Faculty:
Jared Larkin (chair)
Natalie Desch (Assistant to the Chair – Adjunct Faculty)
Bethany Hansen (Assistant to the Chair – Adjunct Faculty)
Michelle Armstrong (Adjunct Faculty)
Martha Howe-Underwood (Adjunct Faculty)
Allison Shir (Adjunct Faculty)
Program Goals
- Students will work to master the body’s physical skills as they relate to technical proficiency, artistic performance, and modes of communication.
- Students will develop and practice their physical and cognitive research skills, within the full scope of multidisciplinary physical art.
- Students will develop their own artistic voices by taking risks in individualized experimental creative practices.
- Students will understand dance as a cultural practice that reflects and impacts local and global communities.
- Students and faculty will provide a professional environment conducive to advanced learning and collaboration among students and professors.
Objectives
The program offers an academic major leading to a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, a Bachelor of Arts degree, as well as an academic minor. The Dance program emphasizes rigorous technique training in Modern and Ballet, composition and improvisation, collaboration, and community. As such, the degree in Dance from Westminster College prepares students for careers in professional dance companies, arts organizations, education, community development, health and fitness, human services, as well as graduate studies in a myriad of interdisciplinary studies.
Students will develop an understanding of the artistic and technical elements of physical expression that leads to performance artistry. Students will demonstrate mastery of Modern, Contemporary, and Ballet techniques, improvisation, composition, and production elements (venue, lighting, sound, costuming, etc.,). Students will also develop an understanding of how dance functions as a powerful vehicle for community cultural development.
Students will develop an ability to create powerful original work through movement. They will demonstrate the ability to use technology to capture dance processes and products as well as augment the visual and aural components of dance production. Students will become sensitive evaluators of dance processes and concert dance productions.
Program Requirements
Students must audition at the end of their Freshman year for placement into the BFA program. If not accepted, students can re-audition at the end of each semester or pursue the BA degree.
Students must maintain a minimum 2.3 GPA in all courses required for the major.
For course prerequisites, please refer to the course descriptions.
Students must meet the college-wide graduation requirements in addition to the Dance major:
- 124 total hours
- 30 upper-division hours
- WCore requirements
Dance Bachelor of Fine Arts Major
| Requirement Description for Dance BFA |
Credit Hours | Prerequisites |
| I. World Language Requirement | 8 | |
| Dance majors must complete eight credit hours in a single world language. | ||
| Technique Components | ||
| All Dance majors are required to take a Modern/Contemporary and Ballet course each semester (totaling 28 credits at graduation). Students are placed into a course level after an evaluation occurring during Fall semester of Freshman year. They must meet a minimum of 8 upper division Technique Component credits in Modern/Contemporary and 8 in Ballet upon graduation. All courses are repeatable for credit. | ||
| Modern/Contemporary – Lower Division |
||
| DANCE 230 Modern/Contemporary II (2+ Lab) | ||
| Modern/Contemporary – Upper Division | ||
| DANCE 330 Modern/Contemporary III (2 + Lab) | ||
| DANCE 430 Modern/Contemporary IV (2 + Lab) | ||
| Ballet – Lower Division | ||
| DANCE 235 Ballet II (2 + Lab) | ||
| Ballet – Upper Division | ||
| DANCE 335 Ballet III (2 + Lab) | ||
| DANCE 435 Ballet IV (2 + Lab) | ||
| II. Lower Division Courses | 26 | |
| DANCE 130 Modern/Contemporary I (4) | ||
| DANCE 135 Ballet I (4) | ||
| DANCE 180 Dance History I (2) | ||
| DANCE 270 Improvisation/Composition (4) | ||
| 6 credits + lab required of Modern/Contemporary technique components (these credits can be satisfied by upper division courses) | ||
| 6 credits + lab required of Ballet technique components (these credits can be satisfied by upper division courses) | ||
| III. Upper Division Courses | 28 | |
| DANCE 350 Dance Pedagogy (4) | ||
| DANCE 351 Anatomy and Kinesiology for Dance (4) | ||
| DANCE 490 Senior Seminar (2) | ||
| DANCE 491 Senior Showcase (2) | ||
| 8 credits + lab required of Modern/Contemporary technique components | ||
| 8 credits + lab required of Ballet technique components | ||
| IV. Elective Courses |
8 | |
| DANCE 190 World Dance (4) | ||
| DANCE 280 Dance History II (2) | ||
| DANCE 380 Vernacular Forms of Dance (4) | ||
| DANCE 381 Ballet Studies (4) | ||
| DANCE 382 Dance for Camera (3) | ||
| DANCE 440 Internship (1-4) | ||
| THTR 225 Lighting Design (3) | THTR 145, 160 | |
| TOTAL HOURS FOR THE BFA IN DANCE |
70 |
Recommended Plan of Study for Dance
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | |
| Freshman Year | DANCE 130 DANCE 135 DANCE 180 |
DANCE 230 DANCE 235 |
| Sophomore Year |
DANCE 230 |
DANCE 230 |
| Junior Year |
DANCE 330 |
DANCE 330 |
| Senior Year |
DANCE 430 |
DANCE 430 |
|
Dance Bachelor of Arts Major
| Requirement Description for Dance BA |
Credit Hours | Prerequisites |
| I. World Language Requirement | 8 | |
| Dance majors must complete eight credit hours in a single world language. | ||
| Technique Components | ||
| All Dance majors are required to take a Modern/Contemporary and Ballet course Spring of Freshman year and both semesters of Sophomore year; two additional Ballet OR Modern/Contemporary classes are required to be taken one semester of Junior and Senior year (totaling 16 credits upon graduation). Students are placed into a course level after an evaluation occurring during Fall semester of Freshman year. All courses are repeatable for credit. | ||
| Modern/Contemporary – Lower Division |
||
| DANCE 230 Modern/Contemporary II (2+ Lab) | ||
| Modern/Contemporary – Upper Division | ||
| DANCE 330 Modern/Contemporary III (2 + Lab) | ||
| DANCE 430 Modern/Contemporary IV (2 + Lab) | ||
| Ballet – Lower Division | ||
| DANCE 235 Ballet II (2 + Lab) | ||
| Ballet – Upper Division | ||
| DANCE 335 Ballet III (2 + Lab) | ||
| DANCE 435 Ballet IV (2 + Lab) | ||
| II. Lower Division Courses | 30 | |
| DANCE 130 Modern/Contemporary I (4) | ||
| DANCE 135 Ballet I (4) | ||
| DANCE 180 Dance History I (2) | ||
| DANCE 270 Improvisation/Composition (4) | ||
| DANCE 280 Dance History I (2) | ||
| THTR 225 Lighting Design (3) | THTR 145, 160 | |
| 6 credits + lab required of Modern/Contemporary technique components (these credits can be satisfied by upper division courses) | ||
| 6 credits + lab required of Ballet technique components (these credits can be satisfied by upper division courses) | ||
| 4 credits + lab required of Modern/Contemporary OR Ballet technique components (these credits can be satisfied by upper division courses) | ||
| III. Upper Division Courses | 19 | |
| DANCE 350 Dance Pedagogy (4) | ||
| DANCE 351 Anatomy and Kinesiology for Dance (4) | ||
| DANCE 380 Vernacular Forms of Dance (4) | ||
| DANCE 490 Senior Seminar (2) | ||
| TOTAL HOURS FOR THE BA IN DANCE |
57 |
Recommended Plan of Study for Dance
| Fall Semester | Spring Semester | |
| Freshman Year | DANCE 130 DANCE 135 DANCE 180 |
DANCE 230 DANCE 235 |
| Sophomore Year |
DANCE 230 |
DANCE 230 |
| Junior Year |
DANCE 330 or DANCE 335 |
DANCE 380 |
| Senior Year |
THTR 225 |
DANCE 280 |
|
Dance Minor
| Requirement Description for Dance Minor |
Credit Hours | Prerequisites |
| Technique Components | ||
| All Dance minors are required to take two Modern/Contemporary and Ballet courses within their 4 years at Westminster College (totaling 4 credits upon graduation). Students are placed into a course level after an evaluation occurring during Fall semester of Freshman year. All courses are repeatable for credit. | ||
| Modern/Contemporary – Lower Division |
||
| DANCE 230 Modern/Contemporary II (2+ Lab) | ||
| Modern/Contemporary – Upper Division | ||
| DANCE 330 Modern/Contemporary III (2 + Lab) | ||
| DANCE 430 Modern/Contemporary IV (2 + Lab) | ||
| Ballet – Lower Division | ||
| DANCE 235 Ballet II (2 + Lab) | ||
| Ballet – Upper Division | ||
| DANCE 335 Ballet III (2 + Lab) | ||
| DANCE 435 Ballet IV (2 + Lab) | ||
| II. Lower Division Courses |
18 | |
| DANCE 130 Modern/Contemporary I (4) | ||
| DANCE 135 Ballet I (4) | ||
| DANCE 180 Dance History I (2) | ||
| DANCE 270 Improvisation/Composition (4) | ||
| 4 credits + lab required of Modern/Contemporary OR Ballet technique components (these credits can be satisfied by upper division courses) | ||
| III. Upper Division Courses | 12 | |
| DANCE 350 Dance Pedagogy (4) | ||
| DANCE 351 Anatomy and Kinesiology for Dance (4) | ||
| DANCE 380 Vernacular Forms of Dance (4) | ||
| TOTAL HOURS FOR DANCE MINOR | 30 |
