What it’s about:

Dance majors learn to use their bodies in motion as instruments of artistic expression. As a major, you receive intensive training in the art of dance, in a liberal arts context, to prepare you for a career as a dancer or a choreographer. You’ll study dance from several perspectives: technical, choreographer, aesthetic, historical, anatomical, cultural, anthropological, and therapeutic.

What the study of this major:

To pursue a B.F.A. degree in dance, you will take a number of studio courses in technique, choreography, partnering, company repertoire, main stage performances, and notation-a curriculum that trains students to become performing and creative artists.

In contrast, a B.A. degree in dance, which emphasizes courses in liberal arts subjects such as English, history, literature, and music, can prepare you for a career as a performing and creative artist and as a dance educator, administrator, historian, or critic. The B.A. is usually stronger preparation if you plan to go on to grad school or simply want to have more career option.

The B.A. program usually requires a minimum of 12 credit hours in ballet, modern, as jazz dance technique courses. In-depth training in technique is essential, but a breadth of experience is also important. Technique courses may include other kinds of dance, such as ethnic, folk, social, tap, historic, or character dance.

Course work in anatomy and kinesiology (the anatomical study of movement) will enhance your technical skills by teaching you how the body moves and how to avoid injury. Courses in rhythmic analysis, percussion accompaniment, and music resources sharpen your sensitivity to rhythm and help you find or create appropriate accompaniment for your choreography. In dance notation courses, you analyze movement and record it, and read movement scores. In a course on dance philosophy, you may learn principles of aesthetics that you can apply to choreography. And when you study dance history, you’ll be encouraged to develop an appreciation for dance as an innate (inborn) and universal form of human expression.

Dance majors should expect to choreograph throughout college-at first, simple dance studies and improvisation; then, later, at least one fully staged work. You learn to design costumer, to light dances, and to help produce concerts. You also learn to work cooperatively with others, to direct, to evaluate choreography (including your own), and to accept and benefit from criticism.

And you perform! Some performances are informal presentations for teachers and classmates; other are theater productions before the public. If possible, take advantage of courses on teaching methods. Although many professional dancers may not plan to teach, almost all eventually do.

Daily classes in dance technique, rehearsals, and performances will cut deeply into your study time for academic subjects. To be a successful dance major, you need to have time management and stress management skills, the ability to focus clearly on the task at hand, and a commitment to produce quality work under deadline pressure.

At some colleges, the dance major is housed in the department of physical education rather than a department of fine arts, dance, or theater. Such programs usually emphasize kinesiology, physiology of exercise, health science, nutrition, and physical therapy.

Career options and trends:

Professional dancer and/or choreographer; dance teacher; dance critic; dance scientist/kinesiologist/physical therapist; dance historian/reconstructor; dance arts administrator; dance therapist.

Certification is required for teaching, and physical therapists and dance therapists are licensed health professionals with graduate degrees in their fields.

The field is overcrowded with professional dancers and choreographers-only the most talented find regular employment. Many performance opportunities depend on funding from public and private organization; such support it not expected to keep up with rising production costs. On the other hand, there is a great need for dance educators in public and private elementary and secondary schools. There are few positions in dance criticism or dance therapy; but opportunities are expanding in the fields of dance/arts administration, dance science, dance history and reconstruction, and dance kinesiology (which usually require a master’s degree.)

Source: CollegeBoard 2012 Book of Majors