Wesleyan is home to a contemporary dance program with a global perspective. The curriculum, faculty research and pedagogical approach center on embodied learning, pushing the boundaries between theory and practice, as well as exploring the unique potential dance has to be a catalyst for social change. Within that rigorous context, students encounter a diversity of approaches to making, practicing and analyzing dance in an intimate learning atmosphere. At Wesleyan, dance is for every-body.

What You'll Study

  • As a dance major, your coursework will include dance making, techniques, histories, research methodologies and pedagogies. You will also have the opportunity to study dance ethnography, improvisation, anatomy, repertory and performance, as well as to take many unique collaborative courses that bring dance and diverse disciplines into creative conversations.

  • The program approaches dance as a humanistic practice, offering classical techniques from Bharata Natyam, West African and ballet to experimental practices that fuse tradition and experimentation into new forms such as modern/contemporary dance and hip hop.

  • Students have the opportunity to perform in the work of faculty and visiting artists, as well as in numerous student productions each year.

  •  All majors complete either a one-semester senior project or two-semester senior thesis as a capstone experience.

Minor Requirements

  • Minors must complete 5.25 credits, including a combination of both physical practice and project-based courses.