B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography

The major in Dance Performance and Choreography leads to the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. 

Overall Goals for BFA Performance and Choreography

The B.F.A. Dance Performance major prepares students for entry into the professional world of dance as skilled technicians, creative artists and independent thinkers. The dance performance courses offers students the option of refining skills for the stage acquired in technique classes.

Towson University Dance students will:     

• Synthesize expressive range, stylistic versatility and rigorous standards within healthy technical achievement and somatic understanding;
• Analyze, intuit, deliver and evaluate the creative process for original dance choreography;
• Demonstrate oral and written skills, critical thinking in aesthetic language and historical/world view perspectives;
• Recognize, choose and demonstrate leadership skills.

Towson University Dance students are encouraged to:

• Develop an ability to creatively respond, both divergently and convergently, to changing environments;
• Transition thinking from dance as hobby to a preparation for a lifetime in professional work;
• Develop a unique artistic voice through dreaming, risking, envisioning and creating dance work with rigor;
• Maintain a healthy, toned and energized physique, with somatic approach that supports dynamic alignment, reducing risk, increasing health and longevity of the dancer;
• Study dance history with a world view for understanding and appreciation of all people;
• Regularly engage as a whole person in physical, artistic and intellectual strategies that facilitate an appreciation of dance as an expressive, scholarly and progressive art form;
• Cultivate themselves as intelligent audience members who respect the art form and become lifetime arts advocates.

Towson University Dance students are asked to engage and deliver by:  

• Demonstrating kinesthetic understanding of dynamic alignment;
• Exploring dancing as dynamic movers through a variety of somatic practices;
• Describing and assessing one’s creative process to promote creativity, innovation, imagination and collaboration;
• Implementing choreographic tools (e.g. movement invention, use of metaphor, collaboration, use of time, space, shape…);
• Demonstrating disciplined, diligent work ethic, with an open mind, and mutual respect in the classroom;
• Developing personal strategies for motivation, confidence, teamwork, creative problem solving and other life skills that transfers to other disciplines and future ambitions;
• Receiving and providing critical feedback (nonverbal, oral and written) to reflect embodied cognition.

The B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography requires a total of 80 units. All majors are required to successfully complete audition and jury as well as complete 15 points in performance credit as milestones for graduation. Students in the major must complete 63 units of required DANC courses, 3 units of THEA, 12 units of DANC electives, and the performance requirements outlined below. A grade equivalent of 2.50 or higher is required for all courses in the major.

When courses are repeated, content will be changed with each offering of the course.

Performance Requirements for Majors

To fulfill performance requirements for graduation, all dance majors must audition for the TU Dance Company a minimum of two times during their tenure at Towson and fulfill one of the following options:

Option A

1. 3 units of either TU Dance Company or  Ballet or Modern Repertory.
2. 12 additional performance points earned by Composition III and IV student dance projects.

 Option B

1. Exceptions for transfer students by approval of the department chair.

Completion of Option A or Option B completes the performance milestone requirements.

When courses are repeated, content will be changed with each offering of the course.

Performance Milestone for Majors:

To fulfill the Performance Milestone for graduation, all dance majors must:

Complete 9 performance points in extracurricular activities:

6 points must be earned by participating in student dance projects for a class in which you are not enrolled. Approved courses are Composition III, IV, V, and Senior Seminar Projects.

3 points may be earned by additional composition work, from the above list, for a class in which you are not enrolled, or from a performance in Inertia, Dance Major Performance Project, American College Dance Association Mid-Atlantic Conference, or an individual work approved by a Towson University Faculty Member.

Audition for the TU Dance Company a minimum of two times during their tenure at Towson. Students will not be required to enroll in company, but will be required to audition twice.

Exceptions by the approval of the Department Chairperson or Advisor.

Juries

As a mechanism for assessing progress toward the degree, all Dance majors will be evaluated by a jury of faculty members during the spring term of the sophomore year. The jury will consider a video portfolio of each student. Written and verbal assessment will be given to each student in relation to the expected student outcomes of the program.

Special note: All majors are required to be enrolled in a ballet and modern class each term prior to their scheduled jury and during their senior year.

Suggested Four-Year Plan

Based on course availability and student needs and preferences, the selected sequences will probably vary from those presented below. Students should consult with their adviser to make the most appropriate elective choices.