Find your balance.

The Dance Program offered at Washington College is designed to train dancers, choreographers, and performers with particular attention to artistry, proper alignment, and biomechanics.

These are facets of dance that are viewed as mutually dependent and interactive. Fundamental to the training of the dancer is the building of the dancer’s body; so the program includes technical training in a variety of dance forms as well as Pilates and yoga and work in improvisation, dance composition, dance history, and repertory.

Meet the Faculty

Performances are an important part of the program, ranging in scope according to the student’s abilities, vision, and needs.

A broad dance curriculum emphasizes both physical and cognitive skills and includes classes for academic credit in:

modern dance
ballet
jazz
dance composition
dance history
tap dance
musical theatre dance
ballroom dance
movement for actors.

Students may also take Pilates, T’ai Chi Ch’uan, and yoga for additional strength and conditioning of the body.

It is the goal of the program to teach vocabulary of dance movement and knowledge of factors that influence movement by introducing students to kinesthetic awareness so they may acquire the fundamental skills of various techniques and develop creative potential through improvisation, awareness of tempo, meter, accent, and phrasing in movement, spatial concepts, and floor patterns. Students also are exposed to appreciation of dance as an art form by exploring the work of dance artists; viewing dance performances on video/dvd/film, and in live theater; analyzing movement ideas, and composing movement studies based on compositional ideas, musical, or dance forms; understanding musical terminology as it applies to dance; and developing musicality in performance.