Contemporary Dance BFA
Contemporary Dance BFA
The Contemporary Dance BFA integrates the rigors of intellectual exploration, technical discipline, and creative investigation in order to prepare dancers for the opportunities and challenges of the profession. The undergraduate curriculum is the foundation upon which the graduate program rests.
The degree is a contemporary dance community which is distinguished by its sense of excellence, professionalism, humanism, and a proud commitment to a lively spirit of creative inquiry. Diversity is welcomed, respected and encouraged; creative and intellectual integrity is required; professional discipline is expected. The quality of faculty instruction, the rigors of the curriculum, the facilities available to the students, and the national/international reputation of the program all contribute to the high standards set by the department. As is noted in Dance Teacher Now, November 1997, our undergraduate BFA degree is ranked third nationally and the graduate MFA degree is ranked first.
Coursework is designed to prepare dancers for a professional career in performance, choreography, and teaching. The BFA is a four-year degree requiring completion of 79 semester credit hours of approved course work in the dance major, in addition to University general education requirements. A Dance Teaching BFA major with secondary school certification is also available.
All incoming undergraduate students (including both incoming freshman and transfer students) must audition for admission into the Contemporary Dance BFA as well as comply with regular University admission procedures. Incoming students must be aware that the School of Dance faculty presume that prospective majors have professional aspirations and the physical stamina, coordination and appetite to successfully meet the rigors of the major.
Students are evaluated each semester with regard to:
Technical facility
Choreographic/creative ability
Academic performance
Motivation and commitment
Modern Dance Discipline
Modern Dance at the University of Utah has a long, distinguished history of excellence that unites the world of academia with the world of professional dance. Ranked as one of the top programs in the country, our alumni have gone on to work internationally and nationally as dancers, choreographers, artistic directors, teachers, videographers and administrators.
We are committed to creating an educational community in its finest form: one which invites diversity, embraces ambiguity, welcomes creative conflict, practices honesty, honors risk and experiences humility. Our BFA degree offers a rigorous, in-depth inquiry into dance as a physical, aesthetic, intellectual and cultural practice.
Our Students
Many alumni are working with international, national, and regional dance companies as dancers, choreographers, and artistic directors. Others are teachers and administrators in high schools, universities and professional studios.
Students from the University of Utah School of Dance have been chosen to appear on many of the American College Dance Association’s (ACDA) National Gala Concerts. Our student performers and choreographers are also consistently recognized for excellence at the regional festivals and have performed in Hong Kong, France, Panama, Berlin (Germany) and New York City.
These recognitions are the result of an experienced, dedicated faculty, with standards of professional excellence, nurturing and challenging talented students through a rigorous and demanding program of study. In addition to daily technique classes and an extensive composition program, students receive training in dance kinesiology, dance history, philosophy, criticism, theater and video production, music for dance, teaching skills, dance repertory and improvisation.
Performances & Presentations
An average of five fully produced performances and numerous informal presentations each year give dance majors substantial performance and choreographic opportunities. A variety of renowned guest artists are regularly invited to teach and choreograph for our dance majors. In addition, students and faculty are encouraged to collaborate with artists in other disciplines, fostering a rich creative environment. The Modern Dance Program’s Performing Dance Company provides a taste of the professional dance world within the university setting. Members are selected by audition twice a year and participate in a touring program that has taken them across the United States, to Britain, to Asia, and to Australia.
Dancers from all parts of the nation and from many foreign countries are drawn by the faculty’s philosophic commitment to the development of kinesthetic awareness, theoretical understanding, creative ability and aesthetic sensitivity in addition to technical accomplishment. It is the faculty’s conviction that such training not only prepares students to be vital and exciting artists but also creative human beings committed to the enrichment of society.
Undergraduate Coursework Overview
Beginning in the fall semester of freshman year, the BFA degree focuses on the students’ technical, creative, and theoretical development. This integrated development is achieved through the sequential progression of the entire undergraduate curriculum. In the beginning level studio work (workshop and technique courses), emphasis is placed on the acquisition of basic locomotor skills, movement sequencing, problem solving techniques, and improvisational abilities. During freshman year, students are also introduced to body conditioning, somatic training, musical theory, and cultural dance forms. The intermediate level studio work focuses even more specifically on dance technique and conditioning, on individual/group performance, and on abstraction and thematic development in choreography. In the kinesiology courses, sophomore students pursue an in-depth scientific understanding of the mechanics and workings of the human body along with a clear and detailed understanding of the prevention and care of dance injuries. In the advanced level studio work, students continue to work on technique but focus more intensively on the creative process. During this time, students are more deeply involved in the production of their creative and/or scholarly research.
During junior and senior years, students expand their critical thinking abilities by investigating dance within a contextual framework that incorporates history and cultural practice, philosophy, aesthetics, and musical theories. During this same time, students are given pedagogical experiences in the elementary and secondary public schools through the teaching methods courses (Children’s Dance and Secondary Teaching Methods). Our pedagogy supports the very basis of the BFA degree – improvisation, choreography, and performance with theoretical, pedagogical, and scientific support. Because of this integrated curriculum, students experience and utilize interactive, relational, and process-oriented pedagogy. The degree is both teacher-directed and student-centered.
Upon graduation from the Contemporary Dance BFA, students are fully prepared for the demands and expectations of the dance profession as future performers, choreographers, teachers, scholars, dance artists, and dance advocates.
Come Dance with Us
Double Majoring
One of the many things that makes the University of Utah School of Dance unique is that alongside a Ballet BFA or Modern Dance BFA major, it is possible to do a second major. From Business and Kinesiology to Education and English, our students are capable of anything they set their minds to; all it takes is a little bit of extra planning and organization to achieve all of your academic dreams at the U!
In a survey taken in 2021, approximately 60% of students in the School of Dance have a second major, and an additional one third are in the Honors College. The best way to learn more about doing a second major is to reach out to the school or department you would like to be a part of to learn more about their course requirements, and if applicable, additional applications.
Not sure if you want to do a second major? Feel free to explore our many major offerings, or reach out to our academic advising!
*All information here was provided by Outstanding Senior Megan Lynch (Ballet BFA ‘23)