Bachelor of Arts [B.A] [Dance] From State University of New York Potsdam

The SUNY Potsdam Dance Program is housed in the Department of Theatre and Dance. A Bachelor of Arts degree is available to students who have a strong interest in dance and choose the dance major. Students may also choose to minor in dance, while pursuing another major or a double major. The goals for the B.A. program focus on preparing students for careers in the dance professions as artists and teachers, and to pursue graduate study. We strive to develop dance artists and educators who possess an integrated knowledge of the aesthetic, critical, historical, cultural, choreographic, and performance dimensions of the discipline of dance.

Through our close alignment with the Theatre Program students broaden their experiences and expand their interests in such areas as acting, technical theatre, and design. Every three years the Department of Theatre and Dance joins the Crane Opera Ensemble for a musical production: Cabaret (2002), Working (2004), Urinetown?The Musical (2007), and Ragtime (2013).

Dance at SUNY Potsdam also allows for a wide variety of combinations of interdisciplinary work in such areas as theatre, music, psychology, community health, archeology, anthropology, history, business, and communication. These combined courses of study prepare students for further investigation and work in such fields as dance therapy, nutrition, fitness, dance ethnology, arts administration, and private studio ownership.

Students in the major program focus on two tracks: Technique and Composition. The dance curriculum is enriched through the study of such topics as improvisation, repertory, Laban Movement Analysis, dance education, history, Pilates-based conditioning, and yoga. Students? technique levels are determined during a placement class.