In a city with abundant dance opportunities, the Dance faculty pride themselves on producing motivated and advanced students who perform throughout their student careers and are ready to join professional companies. Students have performed the Kansas City Ballet's Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and Firebird, the Nutcracker tour with Albany Berkshire Ballet; Setting the Stage with Friends of Alvin A
iley, and with the Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company. As an equal-emphasis program in ballet and modern dance, students' experiences conform to the current repertoire of national companies. Through the Dance Division's Great Works Projects, our students have the opportunity to dance in masterpieces including George Balanchine's Serenade, Robert Battle's Battlefield, Twyla Tharp's Torelli, Petipa's Paquita, Philip Jerry's Our Town, and Paul Taylor's Aureole. To provide as many professional opportunities as possible, students are granted two weeks leave per semester to dance professionally. Students are taught by an impressive faculty of professional dancers and choreographers including Paula Weber (principal ballerina Milwaukee Ballet and Albany Berkshire Ballet), Mary Pat Henry (artistic director of Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company), Sabrina Madison-Cannon (Philadanco), DeeAnna Hiett (Alvin Ailey, Deeply Rooted), Gary Abbott (Deeply Rooted), and Ronald Tice (Joffrey School). Students receive one-on-one instruction, which shapes their personal development as artists. Students graduate with a BFA in performance and choreography and regularly join the rosters of professional companies.
