BA in Dance
Carleton College — Northfield, MN
About this program
The Dance Special Major at Carleton College is not a standard major — it is a petition-based program reserved for advanced dance students with significant prior technical training. It requires 70 credits across five components: technique and performance, choreography, history and theory, an approved off-campus intensive study experience, and a comprehensive senior exercise. The program integrates the academic rigor of Carleton's liberal arts curriculum with conservatory-level physical and artistic demands, and is designed explicitly for students who are invested in dance as a component of a liberal arts education. Technique coursework spans modern dance (Techniques I, II, and III), ballet (I, II, III), contemporary dance forms, West African dance, contact improvisation, moving anatomy, and movement for the performer. Choreography coursework includes Fields of Performance, The Body as Choreographer, Dance Lab, Advanced Choreography (independent study — required), and Live Performance and Digital Media. History and theory requirements include Meaning in Motion (first-year writing-rich course), Cultures of Dance, and Reading the Dancing Body: Topics in Dance History. A required off-campus intensive study experience — at programs such as the American Dance Festival at Duke University or the Bates Dance Festival — adds a conservatory experience to the major, functioning similarly to a study-abroad term. Students must have at least three 300-level courses and may include approved electives from film studies, theater design, or other disciplines. The Semaphore Repertory Dance Company, Carleton's competitive repertory company, produces an annual Spring Dance Concert, performs in the Twin Cities, and makes dance exchanges with other college programs. Students must audition for membership in Semaphore. The dance program regularly hosts guest artists in residency — recent guests include acclaimed choreographer and MacArthur Fellow Kyle Abraham and his company A.I.M., as well as guest artists Sam Aros Mitchell and Elayna Waxse.
Audition & application overview
- Requires an essay
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