Program Overview

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Dance

Overview

The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance is a professional degree that provides students with technical training and performance experience. The program's triple-track design means students can study ballet, modern, and jazz with equal emphasis. Students approach the study of dance as an art form and also as a means to understand society, history, the human body, and other areas of scholarly endeavor.

Learning Outcomes

• Students will be able to perform at a professional level in diverse styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, and/or modern dance.
• Students will be able to articulate a personal aesthetic through courses in improvisation and choreography.
• Students will be able to recognize and explain the multi-layered relationships between music and dance.
• Students will be able to comprehend and experience the anatomical function of the dancer's body through coursework in biomechanics, dance injury prevention, and Pilates.
• Students will be able to understand and develop scholarly research techniques and be familiar with the written and verbal skills necessary and appropriate for the field.
• Students will be able to develop a global perspective about dance history and diverse forms of dance.
• Students will be able to understand a variety of dance production values that enhance performance.
• Students will be able to demonstrate citizenship skills that lead to continued service to the community and the field of dance through a variety of philanthropic activities at the local, regional, and national levels.

Program Details

Sample Courses

• DNC 245A: Basic Choreography
• DNC 440A: Ballet Technique III
• DNC 455: Biomechanics for Dancers

Career Fields

• Dance performance
• Choreography
• Education
• Film and television
• Theater

Level of Math

• General Knowledge: This strand involves the general understanding and appreciation of how mathematics is used to solve problems in everyday life. The G-strand does not prepare a student for any further work grounded in mathematics and assumes the student will not proceed beyond the basic Foundations level noted above. Thus, only those students whose major requires the most general knowledge of mathematics should take this strand.

Level of Second Language

• 2nd Semester Proficiency: Second-semester skill level in a second language is required. Non-B.A. degree students may fulfill this requirement with one of the following options:
  • Scoring the equivalent of second-semester skill level on an entrance or placement examination administered by The University of Arizona.
  • Completion with a C or better of a second-semester course at the post-secondary level.
  • An AP (Advanced Placement), IB (International Baccalaureate), or CLEP (College Level Entrance Program) language score determined by the individual language department.
  • In the College of Engineering by a method determined within the College; however, all students in the college must also take a language placement examination on entrance to the University.

Pre-major Required?

• No

This Major's College

• College of Fine Arts

Degree

• Bachelor of Fine Arts

Sample Plans

2025, Dance

• 4-Year Sample Plan
• Map Transfer Coursework

First Year

1st Semester

• ENGL 101 First Year Composition (3 credits)
• DNC 200 Dance History (3 credits)
• DNC 145 Dance Improvisation (1 credit)
• DNC 177C Dance Afrikana or DNC 394B Dance Production (1 credit)
• DNC 291 Preceptorship (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• Introduction to the General Education Experience (Entry Course) (1 credit)

2nd Semester

• ENGL 102 First Year Composition (3 credits)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3 credits)
• DNC 177C Dance Afrikana or DNC 394B Dance Production (1 credit)
• DNC Technique I (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC 243 Creating with Movement and Rhythm (2 credits)
• DNC 400 Dance in Culture (3 credits)

Second Year

3rd Semester

• Second Language (4 credits)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3 credits)
• DNC 302 Dance Injury Prevention (1 credit)
• DNC 343 Dance Ensemble (1 credit)
• DNC 245A Basic Choreography (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• Pointe (1 credit)

4th Semester

• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3 credits)
• Second Language (4 credits)
• DNC 343 Dance Ensemble (1 credit)
• DNC 446 Careers in Dance (3 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC 245B Basic Choreography (2 credits)

Third Year

5th Semester

• Fine Arts Course (See Advisor) (3 credits)
• DNC Technique III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC 445A Advanced Choreography (2 credits)
• DNC 494-003 Advance Production/Careers In Dance (1 credit)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3 credits)
• DNC 343 Dance Ensemble (1 credit)
• Math (3 credits)
• Repertoire (2 credits)

6th Semester

• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3 credits)
• DNC 455 Biomechanics (3 credits)
• DNC Technique III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC 343 Dance Ensemble (1 credit)
• DNC 445B Advanced Choreography (2 credits)
• DNC Core IV (DNC 301A, DNC 301B, DNC 303, DNC 394C) (1 credit)

Fourth Year

7th Semester

• Fine Arts Course (See Advisor) (3 credits)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC 343 Dance Ensemble (1 credit)
• DNC Elective (1 credit)
• DNC 294A Jazz in AZ/Graduate Works (1 credit)

8th Semester

• DNC 343 Dance Ensemble (1 credit)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• DNC 498 Senior Capstone (1 credit)
• DNC Elective (2 credits)
• DNC Technique I or II or III (Ballet/Modern/Jazz) (2 credits)
• General Education Portfolio (Exit Course) (1 credit)
• DNC 294A Jazz in AZ/Graduate Works (1 credit)
• GE Core: Exploring Perspectives or Building Connections (3 credits)