Dance Program

Why Study Dance at Saint Mary’s College?

We cultivate creativity, skill and artistry in a nurturing and supportive environment.  Students come to Saint Mary’s to dance because they have a passion for moving. Our noncompetitive atmosphere gives all dancers the opportunity to perform, even in their first year.

Dance Program Learning Goals

The dance program at Saint Mary’s College strives for a holistic approach to studying dance by:

  • emphasizing a healthy attitude toward dance

  • developing efficient movement patterns that promote a healthy body

  • encouraging reflection both of the practice and the spirit

  • assisting the dancer in taking ownership of growth and change

  • teaching healthy life-style choices including nutrition and injury prevention

  • exploring the dancing body in relationship to the SMC community, the greater dance community, and the world, thus placing dance within a larger context of ideas

  • requiring cross training of various dance styles and methods, including technique, technical theatre, Somatics, and world dance forms, in addition to recommending other disciplines within the performing arts

  • attending dance concerts of professional companies.

  • offering peer mentoring and one-to-one faculty mentoring

  • supporting individual artistic choices to express individual thought, choreography, and research to further develop creative and critical thinking

  • creating professionally trained dancers in a rigorous and positive environment