The Dance Department offers intensive training in the performing arts within a liberal arts context to prepare graduates for leadership in the multifaceted world of dance. Movement is both the medium and the vehicle for all human activity, as well as a link among the body, the mind, and the spirit. The study of dance includes the study of human movement in relation to the ever-changing environment. The dance curriculum studies dance from choreographic, performing, aesthetic, historical, anatomical, anthropological, psychological, analytical, educational, and therapeutic perspectives. Through the study of dance, one can learn to observe, analyze, document, synthesize, and integrate both theoretical and applied knowledge for a better understanding of self and others as one develops as a performing artist.
Students also have an opportunity to perform and choreograph in informal studio performances.
Dancers are selected by audition and student choreography is juried for formal and informal studio performances and formal concert performances in Kraushaar Auditorium and on tour. Dance courses, including performing and choreographic opportunities, are open to all students. Placement auditions to determine the technique course level in which a student should enroll take place during the first week of the semester. By enrolling in dance and performing in concerts students may complete their physical education requirement. Since career development is an integral part of the college experience, students receive credits while developing applied skills through internships both during the academic year and in the summer.