Dance
What is Dance?
LMU's Dance major helps students develop their bodies, minds, and intuition. The program awakens students to an ever-expanding sense of the possible within human beings, communities, cultures and the art form itself.
Dance involves not only one's physical body but one's spirit, emotions and intellect. It requires a love of movement and metaphor. While this art form demands discipline, perseverance, curiosity, and resourcefulness, its rewards are great: a life filled with purpose, joy, and discovery.
Dance majors learn to develop heightened sensitivity and awareness, and become leaders who can balance "what is" with an understanding of "what is about to be."
What do Dance majors do?
Majors learn to dance with an articulate, centered, expressive, and skilled body. They learn to perform modern dance, ballet, jazz, and world dance - at least two of these at the intermediate-advanced level. Students are able to connect the work and play of the body with the life of the mind and the spirit, and to maintain health
Dance majors understand and communicate with people from diverse backgrounds using appropriate listening and observation skills, along with appropriate oral, written, and dance-movement skills and sensibilities.
All students seeking admission to the program must submit a digital recording of their work and participate in an in-person or telephone interview with a Dance faculty member. The Admissions Office, however, makes the acceptance decision. For more information about the video audition and interview process, please visit the Dance Audition page.
Is this major right for you?
You might be a Dance major if you:
- Love to dance
- Are imaginative and intuitive
- Are disciplined
- Value diversity, movement, and culture
- Enjoy creative collaboration
About our faculty
Our faculty members are experts in fields such as jazz, hip hop, modern technique, choreography, dance technology, Yoga, Labanotation and Motif Writing, ballet, dance composition, and dance history.
Faculty members and visiting guest choreographers have founded companies, served on boards of directors and as artistic directors, established residencies and master classes, and written high school curricula.
They have danced and choreographed at festivals and for companies locally, nationally, and internationally. Faculty members have performed works by George Balanchine, John Taras, Gerald Arpino, Heinz Poll, Ruthanna Boris, Anna Sokolow, Merce Cunningham, Paul Taylor, Laura Dean, and Pilobolus.
About our students and graduates
Our students have access to two large, light, and airy studios with spring floors; a smaller rehearsal studio; and dressing rooms with shower facilities. Students enjoy state-of-the-art audio and video equipment for classroom and creative uses, as well as access to musical instruments. Performances are held in the 172-seat Strub Theatre, which has a costume shop and Pilates studio.
LMU students majoring or minoring in Dance will be prepared for graduate study as well as careers in dance, performance, teaching, and related work in fields such as business and health care.
Representative courses
Our courses have included:
- Orientation to Dance
- Principles of Movement
- Pointe and Variations
- Jazz Dance
- World Dance
- Modern Dance
- Fundamentals of Dance Composition
- Hip Hop
- Partnering
- Martial Arts
- Choreographers' Workshop
- Laban Movement Analysis
- History of Dance Theatre
- Movement Arts for Children
- Independent Studies