The Bachelor of Arts in Dance Education program is designed for students interested in becoming a certified K-12 dance teacher in public and private school settings, studio dance teachers, choreographers or dancers. Designed to train balanced dance practitioners, the dance education degree blends the theory and practice of dance performance with related fields. All courses are directly aligned with the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) principles. Students interested in a dance education degree will take classes in jazz, ballet and modern technique and study topics including dance kinesiology and injury prevention; choreography; improvisation; and dance history. In addition, students will explore the skills and concepts of somatic practices in dance including body awareness, alignment, injury prevention and movement observation. The Bachelor of Arts in Dance Education degree includes an introduction to technical production skills including lighting, sound, set design, costume and make-up design, and stage management. An integrative arts model is a part of this program, which uses methods and assessments for teaching dance to enrich students‛ understanding of academic concepts in subjects such as math and language arts. Assignments within many of the courses in the dance education degree guide students through approximately 100 hours of observational and practice-based experiences, and the final semester of the program includes a full-time student teaching component that allows the teacher candidate to experience a gradual increase of responsibilities as an apprentice to an accomplished cooperating teacher at an elementary or secondary school setting. In addition to regular classroom studies, dance major students will take part in the Ethington Dance Ensemble as well as the University Dance Series in numerous capacities, including performance, choreography and technical production, thus allowing them to explore the creative process from rehearsal to live performance. This global approach to dance education training creates a graduate who is multifaceted and prepared to succeed in today?s marketplace.

-