“This was long in the making,” says Michael­ Wimberly about a Martha Graham Dance Company residency at Bennington College­ in Vermont. “I think it was three Bennington­ presidents ago I asked, ‘What’s the possibility of us having the Graham company here?’ This was long before GRAHAM100. But it all lined up with the company’s centennial.” […]

Looking back at the spring semester of my senior year at Butler University, one thing immediately comes to mind: auditions. On top of schoolwork, rehearsals, jobs, and other obligations, my fellow dance majors and I spent any remaining hours in pursuit of a contract. Audition seasons are tough for anyone, especially the first time around. […]

In 2022, Lleyton Ho was at a crossroads. He’d just wrapped up his first full season as a corps de ballet member with San Francisco Ballet (the previous two seasons’ programming had been interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic), and he was eager to continue dancing with the company. Ho had completed his freshman year at […]

We’ve all seen the viral videos—college dance teams are more technically advanced and artistically engaging than ever. Even if you’ve been strictly a studio dancer, you might be curious about what a college dance team has to offer. The good news is that the technique you spent years perfecting in the studio will serve you […]

An award-winning performer, choreographer, artistic director, and educator, amara tabor-smith taught at University of California, Berkeley, for more than a decade and, since 2017, has been an artist in residence at Stanford University, designing both courses and productions. “Everything is connected,” says tabor-smith about balancing priorities as a teacher and an artist. Expanding on the common […]

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 […]

Growing up, Tamara Houck trained in the pre-professional division of Dance Theatre of Harlem and then at Ballet Hispánico, taking a full load of classes in ballet, modern, and more. But when applying to college, she knew she didn’t want to major in dance. “As much as I love it, I didn’t see myself having […]

The first semester teaching in a university dance program brings new challenges: syllabi to write, office hours to hold, students with questions that extend beyond technique. For educators used to a private studio setting, stepping into higher education builds on familiar skills while introducing new facets to how dance is taught, discussed, and contextualized. “When […]