Department of Dance
WELCOME
We’re glad you’re here to join us at the UNCG Dance Program. The Department offers two different majors in dance, the BFA and the BA. Students from both programs take classes together; all programs require technique, choreography, production, dance history, and body science.
If you wish to have intensive professional preparation for a career in performance and/or choreography, the BFA degree is the one for you. The BFA program culminates with a major choreographic or performance project produced in a major departmental concert.
The BA degree in dance requires about half as many hours in dance as the BFA, and thus is an especially good choice for students seeking to earn a double major within four years. Many students, however, elect to take more than the required number of dance credits in order to better prepare themselves for a particular career. Because there are fewer requirements for the BA, it is generally easy to change from the BFA to the BA, but it is more difficult to change in the other direction.
Although the Department is no longer offering programs leading to licensure for public school teaching, we advise students regarding how to meet North Carolina requirements for licensure through the Regional Alternative Licensure Centers in North Carolina.
There is a lot going on around here, and it sometimes gets confusing even for those of us who have been here for a long time. This book is one of several that can provide answers to the questions most people have about UNCG and the Dance program. The others are the UNCG Undergraduate Bulletin (catalogue), the UNCG Student Handbook, and the UNCG web site (use the search function on the home page). Since we encourage students to develop their initiative (a quality that is needed for success in all dance-related careers!), we encourage you to first try to find answers for yourself. If you are still confused, there are a lot of people to help. All faculty are glad to help when we can; if we don’t know the answer, we’ll try to help find someone who does. Also, other students are usually glad to help; don’t be afraid to ask the seniors! We hope you will get to know the graduate students too. We are fortunate to have students pursuing MFA and MA degrees in various areas of dance. The graduate students help provide many more opportunities for undergraduate students--most of the choreography students are always looking for dancers! A few of them also teach selected courses.