This major is designed for students who want to explore movement from all possible angles.

In our program, you’ll engage with dance on multiple levels—creative, intellectual, and physical. Guided by our outstanding faculty, you’ll receive conservatory-caliber training in a small class setting. As a Dance Studies emphasis, you’ll immerse yourself in the historical, theoretical, and cultural roots of dance, while also learning and performing a variety of styles and choreography. You’ll have the opportunity to attend shows throughout the Bay Area and work with a diverse range of guest artists. Your studies will culminate with a self-generated project that demonstrates mastery in your chosen field. 

Our students grow tremendously in their critical thinking, writing, and verbal communication skills, all valuable skills for any future career. Some of our graduates head for careers in dance, theatre, and the arts. Many continue onto graduate studies. Others put their critical and creative skills to work outside of the arts, in education, health care, and beyond.

Myriad possibilities await you, and we are here to prepare you for them!

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Learn more about the program

Get to know our well-respected faculty and their specialties, as artists and scholars. Or explore scholarship opportunities and an array of performance possibilities.

Curriculum

Dance, BA

BA

The BA in Dance is designed for students to pair the major with other areas of study. With only 40 units, students will take courses in choreography, movement and theory and also meet some Core curriculum requirements. Dance faculty will assist in creating a path towards graduation that includes career goals and possible graduate studies while also continuing one's passion for Dance.

Learning Outcomes

  • PLO1: DISTINGUISH technical terms and theories used in dance studies, influenced by aesthetics, anatomy and science, Somatics, pedagogical and performance theories; and employ this terminology appropriately when discussing and writing about specific works and/or assessing one's practice;
  • PLO2: RECOGNIZE the cultural context of a work of art or style of movement in the studio and in writing. Frame creative challenges within larger historical/theoretical questions to locate one’s own place in history by recognizing the dance lineage that shape us in our search for defining the dancing identity necessary in today’s world;
  • PLO3: ENGAGE in critical discourse to explore how social identities are constructed, constrained, reinforced, and treated with inequality by systems of power, including within the field of performing arts by analyzing issues of access, representation, exclusion, and inclusion in the field in both creative practice and on paper;
  • PLO4: FORMULATE an intersectional perspective through the lenses of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, and culture; strengthening our sense of how socially conscious bodies are able to see and take action towards social diversity in relationship to the SMC community, the Bay Area, the country and beyond when assessing one’s practice.
  • PLO5: DEMONSTRATE individual artistic choices and promote self-authority and agency to express individual thought and creativity outside of rigid, dominant and binary world views both experientially and in writing;
  • PLO 1: DISTINGUISH technical terms and theories used in dance studies, influenced by aesthetics, anatomy and science, Somatics, pedagogical and performance theories; and employ this terminology appropriately when discussing and writing about specific works and/or assessing one's practice;
  • PLO 2: RECOGNIZE the cultural context of a work of art or style of movement in the studio and in writing. Frame creative challenges within larger historical/theoretical questions to locate one¬ís own place in history by recognizing the dance lineage that shape us in our search for defining the dancing identity necessary in today¬ís world;
  • PLO 3: ENGAGE in critical discourse to explore how social identities are constructed, constrained, reinforced, and treated with inequality by systems of power, including within the field of performing arts by analyzing issues of access, representation, exclusion, and inclusion in the field in both creative practice and on paper;
  • PLO 4: FORMULATE an intersectional perspective through the lenses of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, and culture; strengthening our sense of how socially conscious bodies are able to see and take action towards social diversity in relationship to the SMC community, the Bay Area, the country and beyond when assessing one¬ís practice.
  • PLO 5: DEMONSTRATE individual artistic choices and promote self-authority and agency to express individual thought and creativity outside of rigid, dominant and binary world views both experientially and in writing;

Requirements

Lower Division

The following lower-division course is required for the major.

  • Choreography I (2 units)

LD Movement Classes

Take seven movement classes from the following list. Courses may be repeated.

  • Tap (1 units)
  • West African Dance (1 units)
  • Baile Folklorico (1 units)
  • Jazz Dance (1 units)
  • Modern/Contemporary Dance I (1 units)
  • Ballet: Somatic Fundamentals (1 units)
  • Gaga/Improvisation (1 units)
  • Hip-Hop Dance (1 units)
  • Chinese Dance (1 units)
  • Ballroom (1 units)
  • Intermediate Tap (2 units)
  • Int West African Dance (2 units)
  • Intermediate Baile Folklorico (1 units)
  • Intermediate Jazz Dance (1 units)
  • Modern/Contemporary Dance II (1 units)
  • Ballet II (1 units)
  • Intermediate Hip-Hop Dance (1 units)
  • Intermediate Chinese Dance (1 units)
  • Intermediate Ballroom (1 units)

Upper Division

The following courses are required

  • Laban and Bartenieff Movement (3 units)
  • Dance Pedagogy (3 units)
  • Asian Dance Contemporary World (3 units)
  • Dance History: Antiracist Appr (3 units)
  • Dance and Performance Studies (4 units)
  • Dance Company Ensemble (1-2 units)
  • Senior Project (4 units)

UD Movement Classes

Take eight movement classes from the following list. Courses may be repeated.

  • Advanced Tap (1 units)
  • Advanced West African Dance (1-2 units)
  • Advanced Baile Folklorico (1 units)
  • Advanced Jazz Dance (1 units)
  • Modern/Contemporary Dance III (2 units)
  • Ballet III (2 units)
  • Advanced Gaga/Improvisation (1 units)
  • Advanced Hip-Hop Dance (1 units)
  • Advanced Chinese Dance (1 units)
  • Advanced Ballroom (1 units)
  • Modern/Contemporary Dance IV (1 units)
  • Ballet IV (1 units)

Dance Production

Take one of the following:

  • Dance Production I (1 units)
  • Dance Production II (1 units)

Earn an Dance, BA and a Single-Subject Teaching Credential at Saint Mary's in just four years through our Single Subject Teaching Credential Integrated Pathway!

Learn More

  • Lower Division Production
  • The Art of Acting (3 units)
  • Perceiving the Performing Arts (3 units)
  • Global Music and Dance (3 units)
  • Special Study in Design (1 units)

What can you do with a degree in Dance?

A degree in Dance provides students with preparation in choreography, performance, pedagogy, and cultural theory for careers across the arts and education. 

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Dance MFA performances

Dancer / Performer
Audition, rehearse, and perform in concert, commercial, and community productions.

Choreographer
Create original works, set repertory, and direct rehearsals for stage and screen.

Teaching Artist / K–12 Dance Educator (prep)
Teach technique, composition, and history in schools, studios, and nonprofits.

Rehearsal Director
Maintain choreographic integrity; schedule, coach, and give performance notes.

Company / Stage / Production Manager
Coordinate budgets, contracts, tech, and touring logistics.

Arts Administration / Program Coordinator
Manage marketing, grants, community partnerships, and audience engagement.

Community Arts & Outreach Leader
Run workshops and residencies; design inclusive, culture-centered programs.

Dance Writer / Critic / Content Producer
Review performances; create media, podcasts, and documentary features

Saint Mary's Testimonials

Katie Lawson-Gill, Class of 2020

“I got both of my jobs as a dance instructor and professional dancer through professors and resources I met through the Saint Mary’s College Dance Program. I truly would not be doing what I am today without them.”

Katie Lawson-Gill, Class of 2020

#15

In GradReports' 2020 Top 25 Colleges

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