teaching in K-12 and higher education, dance entrepreneurship, dance/movement therapy, Pilates, the health and fitness industry, arts administration, as well as many other fields.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance requires a minimum of 85 major credits and is designed for students who wish to spend more time preparing for a professional career in dance.  

A dance degree at UW–Madison offers opportunities to:

Study with a world-class faculty, with excellent teacher-student ratios.

Perform frequently in faculty and student-choreographed works, in state-of-the-art facilities.

Pursue an additional major or degree in a second area of interest.

Experience an interdisciplinary, rigorous approach that connects dance to the arts and humanities, as well as the social, biological, physical, and biological social sciences.

Earn scholarship and award funding for study in the academic year and summer, including departmental awards for honors study. 

Work with nationally and internationally renowned guest artists and master class instructors, such as the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, Pilobolus, Meredith Monk, Elizabeth Streb, David Parsons, Sean Curran, Danielle Russo, Carrie Hanson, Joe Goode, Susan Marshall, Kun-Yang Lin, and Tim Miller, Abdel Salaam/Forces of Nature.

Train intensively in choreography to create solo and group works for performance.

The Dance Program offers students degree options  grounded in the liberal arts tradition. Students learn about the depth and breadth of dance as they practice their art form in multiple arenas. The curriculum is designed to balance students’ artistic experiences with practical applications to better prepare them to enter the dance world upon graduation. Students receive a comprehensive education that readies them for a lifetime in dance, including: teaching, performing, bodywork, choreographing, dance therapy, writing, dance technology, and dance production. Through an audition and adjudication process, students have many opportunities to present their choreographic work and/or perform in four concerts each year. Students can also audition to perform in musical theatre productions. Whatever their chosen path in dance, students emerge from the Minnesota State Mankato Dance Program with multiple skills, and the ability to think critically and act globally as emerging dance artists. 

WOU’s Dance program gives you the chance to evolve your performance skills. Learn how to be more creative while also achieving technical expertise. Explore the history of dance and how its roots affect professional practice today. Our experienced faculty will support you in applying your dance skills while gaining the theoretical knowledge that can serve as the foundation for your future in teaching, further study or opportunities as a professional in the performing arts.

Are you interested in fine-tuning your talent in dance? Do you want to work with world-class professionals and instructors equipped to prepare you for a career in dance performance and choreography?

The dance performance and choreography concentration prepares you for a professional performing career. Equal emphasis is placed on the core techniques of ballet, modern, and jazz. While the program provides an excellent background in these techniques to produce a versatile dancer, it also allows performance majors to specialize in one of these forms.

Extensive training in technique is augmented with required courses in dance history, improvisation, and choreography, as well as elective courses in tap, pointe, repertory, ballroom, anatomy and kinesiology. Related courses in theatre, art, and music are included in the curriculum.

In consultation with the Dance minor advisor, the student designs an individualized and appropriately balanced program to meet personal interests and needs.

The Department of Dance at Sam Houston State University delivers a dynamic, challenging experience that integrates creativity, performance and scholarly pursuits designed to prepare each student for a 21st century career in dance.

Intensive study in concert dance techniques, abundant performance opportunities, concerts to showcase student choreography, guest artist residencies, and a solid academic foundation: this is the dance experience at SHSU.

Students interested in pursuing a degree in dance can choose from the following degree paths: AS Pre-Major in Dance, BFA in Dance with an emphasis in Ballet or Modern Dance, BS in Dance with an emphasis in Ballroom Dance, and BS in Dance Education. In addition to career training, the Department of Dance provides opportunities for all interested students to explore the many forms of dance as elective and/or general education credit. The study of dance offers personal and cultural enrichment for majors and non-majors alike and allows students to augment their physical and theoretical skill as they study dance in relationship to the self, society, and other arts and disciplines.

The Peabody Conservatory BFA Dance program endeavors to prepare exceptional 21st century performers, choreographers, teachers, and future leaders dedicated to pushing the boundaries between dance and science and expanding the role and relevance of dance in both traditional and non-traditional contexts.

The music and dance department offers a bachelor of arts in dance that provides students with a comprehensive liberal arts education in the field of dance. Students learn a diverse range of dance techniques: modern, hip-hop, ballet, improvisation, mind-body awareness, as well as rotating topics in dance technique (tap, jazz, flamenco, tango, etc.). Dance composition and ensemble courses develop skills in choreography and performance. Courses in the art of teaching the dance form provide a solid foundation for dance instruction. A course in dance entrepreneurship offers an introduction to dance company and studio administration. Studies in dance history and theory examine the vast richness of dance from a historical perspective and provide a strong foundation in critical and creative thinking. A capstone seminar offers a culminating experience for students to further research an area of personal interest.

Does dance move you in ways that drive creativity and fuel your passion? Master dance techniques, study, choreograph, perform, and create with a B.A. in Dance from Georgian Court University. Dancers leverage their degrees to work as instructors, performing artists, choreographers, researchers, and as difference-makers in the arts, education, and even in social justice settings.

GCU dance majors are active learners who study in the classroom, practice in GCU’s state-of-the-art studios, and perform under the direction of world-class master artists. In addition, you’ll choreograph your own works for your peers to perform on campus and at local venues.

The mission of the Dance program at Utah Tech State University is to provide a diverse population of students the opportunity to achieve their dance education goals by developing the skills of embodied practice and scholarly and creative inquiry. Offering a BA/BS degree, as well as a minor in Dance, the program provides students a broad understanding of dance as an academic and professional discipline through technical, creative, and contextual courses, which complement and reinforce one another. Dance program faculty actively engage with students in the classroom and provide mentorship in areas of professional interest. The program produces three mainstage concerts each year featuring student, faculty, and guest artist choreography and participates in the American College Dance Association regional conference.

The B.A. in Dance thoroughly integrates learning to dance, learning to make dances, and critical interrogation of dance as a cultural practice. Students study a variety of dance forms throughout their studies. They enroll in a four-term sequence in dance composition, with additional opportunities to participate in the creation of their own dances, as well as working as dancers in the creation of new works by faculty members and visiting artists. Further, they engage in a core of four courses in the study of scholarly discourse around the body and dance, launching a critical inquiry into their own study of bodily practices, internalization of the embodied experience, and how bodily ideas and embodied experiences are interpreted and communicated outwardly and interpersonally, both locally and globally.

Focuses on training and education include:

• Choreography
• Performance
• Critical Dance Studies
• Videography
• Dance in the public sphere

Students completing the Dance major will be able to:

• Choreograph dances in a variety of settings, cultural contexts, and media, with an emphasis on progressive approaches;
• Engage creatively and problem-solve with issues tied to arts and activism, dance-making and producing in an intercultural and interdisciplinary context within multiple formats including the stage, alternative spaces and new media;
• Think critically about the relationship between esthetics and politics through choreography, writing, research and discussion;
• Demonstrate advanced proficiency in at least two movement disciplines;
• Analyze dance works in terms of vocabulary, location, syntax and their political, cultural and historical implications;
• Demonstrate an ability to understand and implement collaboration in an art-making practice;
• Recognize and synthesize in written and oral formats the key concepts within the field of Critical Dance Studies.

Our purpose is to foster academic and artistic excellence in a nurturing and challenging educational environment. Within a liberal arts and science tradition, the dance experience at SUU engages students in a rich diversity of experiences aimed to cultivate their aesthetic, creative, and scholarly potential. Central to our purpose is superior teaching and personalized mentorship that empowers and transforms the learner to be a dynamic individual.

As a performing arts major with a concentration in dance, you will take studio courses, performance courses, history courses, and seminars. As choreographers, dancers, and movement actors, you will develop the skills to become a well-rounded performer, artist, advocate, employer, and potential graduate student.

In performance courses, you will learn from faculty and Guest Choreographers from around the country, experiencing different choreographic processes, styles, and approaches. These courses emphasize collaborative skills and ensemble performance. In-studio courses, you will study techniques of ballet, modern and contemporary, commercial dance, tap, and improvisation in-depth to become confident in each area. In history courses, you will explore how artistic creation is influenced by society and how society is reflected in and changed by art. Students can also experience dance from around the world through our Global Dance course. These courses will increase your knowledge and appreciation of dance and its relationship to other significant components of human history, culture, and experience. Finally, seminar courses give students the theoretical foundation for their craft. You will study mind and body awareness, composition, and teaching methods used in dance, which will support total growth as an artist and potential entrepreneur.

The Old Dominion University Dance Program engages students in a dynamic and transformative process of dance training, fostering curiosity, imagination, versatility and innovation. Through interdisciplinary learning, scholarly research and engagement with local and global communities, students experience dance on many levels helping them to think critically and live creatively as dance artists.

The BFA curriculum in dance is an intensive program of study for the dedicated student, offering coursework in the areas of technique, composition, and performance. The curriculum also includes requirements in production, improvisation, music theory and literature for dance, teaching, history, movement sciences, and repertory. Electives may be taken in additional ballet and modern classes, tap, jazz, improvisation, contact improvisation, global dance forms, yoga, Alexander Technique, partnering and Laban movement analysis, Labanotation, screendance, choreographer-composer workshop, dance technology, and independent study.

Program requirements include core daily technique classes consisting of three modern and two ballet classes per week each semester in residence, plus elective technique classes for a minimum of one additional credit hour per semester. A minimum of two courses in additional dance forms (jazz, tap, world dance, etc.) is required. Majors must achieve the advanced technical level in modern and the intermediate level in ballet for a minimum of two semesters prior to graduation. The improvisation/composition sequence consists of a minimum of 11 hours of studio courses culminating in the performance of a senior choreographic project. A minimum of 6 hours of credit is required in performance/repertory courses. The curriculum includes as much as 20 hours of credit in professional electives, which may be taken in professional dance courses and/or related arts and sciences.

Evaluation of majors is an ongoing process. Continued enrollment in the program is contingent upon satisfactory performance. A student is expected to maintain a minimum 2.75 grade point average in all professional course work and a 3.0 cumulative average in studio classes in order to remain in good standing in the department.