When colleges want to cut costs and streamline their offerings, arts programs can be among the first on the chopping block. And yet, four schools have recently introduced new degrees in dance: Ithaca College in Ithaca, New York; Saint Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire; Samford University­, outside Birmingham, Alabama; and Vassar College, in Poughkeepsie­, […]

For competition kids, pursuing a dance degree is a natural extension of the years of dedication they’ve put into their craft. But the transition from the fast-paced buzz of the competition and convention scene to the college classroom isn’t always seamless. As two former champions and a college dean share, once on campus, competitive dancers […]

Next spring, Mia Sanderson will graduate from University of South Carolina’s Betsy Blackmon Dance Program with two degrees, completing four years of dance and advertising curriculums that now position her for several career options: Will it be professional company life or marketing for a dance organization? Maybe even musical theater, she says.  “I’ve definitely become a better […]

Despite all the hours young dancers spend in the studio, for many coming out of high school, the idea of dance as an academic discipline—an intellectual as much as a physical pursuit—can be unfamiliar, even mysterious. What do college dance programs actually require? What do students’ days look like? A college’s faculty, size, location, and […]

When first-year students begin classes at the University of the Arts’ School of Dance in Philadelphia, they’re met with guiding questions that challenge them to reframe the very purpose of dance training: “How do you pay attention to what you’re doing all the time, differently?” asks Donna Faye Burchfield, professor and dean of the School of Dance. “What […]

This fall, the celebrated collaboration that grew out of that conversation, the joint Ailey/Fordham BFA Program, marks its 25th anniversary. Two and a half decades ago, the two institutions opened their doors to the first cohort of students that would receive conservatory-level dance training paired with a robust liberal arts education.

For many dancers, the right college path is a mixed one, where dance is one component in a combination of majors and minors. It’s a choice that allows them to explore diverse interests, discover unexpected intersections, and deepen their engagement and mastery on multiple fronts.

While the transfer process is a time of uncertainty and adjustment, ultimately it can lead to a program that better meets a dancer’s needs. “There’s something freeing about starting again and doing college on your own terms,” says Paul Matteson,­ associate professor at University of the Arts.