Despite all the hours that young dancers spend in the studio, for many who came out of high school, the idea of dancing as an academic discipline – an intellectual quest that physical prosecution – can be unknown, even mysterious. What do university dance programs really need? What do students look like?
The faculty, the size, the location and the type (s) of a college of dance degrees can all have an impact on the experience of a student. While BFA students spend more than 40 hours per week dancing, for example, the dance of BA students can fluctuate by the semester by the semester, which gives them more time to pursue other academic interests. The scope and duration of senior projects can also be very different: students of the biggest programs often work in parameters that allow everyone to choreographer, while students of smaller programs can have a complete half-water devoted to their work.
But the line by the line is the transformation. Although the four students here are in dance programs of different types and sizes, all describe their departments as support communities. They have close relations with teachers, staff and other students. (Especially in major universities, this access can distinguish dance from many other disciplines, where students do not always work directly with teachers.) As their daily routines reveal, the college has fundamentally changed their approach to dance.
Ellie Daley, '25
IOWA University (large public university)
Total registration: 31,452
Major: Dance, BFA
The average Ellie day begins at 8 a.m. and rehearsals end around 8 or 9 p.m. Every day, she has ballet and modern technique, up to six hours of rehearsal and at least another departmental course. Most semesters, she also took a non -Londe course. On weekends, she attended additional rehearsals, teaches at the University of Iowa Ballet and spends time with friends in Iowa City.
Ellie savor the accent put by the program on collaboration and the many performance opportunities on the campus each semester. She has the students graduated from the MFA among her mentors: she takes her lessons by her side and has danced in their works. She also played out campuses with a professional company of a member of the faculty.
Ellie initially planned double-major in dance and pre-occupation therapy. It changed after dance and society in world contexts, a course she says “on me”. Beyond her love for dance and performance, the learning that dance “really means something and can reveal that societies have progressed – and sometimes regressed – was exciting and affirmed,” she said. The study of history and theory of dance “changed the way I looked at dance and how I got into dance and choreography”. Although many of her peers have two majors, she dropped her second major to concentrate all her energy on dance.
Zil inami, '25
Buy a college, SUNY (Conservatoire within a public university)
Total registration: 3 257
Major: Dance, BFA
Zil's alarm buzzes at 7:30 am for lessons that start at 8:30 am, and their last rehearsals generally end around 10 p.m. They have several daily techniques lessons, around 20 hours of rehearsal per week, and spend up to three hours per week in courses on composition and choreography. They like to spend dormant time in the dormitory with friends, speaking of art.
On the side, Zil makes films, and they work one semester per year during the strings on the campus. They also took lessons for manufacturing puppets, scripting and recording studio. But rehearsal and performance conflicts can make it difficult to attend performance in other departments and out of campus, even if New York is less than 30 miles away.
Before university, Zil mainly trained in ballet. They praised the transition to modern technique and choreographic experimentation during the purchase. With two composition and production concentrations, the ZIL studies choreography, scene management and lighting design, and works behind the scenes of many performance on the campus. Sundays are frequently reserved with tech from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. “The concentration of production is a huge commitment of time,” they say, “but I like deeply and I like to be part of a show production, so it's worth it.”
Adelle Welch, '25
Bates College (Small Liberal Arts College)
Total registration: 1,874
Majors: Earth and climate sciences; dance, ba
Adelle generally wakes up at 7 am, has breakfast and hits the gymnasium before her geology class at 9:30 am. Other sciences and dance lessons, homework, office hours of teachers and rehearsals fill the rest of his day. According to the semester, Adelle spends between four and 12 hours per week in rehearsals, which generally take place until 9 p.m.
Although technique lessons are available every day, if it wants to prioritize the daily class, some of them will be at the beginner level, unlike those of larger hearing programs. But Adelle ended up appreciating this diversity of experience and discovered that collaboration with a range of students has “expanded” its choreography. “It's cool to understand how to work with new dancers,” she says.
Adelle, who studied the ballet growing up, wanted to dance at university but did not expect to specialize. During her first semester, she found a repertoire class where she discovered that dance could be like the books she loved in high school – more particular and provocative, less fairy tales – and she was addicted. She wants her piece of dance thesis to be “similar to ghosts” and as she has a job in the theater and dance costume shop, she expects what she implies a set and costumes that she will help to do.
At Bates, Adelle says: “There are tons of student subsidies available for research around the world. There is almost nothing that you can't do if you try. ” This summer, she attended the Bates Dance Festival of international renown and did research for her specialization thesis for her major in climate sciences.
Hey e., '
EMORY University (medium -sized private university)
Total registration: 15,889
Majors: Studies on women, gender and sexuality; Dance and movement studies, BA
The ILO, which uses pronouns, followed at least three non -non -semester lessons and has a job on the campus in the dance department. A standard day starts around 8:30 am and includes a dance class and a rehearsal, for a total of three or four hours of studio. They often have additional rehearsals on the campus and the weekend for their work with student leisure clubs – and outside campuses with a choreographer based in Atlanta, whom he met thanks to the links between the Faculty of Emory and the Dance scene of Atlanta.
After having attended a high school in the show arts, “I was difficult for me to imagine education without dancing,” says Ilo. But they also wanted to continue something else in college. After starting the university as a premedigated student, the ILO changed its second major in studies on women, gender and sexuality, excited that this discipline, like dance, helped them “find the language for human experience”.
Like Adelle, they spent a summer at Bates Dance Festival, thanks in part to a scholarship from the organization of friends of Emory dance. The Dance Department of Emory, with its accent on somatic and personal artistic talent, “allowed me to have a healthy relationship with dance,” says Ilo. “It offers a safe space for critical growth and artistic discovery.”
