School of Performing Arts
Bachelor of Arts in Dance
The Dance Department helps students grow as artists, empowering them to express themselves authentically through dance. As a dance major, you'll find that our program combines theory and practice in a nurturing environment.
Program Details
- Official Degree Name
- Bachelor of Arts
- Format
-
In Class-Day
- Credit Hours
- 120.5
- Program Start
- Fall Semester
- Application Deadline
- Apply Anytime
- Average Time to Degree
- 4 Years
Why Get Your Dance Degree at DeSales University?
The dance curriculum provides training that is equally practical and theory-based. Our dance majors learn in an environment that is both demanding and nurturing, and gain marketable skills that will help them get jobs in the industry after graduation.
Program Highlights
Master Classes & Guest Artists
- Our dance faculty are routinely joined by professional choreographers and guest artists from New York, Philadelphia, and beyond, who teach different master classes or create choreography. Students have several opportunities to perform and choreograph each semester. The highlight of our season is the annual Dance Ensemble Concert, featuring works by faculty and guest artists. Recent guest artists have included Brandon Coleman, Donald Byrd, and Armando Braswell.
Performance Opportunities
- All dance majors participate as a dancer, understudy, and/or crew member for both the Emerging Choreographers Concert and the Dance Ensemble Concert. The Emerging Choreographers Concert showcases choreography created by a select group of junior and senior dance majors. The spring Dance Ensemble Concert showcases new and exciting choreography by renowned guest artists as well as our accomplished dance faculty.
Facilities
- The DeSales Dance Department has two dance studios, the spacious Brisson Dance Studio and the Labuda Dance Studio. Both studios have a Harlequin sprung wood floor system and a top of the line Marley floor. Our smart classroom technology allows for a flexible and innovative approach to teaching dance. Both studios also have the option for live piano and percussion accompaniment.
What Will You Study?
Our core dance curriculum offers courses that are both practical and theoretical, including:
- Ballet, Hip-Hop, and Modern Technique
- Dance Composition
- Dance in World Cultures
- Evolution of Ballet and Modern
- Kinesiology for Dancers
- Hip-Hop and Social Justice
Meet the Dance Faculty
Outcomes & Careers
The program combines training in the foundations of dance, learning by doing, and collaborating with different departments on campus. It has been shown to help our students find meaningful employment in the field of dance after graduation. Our alumni are proudly working in all areas of performance, dance education, and arts administration.
Each student is paired with a faculty advisor on day one who helps them plan their 4 years at DeSales and how to reach their career goals.
Careers you can do with a degree in dance from DeSales include:
- Cast members and choreographers with regional dance companies and theaters, including cruise ships and theme parks.
- Graduate students earning advanced degrees in Dance Education, Dance Movement Therapy, and Arts Administration
- A Doctor of Physical Therapy degree with a concentration in dance and the performing arts
- Founders of non-profit dance companies and organizations that bring dance to their local communities
- Dance studio careers teaching students of all ages
Admission Requirements
- Completed Application
- Audition and/or Interview
Artistic Acceptance
To be accepted into our performing arts program, you have to audition/interview for our faculty during our Scholarship Audition/Interview Day(s) hosted yearly on the DeSales campus.
Program Highlights
Program FAQs
All dance majors participate as a dancer, understudy, and/or crew member in the Emerging Choreographers Concert and the Dance Ensemble Concert every year.
These types of experiences support our philosophy that a theory-based approach to performance must be supplemented with practical experience.
The Emerging Choreographers Concert showcases the impressive choreography of a select group of junior and senior dance majors. This fall concert celebrates the work and creativity of our entire department as it is student choreographed, danced, and run by our talented dance majors and led by a faculty artistic director.
The spring Dance Ensemble Concert features a mix of new and exciting choreography by renowned guest artists as well as our accomplished dance faculty. The highlight of the dance season, our student performers take the mainstage to showcase their expressive talents in new and notable works by world-class artists.
The yearly Informal Dance Concerts give students an opportunity to propose new choreography to be presented in the Schubert Theater for one night only.
Other performance opportunities include collaborating with other majors in the School of performing arts. These exciting projects are student-led and range from junior directing scenes with our theatre majors to capturing dance on film with our TV/film majors. Students are encouraged to explore their passion for their art through Independent Study.
Yes. Master classes are offered every Friday during the semester in a variety of dance styles.
Apply anytime. We’ll let you know if you are accepted in about a month. However if you are a high school senior, we encourage you to apply early in the school year. The priority deadline for scholarship consideration is December 1.
You must be accepted both academically and artistically into the program. To be accepted artistically into a performing arts major, you must audition/interview for our faculty during our annual Scholarship Audition/Interview Day(s) hosted on the DeSales campus.
Recent News
Act 1 Presents “Mr. Dickens’ Hat” for the Holidays
Act 1 DeSales University Theatre is pleased to announce the premiere of “Mr. Dickens’ Hat: A Play with Music” as the holiday production of its 55th season on the Main Stage of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts.
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Dance Season Opens with the Emerging Choreographers Concert
The dance department opens the 2024-2025 season with the popular Emerging Choreographers Concert, Nov. 1 through Nov. 3, in the Schubert Theatre of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts.
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Act 1 Presents the Classic Comedy “The Servant of Two Masters”
Act 1 DeSales University Theatre will present a classic comedy, Carlo Goldoni’s “The Servant of Two Masters,” opening Thursday, Oct. 10. The show will run until Sunday, Oct. 20, in the Schubert Theatre of the Labuda Center for the Performing Arts.
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