Department of Dance General Information

Founded 1974

Dr. Robert T. Stroker, Dean
Temple University Department of Dance
1700 North Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122-0843
215-204-8710
danceadm@temple.edu

www.temple.edu/boyer/dance

Mission
Accreditation
Admissions
Financial Aid
Awards

Academic Advising

Policies

Graduation Requirements

Student Contact Information

Faculty

Mission

The Temple University Department of Dance is committed to artistic and academic excellence in a socially-inclusive environment that affirms dance as central to society and culture. We value dance as a performing art manifested artistically, culturally, and personally, and we embrace dance as a vehicle for social change. The department’s artistic, scholarly, and educational work is based on the premise that the physical dimensions of human experience are indivisible from their intellectual and spiritual counterparts.

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Accreditation

Full accredited Member of the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD).

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Admissions

Admission into the dance major program requires three items:

1. A general university application submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions;
2. A dance application submitted to the Department of Dance; and,
3. Attendance at an audition located on Temple University Main Campus in Philadelphia.

A dance audition cannot be scheduled until the general university application has been submitted to the Office of Undergraduate Admissions and the Dance Admissions Office receives the completed dance application. Please note that Temple University will not make an admission decision until applicants attend a dance audition.

The dance audition consists of technique classes divided into sections of ballet, modern, and African dance; a one-two minute solo of an applicant’s own choreography; and an interview. The faculty attempts to choose students with physical, artistic, and intellectual potential to enter and complete the dance program and the University Core. The faculty is concerned that potential students’ goals and aspirations are supported by the department philosophy, maximizing success in the program.

For additional information regarding dance admissions and for an application, please visit: www.temple.edu/boyer/dance

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Financial Aid

Entering Student Scholarships are offered by the Dance Department following successful entrance auditions and are based on artistic talent and potential for success in the dance curriculum. No separate application is necessary. Awards range from $1,000-$2,500 and are for one year only.

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Awards

B.F.A. Performance Award - Honors a graduating B.F.A. student who has demonstrated excellence in dance performance during the academic year.
B.F.A. Choreography Award - Honors a graduating B.F.A. student who has demonstrated excellence in choreography during the academic year.
B.F.A. Scholar Award - Honors a graduating B.F.A. student who has demonstrated excellence in overall academic achievement during the academic year.

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Dance Academic Advising Center

Professor Philip Grosser
Dance Departmental Advisor
1700 N. Broad St. Room 309
215-204-1942

pgrosser@temple.edu

Academic advisors attempt to avoid errors when advising students about their program requirements, but schools and colleges cannot assume liability for errors in advising. Therefore, students must assume primary responsibility for knowing the requirements for their degree and for acquiring current information about their academic status. It is not the responsibility of the advisor to monitor the academic rosters of individual students for errors in registration.

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Dance Program Academic Policies

Please see the Undergraduate Academic Policies. Students are responsible for complying with all University-wide academic policies that apply to their individual academic status. Additional and unique policies, or exceptions for the Boyer College of Music, Department of Dance, appear below.

Leave of Absence:

Students must submit a written proposal to the B.F.A. Coordinator no later than three months in advance of the semester in which the leave is to take place, stating the reason(s) why the leave is necessary. A Leave of Absence must be authorized by the dance faculty. Leaves of Absence are approved for one semester only and will not be granted more than one time during the student’s academic program.

Injury Policy:

An injury may affect a student’s ability to successfully continue in a course. A student who is injured is expected immediately to contact the assigned instructor to discuss the possibility of continuance in the course.

Dance Technique Placement Class:

All entering and returning undergraduates are required to attend a modern and ballet technique placement class in the beginning of each semester. Students who do not attend the placement class will be subject to automatic placement in a class by the dance faculty.

Independent Study and Field Experience:

Students who wish to register for Independent Study or Field Experience must submit a written proposal to the B.F.A. Coordinator no later than two months in advance of the semester in which the study is to be accomplished. A student who is on academic probation may not register for Independent Study or Field Experience. Credits will not be granted retroactively, and no more than 4 credits will be awarded over the course of a student’s undergraduate study.

Full-Time/Part-Time Status:

The semester load for full-time undergraduate students is 17 credits. Undergraduate students must carry at least 12 credit hours to be classified as full-time. The B.F.A. program in Dance requires matriculated students to attend on a full-time basis each semester. Students who have been full-time for at least four semesters may petition the B.F.A. Coordinator no later than two months in advance for approval to enroll in the subsequent semester on a part-time basis. All requests for part-time status must be approved by the dance faculty. Part-time status is granted for one semester only. Students who are on academic probation are not eligible for part-time status. If a student is granted part-time status and is then placed on academic probation, part-time status will be revoked.

Academic Overloads (18 or more semester hours):

Academic overloads need special approval from the B.F.A. Coordinator. Students who are on academic probation are not eligible for academic overloads.

First Year Program Review:

At the end of the freshman year, each student’s progress will be formally evaluated in the following categories to determine suitability for continued study within the dance program.

Academic Progress:

• Students must maintain a 2.5 minimum average in dance courses each semester.
• Students must maintain a 2.25 minimum overall average each semester.
• No more than one grade below B- in a dance course is permitted.
• No withdrawals or incompletes in dance courses are permitted.
• At least one semester of production requirement must be completed.
  

The following courses must be completed:

     1. Dance 0010: Movement Sources and Concepts
     2. Dance 0174: Freshman Repertory
     3. Dance 0070: Movement Improvisation
     4. At least three modern technique classes
     5. At least two ballet technique classes

Artistic Progress:

Technical Growth: Students must be able to apply, demonstrate, and verbally articulate conceptual understanding of alignment, strength, and mobility. They must be able to learn and successfully perform movement phrases that deal with the following elements either singly or in simple combinations:

     1. Rhythmic pattern
     2. Change of direction
     3. Spatial pathways
     4. Peripheral and central movement initiation
     5. Contrasts in energy qualities

Improvisation: Students must demonstrate their ability spontaneously to create solo movement and demonstrate their understanding of basic partnering techniques and of improvising in groups. Students will be able to generate movement material which both explores and expands their expressive range as dancers.

Creative Engagement:

     1. Students must participate in one student performance or audition one finished work for the student concert;
     2. Students must demonstrate consistent attendance, focus, intellectual curiosity, and openness to new approaches, as reflected in faculty evaluations of student course work;
     3. Students must demonstrate receptivity to feedback and in-class evaluation from instructors, and apply this information in subsequent work; and,
     4. Students are expected to maintain positive professional interactions with peers and faculty.

Second Year Program Review:

At the end of the second year, each student’s progress will be evaluated in the following categories to determine suitability for continued study within the dance program. As part of this process, students will submit an essay in which they assess their artistic and professional development within the curriculum.

Academic Progress:

• Students must maintain a 2.5 minimum average in dance courses each semester.
• Students must maintain a 2.25 minimum overall average each semester.
• No more than one grade below B- in a dance course is permitted.
• No withdrawals or incompletes in dance courses are permitted.
• Both semesters of production requirement must be completed.
• Successful completion of the following dance courses in addition to those listed for the first year review:

     1. Dance 0072: Dance Composition I
     2. Dance 0073: Dance Composition II
     3. W315: Dance Modernism and W316: Dance Post-modernism or two other dance theory courses.
     4. At least 4 more modern technique classes. (Note: By the end of the second year, students must minimally be ready to enter Modern Dance Level III.)
     5. At least two more elective technique classes

Artistic Progress:

Technical Growth: Students must demonstrate awareness of postural alignment issues and articulate personal strategies for addressing them. Alignment and strength must be demonstrated in demi and grande plie in first and second positions and in movement sequences through space. Evidence of adequate progress in these areas will be provided through faculty evaluations of student class work and in faculty progress reports submitted for the Second Year Review.

Students must demonstrate:

• The ability to mobilize the spine over a stable base, the ability to execute leg gestures without disrupting spinal alignment;
• The ability to learn and perform movement phrases that deal with the following elements at increasing levels of complexity: stamina, elevation, level changes, balance, and falls;
• Rhythmic patterns: the ability to work with shifting accents;
• Changes in direction and level, simple turns;
• Spatial pathways, ability to reverse combinations;
• Peripheral and central movement initiation, breath, flow, momentum; and,
• Increasingly refined articulation of energy qualities and phrasing.

Choreography: Students must be able to create and perform a dance that:

• Successfully communicates an idea of personal significance;
• Demonstrates the ability to develop thematic movement material;
• Investigates movement imaginatively;
• Explores a range of dynamic qualities; and,
• Reflects a basic understanding of choreographic structure.

Students must also be able to discuss their work and the process by which they created it.

Creative Engagement:

• By the end of the sophomore year, students must have either auditioned two pieces of their choreography for a student concert or performed in two student works;
• In class, students must demonstrate consistent attendance, focus, intellectual curiosity, and openness to new approaches and as reflected in faculty evaluations of student course work;
• Students must demonstrate receptivity to feedback and in-class evaluations from instructors, and apply this information in subsequent work;
• Students are expected to maintain positive, professional interactions with peers and faculty; and,
• Students are expected to participate in one audition or recruitment event.

Dance Composition Sequence

All students must enroll in the following courses in sequence: Dance Composition I, Dance Composition II, Dance Composition III, and Creative Process. These courses may not be taken out of sequence and may not be taken during the same semester. All of the above courses must be successfully completed before a student can register for Senior Choreographic Projects.

Dance Technique

Freshman dance majors must register for three modern technique classes and two ballet technique classes in the first year.  Sophomore dance majors must register for modern technique at least four days a week.  Junior and senior dance majors are required to be in technique classes at least four days a week and are required to register for at least one modern dance course each semester.  If a student fails to register for a modern technique class in any semester, he or she will be placed on academic probation.

In addition, students must fulfill a minimum of 6 credits in a secondary technique (ballet, jazz, or improvisation). Three African technique classes can also fulfill the secondary technique requirement. Students are also required to register for one African dance class by the time of graduation and two semesters of ballet technique during the first year of coursework.

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General College Graduation Requirements

     1. Dance required GPA for graduation: 2.25 cumulative, 2.5 in dance major
     2. Dance Contact Information: 1700 N. Broad St. Room 309, 215-204-8710
     3. Dance Requirements: Please see dance program of study
     4. Special Course Sequence: Dance Composition I, Dance Composition II, Dance Composition III, and Creative Process.

• Must be taken in the above sequence
• Cannot be taken out of order or during the same semester
• All must be completed before students register for Senior Choreographic Projects.

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Important Student Contact Information

Contact information for Academic Departments can be found under the listing for each individual program, in the preceding section, Boyer College of Music and Department of Dance Programs.

Dance Department:

Department Chairperson
Dr. Kariamu Welsh
1700 N. Broad St. Room 309
215-204-6260
kariamu@temple.edu

Dance Admissions
1700 N. Broad St. Room 309
215-204-5169
danceadm@temple.edu

Department Secretary
Cheryl Cummings
1700 N. Broad St. Room 309
215-204-6279
cherylc@temple.edu

Technical Director/Conwell Dance Theater
Nanette Hudson Joyce
1700 N. Broad St. Room 309
215-204-6177
njoyce@temple.edu

Office Manager
Lynne Schaefer
1700 N. Broad St. Room 309
215-204-0533
lynne.schaefer@temple.edu

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Faculty

Dance Department (Full-time Faculty):

Dr. Karen Bond, Associate Professor, Ed.M. Program Coordinator.
Eva Gholson, Professor.
Philip Grosser, Professor, B.F.A. Program Coordinator.
Dr. Luke Kahlich, Professor.
Kun-Yang Lin, Assistant Professor.
Dr. Joellen Meglin, Associate Professor, Ph.D. Program Coordinator.
Merian Soto, Associate Professor, M.F.A. Program Coordinator.
Keith Thompson, Assistant Professor.
Ann Vachon, Professor.
Dr. Kariamu Welsh, Professor, Dance Department Chairperson.

Faculty contact information and biographies can be found at: www.temple.edu/boyer/dance

Dance Department (Administration):

Lynne Schaefer, Office Manager.
Cheryl Cummings, Department Secretary.
Nanette Hudson Joyce, Technical Director/Conwell Dance Theater.

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