Dance

Associate Professor Christopher Dolder, Division Chair

Professor: Myra Woodruff
Associate Professors: Christopher Dolder, Leslie Peck
Assistant Professor: Brandi Coleman
Professor of Practice: Anne Westwick
Assistant Professor of Practice: Michelle N. Gibson
Artists-in-Residence: Carter Alexander, Silas Farley, Alvon Reed
Visiting Professor of Practice: Christie Bondade
Director of Dance Production: Christopher Ham
Adjunct Lecturer: Julia Buckelew
Musicians: Dick Abrahamson, Jamal Mohamed, Martin Morgan, Mina Polevoy, Natalia Sawal, Edward Smith

General Information

The Division of Dance offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a minor in dance performance. Students receive professional dance training within the context of a comprehensive liberal arts education. The goal is to develop the disciplined, versatile dance artist through a balanced study of ballet, modern dance and jazz dance techniques, complemented and reinforced by a broad range of theoretical studies and performance opportunities. The program provides an atmosphere in which students are nurtured and stimulated in their quest for artistic achievement, technical mastery and scholarly excellence. Undergraduate majors study dance as a performing art with the intent to become practicing artists. The core of the dance curriculum is designed with this goal in mind. The combination of performance and liberal arts education courses serves to develop the articulate dancer.

The Division of Dance has four dance studios, three of which are located in the Owen Arts Center. Studios are equipped with sprung floors, digital sound and projection systems, grand pianos, ballet barres and mirrors. The Charles S. Sharp Performing Arts Studio doubles as a performing space and is also equipped with a tech booth and a theatrical lighting system. Live accompaniment is provided for all ballet and modern technique classes.

Admission, Audition and Financial Aid

Dance is a dual admit program: in addition to meeting University admission criteria, all first-year and transfer applicants must participate in a performance audition, which is the principal factor in determining eligibility to major or minor in dance. In the performance audition, applicants are observed in a ballet class, modern dance sequences and a jazz dance combination. After this process, selected candidates are asked to perform a prepared solo that is 90 seconds in length. Applicants should bring a brief résumé, a wallet-sized photograph, music for the solo (tablet or smartphone) and appropriate dancewear and footwear (the modern dance portion of audition will be danced barefoot). Campus and regional dance auditions occur between October and March. Auditions are scheduled at www.smu.edu/danceadmission.

Performance

All dance majors are required to perform and choreograph as an integral part of their performance studies. Performance opportunities include concerts featuring masterworks and contemporary works in the genres of ballet, modern and jazz presented on the main stage in the Bob Hope Theatre, concerts featuring student choreography in noontime Student Choreography Showcase performances in the Gene and Jerry Jones Grand Atrium and mainstage concerts in the Bob Hope Theatre and performances in venues in the Dallas Arts District including the Meadows at the Winspear concerts presented in collaboration with the Meadows Symphony. Other opportunities include special events, outreach programs and interdisciplinary projects within and beyond the Meadows community. All dance students are required to take ballet, modern dance, and jazz dance in their first four terms. In the final four terms, all dance students must take a minimum of one dance technique class per day.

Programs

Major(s)

Dance Performance, B.F.A.

Minor(s)

Dance Performance Minor

Courses

Dance

Dance courses open to non-dance majors are offered on a periodic basis. The remaining dance courses are restricted to dance majors unless otherwise indicated in the course descriptions.

Dance Courses Open to Nonmajors
	DANC 1207, DANC 1301, DANC 1303, DANC 1305, DANC 2305 (by permission), DANC 3207 (by audition), DANC 3374
Dance Courses for Dance Performance Majors
Performance Technique	Ballet: DANC 1018, DANC 1311, DANC 2311, DANC 3016, DANC 3018, DANC 3211, DANC 3216, DANC 3218, DANC 3311, DANC 4004, DANC 4104, DANC 4211, DANC 4311
	Jazz Dance: DANC 1231, DANC 2231, DANC 3231, DANC 4231
	Modern Dance: DANC 1321, DANC 2321, DANC 3221, DANC 3321, DANC 4221
Advanced Performance Technique	DANC 3211, DANC 3216, DANC 3218, DANC 3221, DANC 3231, DANC 3311, DANC 3321, DANC 4104, DANC 4211, DANC 4221, DANC 4231, DANC 4311
Ensemble Performance	DANC 3080
Composition	DANC 3341, DANC 3342, DANC 3343
Theoretical Studies	DANC 1326, DANC 3363, DANC 4190, DANC 4290, DANC 4390,
Historical Studies	DANC 4373, DANC 4374, DANC 4375
Applied Studies	DANC 1144, DANC 1151, DANC 1152, DANC 2160, DANC 2170, DANC 3354, DANC 3366, DANC 4091, DANC 4191, DANC 4291, DANC 4391

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