Our Mission
- To provide professional-level technical training to undergraduate students that provides a foundation for personal expression and the development of the creative voice.
- To provide professional-level technical training to graduate students in a conservatory-like setting to assure preparedness for entry into the professional and/or academic arenas of dance.
- To provide a comprehensive examination of craft elements related to the art of choreography along with opportunities to explore and develop working relationships with creative resources to promote mature, sophisticated contemporary, artistic explorations with clear evidence of thoughtful and intellectual comprehension.
- To provide additional programs and areas of course work and exposure such as dancer wellness and dance and technology.
- To foster critical thinking and analytical exchange.
- To ensure a positive, nurturing environment for ongoing creative and intellectual development.
- To provide students and audiences with a diversity of artistic experiences.
- To contribute to the cultural vitality of the university community as well as the local, national and international artistic communities.
Our Vision
The Department of Dance at the College of Arts and Sciences strives to provide the highest caliber of education and dance training—and opportunities for creative and scholarly research for those pursuing the MFA or MA in Contemporary Dance and undergraduates pursuing a range of degrees, often with two majors or a minor in dance.
Committed to being an international leader in the burgeoning fields of dance medicine and science as well as dance/technology, and celebrating dance from both a global and historical perspective, we strive to contribute to the advancement of dance as a vital and necessary art form. In an environment that supports dancer health, the promotion of excellence in technical training, the advancement of critical thinking, the encouragement of exploration into new territories, the mastery of craft with breadth of vision, and the development of mature and contemporary aesthetics are at the heart of this small program based in a research institute.