Program Mission and Goals

Mission  

• To educate, inspire, empower, and motivate our developing artists to achieve excellence in performance, teaching, choreography, advocacy, research, and other dance related fields.
• Through mindful rigor, provide students with opportunities to transform into holistic dance artists.
• To foster a community of artists with a focus on individual advocacy, cultural competence, and lifelong learning.
• To support and increase student engagement within their local, national, and international communities

Graduates of the Department of Theatre and Dance with a B.A. in Dance will:

• Demonstrate rigorous technical and artistic proficiency across dance practices, integrating versatility, musicality, expressiveness, and sustainable approaches to movement.
• Develop and articulate an individual artistic voice, demonstrating self-awareness, curiosity, adaptability, and ownership of their continued growth as dance artists.
• Demonstrate performance proficiency and professionalism through extensive stage and performance experiences that integrate technical training, artistry, collaboration, adaptability, and confidence.
• Create and critically examine choreographic work, applying experimentation, artistic risk-taking, collaboration, compositional principles, and critical inquiry to the creative process.
• Integrate physical practice with intellectual inquiry, applying mindfulness, self-awareness, critical thinking, reflection, and problem-solving to their development as artists and learners.
• Engage thoughtfully with diverse perspectives and practices in dance, demonstrating respect for varied artistic voices, cultural contexts, movement traditions, backgrounds, and lived experiences.
• Connect dance to interdisciplinary areas of study, using the breadth and flexibility of the B.A. to develop knowledge and skills that expand their artistic, academic, and professional possibilities.
• Engage with the professional dance community, drawing upon experiences with faculty, guest artists, alumni, and professional organizations to understand contemporary practices and expectations within the field.
• Demonstrate readiness for evolving careers in dance and the arts through creative, entrepreneurial, collaborative, communication, and professional skills that support multiple career pathways.