Degrees

BA Dance is the study of dance within a broad artistic, sociocultural, and scientific context. The program allows for flexibility that is tailored towards individual interests. The BA values collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship as skills necessary to adapt to economic realities of the 21st century. Through rigorous study integrating body, mind, and spirit, the BA at BYU prepares embodied citizens who will contribute to the solutions and enhancement of their communities.

Dance BA students will become embodied, collaborative citizens prepared to contribute creative solutions within their communities.

1. BODY, MIND, SPIRIT CONNECTION
Students will be able to express in written, movement, and oral presentation the body, mind, spirit connection through applied knowledge in dance science, somatic theory, and movement studies.
2. DANCE MAKING 
Students will be able to perform and choreograph dance works that demonstrate an awareness of historical and cultural contexts, application of the choreographic processes, and the shaping of a personal aesthetic.
3. INTERDISCIPLINARY INTEGRATION
Students will integrate their dance education with an accompanying self-selected minor or area of outside focus through thoughtful reflective practice.
4. CITIZENSHIP 
Students will be able to value and model professional and civic engagement.


The BA in Dance is an open enrollment program and students may declare the Dance BA major upon entry to the university and will be assigned a dance major advisor. A minor is required in the BA Dance Degree.


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The highly esteemed Dance Education K-12 (BA) program is designed to prepare students for the rigors of the teaching profession. Students earn a teaching license in secondary education and an elementary education endorsement in dance. The program offers in-depth teaching opportunities in which students are closely mentored by faculty and teaching professionals.

The Dance Education K-12 program aims to create both exceptional dance artists and distinguished teachers. Extensive coursework includes technique, choreography, performance, pedagogy, dance history, kinesiology, somatic studies, human development, music, and production.

Dance Education K-12 majors have numerous career opportunities. The degree prepares students for a variety of teaching settings including K-12 schools, private studios, and community centers. Dance Education K-12 majors also acquire many skills that easily transfer to related fields such as arts administration, educational outreach, instructional design, movement therapy, graduate studies, and higher education.

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The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance is a 4-year degree that requires participation in designated performing companies, and two professional summer intensives. It is designed specifically to prepare graduates to enter the fields of performance or choreography at a professional skill level. In accordance with the standards outlined by our accrediting agency, The National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD) the Dance BFA requires a high number of credit hours in technique, performance, and choreography in ballet and/or contemporary dance, with the option to study other dance forms as elective credits. Dance BFA students are required to complete two Capstones in dance performance and choreography.

This is a limited-enrollment program requiring that students pass an audition and receive departmental acceptance. Students are required to participate in regular proficiency assessments. The Dance BFA degree prepares students to enter the professional world as performers or choreographers, and is an excellent preparation for a performance-based graduate school experience.

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The Musical Dance Theatre (MDT) program at BYU is one of the top-tier university training programs in the United States for students seeking a career in musical theatre. For over 30 years, our graduates have successfully taken their college training directly to Broadway and other prominent regional and national performance venues. This limited enrollment BFA program is unique for many reasons, but chief among them is that students are trained equally in the three essential disciplines of music, dance and theatre in an atmosphere that is spiritually and personally edifying. Here at BYU, teachers who understand the profession as experienced performers and academicians carefully and individually mentor them through their development as performing artists.

The stage is our laboratory. Each year there are significant opportunities to perform work from the existing cannon of musical theatre as well as new and experimental pieces, music videos and reviews. Recent productions include Phantom of the Opera, Light In The Piazza, and Into The Woods.

Though we appear isolated in the Rocky Mountains of Utah, our program has a unique connection to many of the finest Broadway artists of our time. Stars like Sutton Foster, Audra McDonald, Mandy Patinkin and Lea Solanga regularly come to BYU to perform and individually coach our students in special master classes. In a recent master class, Frank Wildhorn, writer of The Scarlet Pimpernel and Bonnie and Clyde, was so impressed with the talent of our MDT students that he chose BYU to stage the USA premier of his new work, Count of Monte Cristo.

The capstone experience for BYU MDT students is the Senior Showcase. The Showcase gives them the opportunity to travel to New York City and perform their chosen audition pieces for current casting directors, agents, choreographers and directors.

MAJOR REQUIREMENTS