Starting in Fall 2025, LMU Dance will offer 3 different Bachelor of Arts degrees in Dance – a BA in Dance, a BA in Dance Pedagogy and Social Action, and a BA in Choreography and Performance.
Key Features
- 54% of the courses are the same across all three dance degrees. Students move as a cohort through integrated courses and program-specific courses, fostering community and collaboration.
- The backbone of all 3 programs is the carefully curated study of jazz, contemporary, ballet, and hip hop which are pedagogically sequenced to align with the University’s distinguished core curriculum – Foundations, Explorations, and Integrations.
- All students enter in the BA in Dance and take the same courses in the first year of the program. Towards the end of their first year, students can choose whether they want to continue pursuing the BA in Dance, or pursue the BA in Choreography and Performance, or the BA in Dance Pedagogy and Social Action.
Why did we change our curriculum?
LMU Dance embarked on a multi-year, comprehensive project to redesign our curriculum and degree programs for 4 key reasons:
- To scaffold a comprehensive dance education that keeps pace with the dynamic field of dance while valuing socio-political consciousness, historical accuracy, inclusive practices, cultural relevancy, and intellectual rigor.
- To write an arts curriculum that underpins imagination, creativity and critical thinking with marketable skills and professional competencies, thereby foregrounding the preparation for sustainable and fulfilling careers in dance.
- To meet the needs of our diverse student body who come to LMU Dance with varied career interests in dance and involving dance.
- To move from a 3-unit based curriculum to a 4-unit based curriculum in alignment with the University’s transition.
BA in Dance
One of the three Bachelor of Arts degrees in dance, the BA in Dance is geared for students who are interested in the study of dance as it integrates with other areas of liberal arts study. This degree program has the most flexibility and is ideal for students looking to double major, pursue one or two minors, do a semester or year-long study abroad, or are primarily interested in the merger of dance and the liberal arts.
- Students will apply healthy and sustainable practices to their work in dance.
- Students will demonstrate embodied knowledge of multiple dance techniques and genres.
- Students will analyze various aesthetic values and engage creatively to solve problems.
- Students will integrate culturally diverse and inclusive research of the historical, the contemporary, and the self in dance using academic and movement methodologies.
BA in Choreography and Performance
One of the three Bachelor of Arts degrees in dance, the BA in Choreography and Performance is geared for students who are interested in careers in choreography or performance for stage and screen. This program is best suited for students interested in a single major in dance as double majoring will require additional semesters and/or summer study.
- Students will apply healthy and sustainable practices to their work in dance.
- Students will demonstrate embodied knowledge and movement skills in multiple dance techniques and genres.
- Students will analyze various aesthetic values and engage creatively to solve problems.
- Students will integrate culturally diverse and inclusive research of the historical, contemporary, and the self in dance using academic and movement methodologies.
- Students will create original work for stage and/or screen with a critical awareness of the ways in which musicality, theatricality, technology, and spatiality inform the creative process.
- Students will demonstrate skilled artistic expression as performers and interpreters of professional choreography.
BA in Dance Pedagogy and Social Action
One of the three Bachelor of Arts degrees in dance, the BA in Dance Pedagogy and Social Action is geared for students who are interested in careers teaching dance, owning a studio, and/or bringing dance to diverse communities and faith-based or civic engagements. This degree program is designed to prepare students to be versatile and accomplished dance teachers and facilitators, integrating dance within and beyond the dance world. Double majoring may require additional semesters and/or summer study.
- Students will apply healthy and sustainable practices to their work in dance.
- Students will demonstrate embodied knowledge and movement skills in multiple dance techniques and genres.
- Students will analyze various aesthetic values and engage creatively to solve problems.
- Students will integrate culturally diverse and inclusive research of the historical, contemporary, and the self in dance using academic and movement methodologies.
- Students will apply skilled artistry and reflective, caring teaching practices in a variety of contexts.
- Students will demonstrate an understanding of dance as social action and community engagement.