Dance

Vincas Greene, chair

Disciplines and Degrees Offered The department of dance, accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance, offers the following majors Dance (B.F.A.) , Dance Education (B.F.A.) and Dance Studies (B.A.) . A Dance Minor is also offered by the department.

Students should consult the General Academic Plan section of this Catalog to determine which majors are available in the Women’s College or Evening and Weekend Studies of Brenau University. Not all majors are offered at all Brenau locations.

Purpose The Department of Dance at Brenau University educates the individual as a dance practitioner, scholar and artist in a creative, supportive and challenging environment. The department provides a solid foundation in classical ballet and modern dance with well designed program plans. Students are encouraged to explore their values while creating a personal philosophy as an artist with responsibility and integrity.

Certain courses are common ground to dance majors at Brenau regardless of their areas of specialization. Command of a broad range of movement idioms coupled with depth in at least two areas of technique are essential accomplishments of our B.F.A. students. In addition, courses in choreography, production, pedagogy, dance history and courses related to the major give background and depth to students’ knowledge of the art form. Performing gives the students the background and experience to begin making works of their own. The B.F.A. dance major prepares students for entry into the professional world of dance as skilled technicians, creative artists and independent thinkers. The dance education major leads to P-12 teacher certification in the state of Georgia. Professional education courses in the dance education major combine with dance courses to prepare the student for student teaching in public school systems. The B.A. dance studies major is designed to allow students to nurture and explore their interest in dance to discover her/his potential as a dance technician while allowing academic flexibility to investigate the broad range of a liberal arts curriculum and to explore the relationship of dance to other fields of study.

Audition and Placement ll students enter into the Dance Studies Program to begin their college dance training and will be advised based on the student’s degree goals. Auditions for the B.F.A. Dance, B.F.A. Dance Education and program continuation will be held in the second semester of the sophomore year.

Students will be placed in technique classes of the appropriate skill level based on their entrance placement class. Students who demonstrate the skill necessary for the next level of work upon completion of a studio technique course will be permitted to enroll at the next level. If not, they will be expected to continue in designated courses at their level of technique until they are ready to advance. Continuing students will participate in a placement class at the beginning of the fall semester to determine current technique level. Students who have increased in technical proficiency may be promoted to a higher level and students who have not maintained technical proficiency may be placed in a lower level.

Graduation Requirements To meet B.F.A. graduation requirements, students must achieve and maintain the ballet advanced level (400) and the modern dance high intermediate level (300) or the modern dance advanced level (400) and the ballet intermediate level (300); the advanced level must be achieved by one semester prior to graduation.

To meet B.A. graduation requirements, students must achieve and maintain the high intermediate level (300) in at least one dance technique (modern, ballet or jazz); the high intermediate level must be attained in at least one semester prior to graduation.

Students must earn a cumulative grade point average of 2.0 and a major grade point average of 2.50.