BFA Curriculum
The BFA curriculum in Dance is a rigorous and comprehensive program, designed to equip students with technical and performance skills, develop their artistry and give them a breadth of understanding in the discipline. The degree requires 130 credit hours with approximately 60% in dance courses, 27% in general education courses and 13% in electives.
Dancing is at the core of the curriculum with an ongoing requirement of at least 7 technique classes per week, consisting of modern and ballet, augmented with a variety of world dance forms. Creative work in improvisation and composition is also a continuing requirement, culminating in a capstone senior choreographic project. Performance opportunities in a variety of contexts exist throughout the four years. In addition to studio courses, dance majors study anatomy and kinesiology, pedagogy, dance history and dance studies, music theory and literature, production, and body-mind disciplines such as Alexander Technique and yoga.
130
CREDIT HOURS REQUIRED TO GRADUATE
Course Requirements
GENERAL EDUCATION
- 31 to 33 hours, plus foreign language requirement
Composition, 4-6 hrs
Rhetoric, as placed; Speech Comm. (111 & 112); or ESL (114 & 115)
- Rhetoric, as placed; Speech Comm. (111 & 112); or ESL (114 & 115)
- Requirement satisfied by Dance History (340)
Humanities and the Arts, 6 hrs - 2 courses from Distribution List
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 6 hrs - 2 courses from Distribution List
Natural Sciences and Technology, 6 hrs - 2 courses from Distribution List
Quantitative Reasoning, 6 hrs - 2 courses from Distribution List
Cultural Studies, 6 hrs
- 1 course from the Distribution List in Western
- 1 course from the Distribution List in Non-Western/U.S. Minority
FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT
Three years of high school required; if deficient, 1 semester of college equals 1 year of high school
PROFESSIONAL COURSES IN DANCE
- 79 hours
DANCE TECHNIQUE - 32 hours required; a minimum of 4 hours each semester in residence, totaling 7 classes per week
Modern Technique (160, 260, 360), 18 hrs
Ballet (166, 266, 366), 8 hrs
Global Dance Forms (310), 2 hrs
Elective in any forms listed above, 4 hrs
Other Dance Forms, 2-4 hrs
Jazz (210, 310)
Tap (220)
Theatre (312, 313)
Ballroom (Kinesiology 101)
IMPROVISATION/COMPOSITION - 11 hrs
Improvisation I and II (162, 163)
Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced Composition (164, 264, 365)
Senior Project (298)
DANCE ACADEMICS - 22 hrs
Orientation to Dance (150), 2 hrs
Music Theory and Literature for Dancers (168, 269), 6 hours
Dance History I and II (340, 341), 6 hrs
Dance Kinesiology and Somatics (345), 4 hrs
Teaching Workshop (350), 3 hrs
Senior Career Seminar (295), 1 hr
PERFORMANCE - 6 hours; maximum of 16 credits count toward degree
Performance Practicum (130, 330)
Repertory (335)
PRODUCTION - 6 hrs
Production for Dance (151)
Production Practicum (131/331), 1 hr per academic year
ELECTIVES - 18 to 20 hrs
Professional Electives, 6 hrs minimum
Technique credit beyond the 32 hrs required, up to 16 additional
Performance credit beyond the 6 hrs required, up to 10 additional
Independent Study (199, 351)
Other Dance Forms beyond the 2 hrs required
Dance Practicum (230)
Viewing Dance (300)
The Alexander Technique for Dancers (301)
Musical Theatre Choreography (314)
Dance Internship (320)
Composer-Choreographer Workshop (328)
Labanotation I and II (347, 348)
Choreography for the Video Camera (367)
Applied courses in theatre, music, art
GENERAL ELECTIVES , no minimum required
