Become a professional dance artist/scholar by studying diverse dance techniques, choreography, performance, somatics, production, and pedagogy and apply this knowledge directly to a dance career or dance-related field.
Why Study Dance?
Engaging in dance has the power to unite communities, serve as a vehicle of artistic personal expression, and promote healing and wellness. A major in Dance will prepare you for a professional career in dance or dance-related fields. You’ll explore a diverse range of dance styles, pedagogy, composition, socio-cultural/historical perspectives, production (concert, commercial, film), and dance research.
Why Study Dance at CSUN?
CSUN’s dance program has rapidly reached excellence, including serving a high minority and underserved student population. You’ll be prepared to enter a diverse workplace including a variety of careers in multiple performance fields (within the Los Angeles area as well as nationally and internationally), non-performance fields, and graduate schools or conservatories. The Dance major is designed to prepare you for a career in dance performance, pedagogy, production, and creative/scholarly research. The Dance major meets subject matter requirements for a single subject K–12 dance teaching credential. You’ll have the opportunity to perform and create new choreographic works in the annual fall and spring dance concerts held at Plaza del Sol Performance Hall. Other opportunities to perform are available in productions offered in the Department of Theatre and Department of Music, as well as at community events located on and off campus. Collaboration with The Soraya occurs whenever projects involve dance participation.
What You'll Learn
You’ll acquire practical skills and fundamental knowledge related to a variety of dance techniques, investigate critically and creatively concepts within the larger domains of dance, demonstrate and practice cultural and body literacy, generate and perform creative dance works, and critically identify, analyze, interpret, reflect, and evaluate dance works and skills. The Dance major provides a broad-based foundation for work in the arts or entertainment, pedagogy, a variety of careers in dance-related fields, as well as non-performance fields and it provides preparation for further training at graduate schools or conservatories.
The curriculum provides courses in six dance domains. You’ll engage with dedicated and highly experienced professors who will educate and mentor you during and beyond your academic journey at CSUN.
The six dance domains are as follows:
- Technique
- Cultural Literacy
- Body Literacy
- Pedagogy
- Composition
- Production and Performance
Careers & Outcomes
Los Angeles is one of the world’s major entertainment centers; this is where dancers travel from across the country and world. Projected employment data for dancers and choreographers between 2021 – 2031 indicates a 27% growth rate, which is higher than the projected labor growth for other jobs. For choreographers, the projected growth is 14%; this indicates a substantial increase in growth rate and is much faster than the average for all occupations. CSUN dance alumni worked or continue to work in professional performing arts companies, educational services (administrators, teachers at the state, local, and private levels), the entertainment industry (i.e., theater, opera, Broadway, theme parks, film, and television), amusement and recreational industries, cheerleaders for professional sports, promoters of performing arts, and Olympic judges. The top three states listed for dance employment include California, New York, and Las Vegas/Nevada.
Affiliation with The Soraya
The CSUN dance program has a strong affiliation with The Soraya, one of the major performance halls in Los Angeles. This affiliation has provided CSUN dancers opportunities to perform with the Martha Graham Dance Company and participate in master classes and workshops with world renowned dance companies and artists.