Welcome to the NMSU Dance Program
Mission
We believe: Students are the most important element in our program, without you there would be no need for faculty. You are the purpose of our work. The faculty and student exist in an interdependent relationship. We are working together, taking responsibility for ourselves, and learning from one another.
Whatever your career goals may be, the NMSU Dance program will help make these goals a reality..
NMSU Dance Program
Mission Statement
We strive to aid in the development of intelligent and expressive humans through a challenging academic and artistic curriculum, guiding dancers to be as equally comfortable on stage as in the classroom. It is our hope that our educational philosophy empowers our students to embrace an artful life as lifelong learners.
Welcome to Dance @ NMSU!
We are committed to serving the diversity, passion, and ingenuity of our students through opportunities in technique, composition, pedagogy, and performance.
We believe that dance education is a holistic experience that should honor your history and help you meet your goals. NMSU Dance students are learning to be artists, scholars, athletes, innovators, creators, leaders, and compassionate citizens. We want our dancers to be bold and open to the world around them, to be articulate and impassioned, and above all to be artists with strong voices and strong bodies.
An education in dance has prepared our graduates to enter a wide range of professions, including performing, choreographing, teaching, physical or dance therapy, theatrical design, theatre and company management, business and entrepreneurship, health care, social advocacy, and more.
Our program offers a broad technical, artistic, and academic curriculum designed to give you a well-rounded and comprehensive experience and to prepare you for the world that awaits. We are in an exciting season of growth and change, and we hope you will join us for the journey.
At NMSU Dance, we have a place for YOU!
For more information on the program and curriculum, to visit campus, to take a class, or to schedule an audition, contact:
Amy A. Wright
AWright2@nmsu.edu
575-646-2070
Program Learning Outcomes:
1. Offer a well-rounded curriculum in dance technique and theory to provide students with a breadth of knowledge and experience.
2. Help students develop skills beyond dance technique in the areas of composition, pedagogy, communication, and critical reasoning.
3. Provide students with interdisciplinary and co-curricular opportunities, including performances, in support of the values and skills necessary in the field of professional dance.
1. Demonstrate mastery of the technique, composition, and pedagogy of multiple styles of dance at the advanced level.
2. Understand the anatomy of the human body and its application to both somatic and artistic practices in professional dance and dance education.
3. Contextualize the significant developments and people in the history of Western classical dance as well as practices in dancing cultures around the world, recognizing the impact of the past on the present and valuing the place of the arts and arts education on the modern world.
4. Make connections in the knowledge and skills gleaned from their education in dance to related fields including kinesiology, theatre, design, media, and entrepreneurship.
5. Practice effective and responsible communication, self-assessment, engagement with a community, and advocacy for social justice in demonstration of their personal values.
· Any NMSU student may be a dance major in the BA program. All students should audition for placement before admission to the program.
· All dance majors must audition for at least 1 performance opportunity every year in which they are enrolled in major’s courses. Dance minors should audition during at least 2 years.
· All dance majors should enroll in at least one dance technique class every semester in which they are full-time, degree-seeking students.
· All students in dance technique, regardless of major, must receive instructor approval to advance to the subsequent level of any technique class, regardless of grade. If sufficient progress is not made, students will be advised to repeat the level for credit.
· Requirements within the dance major must be passed with at least a C- in order to count toward the degree.
