Dance and Movement Studies
BA Major, Minor
Dance is perhaps the most unique and all-encompassing pursuit in the fine arts. It involves a total exploration of the self—emotional, intellectual, and kinesthetic. Dancers not only gain collaborative, creative, and critical thinking skills, they also develop an extraordinary level of discipline, resilience and an ability to maintain grace under pressure.
Through Emory’s Dance and Movement Studies program, you will grow your awareness and appreciation of movement in all its diverse forms as well as your ability to communicate through non-verbal expression.
Outcomes
Many of our Dance and Movement Studies students go on to pursue successful careers as dancers, choreographers, and educators.
Frequently, they choose to double major, combining their passion for dance with other disciplines–such as business, which supports future goals for working in arts management or owning their own companies–or the life sciences, which allows them to incorporate the benefits of movement into a variety of medical, therapeutic, and other professions.
Recent graduates have gone on to work at BlackLight Productions, Lucky Penny, Core Performance, HAVEN, Out of Hand Theater, the Bates Dance Festival, David Rousseve/REALITY, California State University—Long Beach, and the Suarez Dance Theater.
They’ve also attended graduate programs at such prestigious institutions as the University of California – Los Angeles, Florida State University, the University of Michigan, California Institute of the Arts, and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
Examples of classes
Movement Improvisation
Discover your body's potential to move without preconception. Increase kinesthetic awareness and movement vocabularies through experimentation with a variety of forms that emphasize group interplay, problem-solving, and inner listening.
World Dance Forms
From Argentina to West Africa to Bollywood, this class gives you an opportunity to practice the basic techniques and movements of regional dance forms, as you learn about the historical, cultural, and political contexts underlying the tradition.
History of Western Concert Dance
Follow the development of Western concert dance from fifteenth-century European court dance to the present to see history’s influence on American modern dance, postmodern dance, and current dance artists.
Study Abroad in Dance
Movement Abroad
Jacob Robbins 19C, Dance and Movement Studies and Business double major, spent a summer interning in Israel with the Batsheva Dance Company, where he worked with their International Development and Touring Department and attended Gaga classes taught by artistic director, Ohad Naharin.
Maria McNiece 20C, Dance and Movement and Business double major, received a Friends of Dance Mini-Grant to attend the David Dorfman Dance Winter Intensive in New York City.
Kelly Vogel 19C Dance and Movement Studies and Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology double major“Dancing on campus offers an unparalleled sense of community and an opportunity to step away from the stress of college a few hours a day to focus on movement. I chose Emory because I can study the sciences while still dancing intensely, and I've been extremely happy with my experience.”