In the Department of Dance, we put your liberal arts education into action by pairing movement practices with theoretical investigation. Under the guidance of our seven dedicated faculty members and visiting professional instructors, you will explore, challenge, and embrace the breadth of possibility within your own moving body and strengthen your technique in all disciplines–in body and mind. We believe in this holistic approach to the arts, encouraging our students to think critically about dance practices and their sociopolitical implications. We foster a collaborative environment and welcome meaningful dialogue in both the studio and classroom. Our vibrant community celebrates both individuality and collectivity, allowing students to experiment, take risks, and develop an artistic voice.
Students learn West African, Afro-Caribbean, Modern, Ballet, Hip Hop, Capoeira, and Improvisation and are introduced to many techniques in practice, theory, and culture. Through these opportunities, they shape their own dance experience at Conn. Our composition classes spark intense curiosity. Live musical accompaniment for all technique classes provides colorful energy and heightened musicality. Through a rich, historical lens, students learn how to effectively observe and critique dance in dance writing and dance history classes. Our anatomy class dives into the inner workings of the body so that dancers practice proper alignment and injury prevention. In technical production and music for dance, we give students the tools to bring their choreographic works to life. An emphasis on lighting, costumes, and sound and music editing gives new meaning and value to performance. In our Media in Performance and Dance Film classes, investigate the connection between dance and film and the media’s role in expanding and shaping our compositional and artistic experiences in stage and screen.
We bring in renowned guest artists to further support the practice of our students. Our company in residence, David Dorfman Dance, works closely with our technique classes and senior seminars, introducing students to the creative process of a professional dance company. Students have worked in intensive residencies with artists from the Batsheva Dance Company, Doug Varone and Dancers, Ronald K. Brown, Kate Weare Company, and Shen Wei Dance Arts and others.
Our beautiful studios, flooded with natural light, provide the space to explore all choreographic inklings. Improvisational scores, paired with thoughtful feedback from faculty and peers, will catapult your movement vocabulary into new spheres. Students will find endless opportunities to share work in the fall faculty concert and senior capstone show, as well as in many student-led dance organizations and showings. We send our students to the American College Dance Association (ACDA) so that their work can receive further feedback and expand on their choreographic and performance explorations.
How can dance ignite social change? How can dance unify a community? How does dance function in an age of globalization and technology? How can physical movement act as a form of critical thinking? As a student in the Department of Dance, you will expand your knowledge of dance on both a local and global scale. Our Dance majors draw on their other academic disciplines to take on bold and rewarding independent projects. In the Dance department, students may build their own integrative project, independent study or honors thesis and work one-on-one with faculty members for class credit to pair theoretical and movement research. Our students study dance abroad in Paris, London, Havana and beyond to learn new techniques and examine how dance operates under different political ideologies and governments. We encourage students to use these experiences as vehicles for creation.
We find our alumni pursuing careers as dancers, choreographers, dance therapists, physical therapists, teachers, arts administrators, filmmakers, production designers and managers, medical practitioners, anthropologists and lawyers while always remaining passionate advocates of dance.
