Theatre & Dance
Helanius J. Wilkins, Director of Dance
University Theatre Building
Office C335
T: 303-492-0677
helanius.wilkins@colorado.edu
The University of Colorado Boulder offers a well-established, nationally recognized dance program that encourages the pursuit of one’s artistic voice, embodied scholarship and pedagogical exploration.
Our BFA program is designed to meet the needs of highly curious and motivated students interested in preparing for a professional dance career in performance and/or choreography while in an academic setting. Our curriculum is designed to use dance and the body to challenge assumptions about practices, values, technology and sustainability. Our program scaffolds entrepreneurial approaches to art-making based in personal initiative, curiosity and versatility.
We support the vital cultivation of self-awareness alongside a nuanced appreciation of one’s positionality within the global conversation. Somatic studies serve as the integrative tissue in our highly diverse and forward-thinking program.
We are a contemporary program—one that values and provides study in a range of styles and fusion of forms that influence and reflect the multifaceted nature of dance performance today. Our curriculum is designed to develop concrete skills in performance and choreography and to instill an appreciation of the role that dance plays in human culture around the world.
Requirements
Admission Requirements
Students who did not pre-audition into the BFA program and who wish to pursue the BFA can audition during the fall semester of their freshman or sophomore year. If the student is a sophomore auditioning for the BFA, they must be enrolled in or have taken DNCE 3033 or DNCE 3043 in order to be on track to graduate in four years.
Application guidelines for the BFA track are posted each fall semester. The undergraduate director will notify students of faculty decisions regarding their audition. If a student is admitted to the program, they should talk to their primary advisor to have their degree status officially changed from BA to BFA.
The characteristics that the faculty looks for in BFA students are:
- Exceptional technical/expressive ability as demonstrated in class work and performance.
- Choreographic skill or potential as demonstrated through movement invention and appropriate clarity of structure
- Willingness and drive necessary to pursue a professional career in dance.
- Exceptional musicality and rhythmic precision.
- Maturity, organization and a positive attitude.
Required Courses and Credit Hours
| Code | Title | Credit Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| DNCE 1012 | Dance Production | 2 |
| DNCE 1013 | Dance Improvisation | 2 |
| DNCE 1027 | Dance in Cultural Perception and Expression | 3 |
| DNCE 1908 | First Year Dance Seminar | 1 |
| DNCE 2501 | African Dance | 2 |
| DNCE 3005 | Movement Awareness and Injury Prevention for the Dancer | 3 |
| DNCE 3014 | Inside the Groove: Developing Rhythmic Skills | 2 |
| DNCE 3024 | SOUND Choices: Enhancing the Music/Dance Relationship | 2 |
| DNCE 3033 | Choreographic Resources | 3 |
| DNCE 3035 | Production Practicum | 1 |
| DNCE 3043 | Choreographic Process | 3 |
| DNCE 3901 | Technique Practicum | 1-3 |
| DNCE 4012 | Concert Production | 1 |
| DNCE 4036 | Dance Teaching Practices: Inclusive Approaches to Instruction | 3 |
| DNCE 4017 | Dancing Histories: Sex, Gender and Race in U.S. Concert Dance | 3 |
| DNCE 4037 | Contemporary Concert Dance: Shifting Perspectives in Performance | 3 |
| or DNCE 4047 | Hip-Hop Dance History | |
| DNCE 4053 | Advanced Dance Composition | 3 |
| DNCE 5052 | Studio Concert | 3 |
| THTR 4029 | Performance and Community Engagement | 3 |
| THTR 4081 | Senior Seminar | 3 |
| Electives | ||
| Take 12 credit hours of one of the following: 1 | 12 | |
| Major Technique | ||
| Major Technique | ||
| Major Technique | ||
| Select one of the following: | 2-3 | |
| Acting 1 | ||
| Performance Improvisation Techniques | ||
| Performing Voices of Women | ||
| Take 9 credit hours of electives in dance technique with course numbers that end in 1. | 9 | |
| Select one of the following THTR Production courses: | 2-3 | |
| Introduction to Performance Design | ||
| Costume Design 1 | ||
| Scene Design 1 | ||
| Stage Management | ||
| Stage Lighting Design 1 | ||
| Sound Design | ||
| Scene Painting | ||
| Stage Lighting Design 2 | ||
| Theatre Make-Up Design | ||
| Conceptualization | ||
| Costume Patterning and Construction | ||
Some sections of the following including Tailoring or Projection Design: | ||
| Special Topics in Theatre Design and Technology | ||
| Total Credit Hours | 72-76 | |
| 1 | Students are placed at the appropriate level based on audition. Students without sufficient training will be asked to take nonmajor technique classes to make up the deficiency. These classes will not count toward the major requirement. |
Additional Requirements
In addition to specified coursework, the BFA student must meet the following requirements:
- Show original choreographic work each semester in Open Space, FRESH or Dance Class Showings.
- Present a concert in conjunction with other senior BFA's in the spring of their senior year.
- By December of their junior year, the student must have formed a committee of two faculty members who will evaluate their concert. The student and First Reader (lead faculty member) of the committee will complete a BFA Concert Form that is given to the Director of Dance Production by January 31 junior year. The Director of Dance Production will help you plan and oversee the production aspects of the show.
- Maintain a 3.2 GPA in required dance and theatre courses. If a student drops below the required GPA by the time of their concert proposal submission (January 31), they will be removed from the BFA and their concert proposal will no longer be considered.
Graduating in Four Years
Consult the Four-Year Guarantee Requirements for more information on eligibility. The concept of "adequate progress" as it is used here only refers to maintaining eligibility for the four-year guarantee; it is not a requirement for the major. To maintain adequate progress toward a BFA in dance, students should meet the requirements in the Four-Year Plan section.
Four-Year Plan of Study
Through the required coursework for the major, students will fulfill all 12 credits of the Arts & Humanities area of the Gen Ed Distribution Requirement and will fulfill the Global Perspective category of the Gen Ed Diversity Requirement.
| Year One | ||
|---|---|---|
| Fall Semester | Credit Hours | |
| DNCE 1012 | Dance Production | 2 |
| DNCE 1027 | Dance in Cultural Perception and Expression | 3 |
| DNCE 1908 | First Year Dance Seminar | 1 |
| DNCE 2021 | Major Technique | 2 |
| Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Natural Sciences with Lab) | 4 | |
| Gen. Ed. Skills course (example: Lower-division Written Communication) | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| DNCE 1013 | Dance Improvisation | 2 |
| DNCE 3041 | Major Technique | 2 |
| DNCE 3035 | Production Practicum | 1 |
| Additional technique as needed | 2 | |
| Gen. Ed. Skills course (example: QRMS) | 3-5 | |
| Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Natural Science) | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 16-18 | |
| Year Two | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| DNCE 2501 | African Dance | 2 |
| DNCE 3014 | Inside the Groove: Developing Rhythmic Skills | 2 |
| THTR 4029 | Performance and Community Engagement | 3 |
| THTR 2050 | Technical Theatre for Performance | 2 |
| Gen. Ed. Distribution/Diversity course (example: Social Sciences) | 3 | |
| Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Natural Science) | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| DNCE 3005 | Movement Awareness and Injury Prevention for the Dancer | 3 |
| DNCE 3041 or DNCE 4061 | Major Technique or Major Technique | 2 |
| DNCE 3033 | Choreographic Resources | 3 |
| DNCE 3024 | SOUND Choices: Enhancing the Music/Dance Relationship | 2 |
| Additional technique as needed | 2 | |
| Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Natural Sciences) | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15 | |
| Year Three | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| DNCE 3041 or DNCE 4061 | Major Technique or Major Technique | 2 |
| DNCE 3901 | Technique Practicum | 1-3 |
| DNCE 4036 | Dance Teaching Practices: Inclusive Approaches to Instruction | 3 |
| Gen. Ed. Distribution/Diversity course (example: Social Sciences/US Perspective) | 3 | |
| Gen. Ed. Skills course (example: Upper-division Written Communication) | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 15-17 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| DNCE 3041 or DNCE 4061 | Major Technique or Major Technique | 2 |
| DNCE 3043 | Choreographic Process | 3 |
| DNCE 4012 | Concert Production | 1 |
| THTR 1003 | Acting 1 or Performance Improvisation Techniques or Performing Voices of Women | 2-3 |
| Additional technique as needed | 3 | |
| Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Social Sciences) | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 14-15 | |
| Year Four | ||
| Fall Semester | ||
| DNCE 3041 or DNCE 4061 | Major Technique or Major Technique | 2 |
| DNCE 4017 | Dancing Histories: Sex, Gender and Race in U.S. Concert Dance | 3 |
| DNCE 4053 | Advanced Dance Composition | 3 |
| Gen. Ed. Distribution course (example: Social Sciences) | 3 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 14 | |
| Spring Semester | ||
| DNCE 4037 or DNCE 4047 | Contemporary Concert Dance: Shifting Perspectives in Performance or Hip-Hop Dance History | 3 |
| DNCE 5052 | Studio Concert | 3 |
| THTR 4081 | Senior Seminar | 3 |
| Additional technique as needed | 2 | |
| Elective | 3 | |
| Credit Hours | 14 | |
| Total Credit Hours | 118-123 | |