Apr 16, 2024  
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2021-22 
    
OHIO University Undergraduate Catalog 2021-22 [Archived Catalog]

Dance Major (B.A.)


Major Code: BA5150

College of Fine Arts  
School of Dance  
Putnam Hall 137
Athens, OH 45701
Phone: 740.593.1828
Fax: 740.593.0749
dance@ohio.edu
www.ohio.edu/finearts/dance/

Travis Gatling, contact person
gatling@ohio.edu

Program Overview

The Bachelor of Arts curriculum offers a program of broad study in dance within a liberal arts degree framework. The B.A. degree develops the dance skills necessary to perform and a facility in the use of principles and procedures that reflect an intellectual grasp of the art. The degree presents strong potential for interdisciplinary studies and provides the preparation for future graduate study. A required core curriculum in the first year emphasizes developing performance skills through the study of technique, and fostering creative abilities through the study of choreography. Other major coursework in dance provides a broad knowledge in dance history, ethnology, kinesiology, music, and the teaching of dance. The B.A. degree in dance also offers different possibilities for double majors with other disciplines in Arts and Sciences than the B.F.A. degree in dance.

Admissions Information

Freshman/First-Year Admission

In addition to general admission requirements to Ohio University, the School of Dance requires a dance application and dance audition. Acceptance to the Dance major or minor program in choreography and performance is by talent audition. Auditions are scheduled to coordinate with various University application deadlines.

The audition class includes modern, ballet, and jazz portions, and improvisation. Each of these provides the dancer with an opportunity to demonstrate his or her talent, level of training, and aptitude for further study in dance. Auditionees are not expected to demonstrate proficiency in all techniques. The audition committee evaluates technical proficiency, physical strength and flexibility, spatial and rhythmic accuracy, and performance quality. Dancers should be prepared to take class in dance wear that allows freedom of movement. You will need to dance barefoot for the modern portion of the audition class and may bring ballet slippers or jazz shoes to wear for the ballet and jazz portions of class.

Although attending a scheduled audition is the best possible means of representing your talent, if you are unable to attend, please call our office at 740.593.1828 to discuss the possibility of other arrangements.

Change of Program Policy

Admission to the dance major or minor is by audition and application. To apply for the dance major, students should fill out the online form “College of Fine Arts Application for Update of Academic Program”: https://ohio.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_25DjACpmC4WKV7v 

External Transfer Admission

In addition to University admission requirements, transfer students must complete a dance application and dance audition for consideration of admission to the School of Dance. Transfer students should contact our office at 740.593.1828 to discuss the audition class.

Opportunities Upon Graduation

Approximately 70% of our graduates continue in the field of dance and related arts. Career opportunities available to the dance graduate include preparation and/or studies leading to the following:

  • Choreographer for concert, theater, video, film, fashion, or public events;
  • Dancer in companies or theatrical productions;
  • Company manager or arts administrator;
  • Studio teacher of children and adults in modern, ballet, jazz, African technique; teaching in university programs, K-12 programs;
  • Body-based therapeutic work such as pilates, Bartenieff Fundamentals, massage therapy, physical therapy, exercise physiology, dance movement therapist;
  • Dance critic or dance-related cultural historian, writing in dance;
  • Graduate study in dance

Requirements

Total Hours Required

The Bachelor of Arts degree with major in Dance requires a minimum of 120 hours.

Universitywide Graduation Requirements


To complete this program, students must meet all Universitywide graduation requirements .

College-Level Requirements for the College of Fine Arts


View the College-Level Requirements for the College of Fine Arts. 

College of Fine Arts (COFA) B.A. Degree Requirements


B.A. Degree and Requirements

General requirements for a B.A. are

  1. a minimum of 120 semester hours;
  2. 57 hours of coursework above the 1999 level;
  3. the equivalent of two years of college-level foreign language;
  4. at least 9 hours each of humanities, social sciences, and 6 hours of natural sciences coursework;
  5. OHIO BRICKS  ; and
  6. all requirements stipulated by the school for the chosen major.

Minors are optional.

B.A. Degree Language Options

B.A.: Students must complete 2120 (or its equivalent). Students taking the Spanish, French, or German placement test and who test into 3110 will have fulfilled their foreign language requirement. The placement exam does not count as college credit. Students who test into 3110 are encouraged to take the course they placed into for college credit. These higher-level courses will count as humanities courses (and A&S 2000-level or higher) as well as towards a minor or major in the field.

Students who have prior knowledge of one of the following foreign languages should contact the academic departments listed below for test-out and placement information:

American Sign Language - Contact person: Becky Brooks - saunderb@ohio.edu - 740.654.6711 - Lancaster Campus

French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, or Russian - Modern Languages - Gordy Hall 283 - contact: modern.languages@ohio.edu - 740.593.2765

Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Kikuyu, Khmer, Somali, Sudanese Arabic, Swahili, Thai, Twi, Vietnamese, Wolof, or Zulu - Linguistics - Gordy Hall 383

Greek or Latin - Classics and World Religions - Contact person: Bill Owens owensb@ohio.edu - Ellis 210

Students who have prior knowledge of a foreign language not offered at Ohio University can opt to take the NYU Foreign 12-Point exam (approximate cost $350) to complete their foreign language requirement: www.scps.nyu.edu/academics/departments/foreign-languages/testing/process.html

International Students

For international students whose first or native language is not English, and who completed high school where the first or native language was the one primarily used for instruction, the foreign language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating competence in English. This must be approved by the assistant dean in the College of Fine Arts, and it generally requires the successful completion of at least one or more courses in English as a foreign language.

You may also satisfy the foreign language requirement by taking a foreign language other than your own first language at Ohio University, or by successfully completing the NYU foreign language exam.

Enrollment in the beginning or intermediate level (under 3000) of your own first language(s) will be considered a noncredit course.

Please contact the Fine Arts Undergraduate Student Affairs office at 740.593.1808 for additional information.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Distribution Requirements

Humanities Area Requirement*

The humanities requirement may be met by selecting 9 semester hours from the following:

  1. African American Studies: AAS 1060110015002100211025003100317035003520353035503560,  3570  
  2. Academic and Global Communication:AGC 1300 
  3. College of Arts and Sciences: CAS 1110CAS 2300 2411,24052500*
  4. Art History: AH
  5. Classical Archaeology, except CLAR 2110212021303650 
  6. Classics in English: CLAS
  7. Communication Studies: COMS 360136023603 
  8. Dance: DANC 2700355047104750  
  9. English: except ENG D150D160151016104510452049114912 , ENG 1510L 
  10. Fine Arts: FAR 1500 
  11. Foreign language courses other than those used to complete the foreign language requirement and except FR 1199FR 2930FR 4640 GER 2930ITAL 2930,  JPN 3410RUS 2930SPAN 1199, and SPAN 2930 
  12. History: HIST 121012202270HIST 2700 , 2530HIST 2600 29503111J3140HIST 3141 31443146HIST 3147 314832243290329132923293339035013520,HIST 3521 353135323533354035413542HIST 3550 3560356236003840 , 38603861386439004536
  13. Humanities: HUM
  14. Interdisciplinary Arts: IART
  15. International Literatures in English, International Literature: Linguistics, and International Literature: Modern Languages except ILL 3890 
  16. Jewish Studies: (all), JS 100021002900 
  17. Modern Languages: ML 23002950 , 3210J , 3270J 
  18. Music/Music Literature: 1250124022403210362542104211421242134214421542164270 
  19. Philosophy: except PHIL 1200 
  20. Portuguese:  PORT 3110312031803190 , 4110 , 4120 
  21. Theater: THAR 27102711 
  22. University Professor: UP 19011901U4901U (class subjects vary; check Course Offerings for more information)
  23. Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: except WGS 3910  
  24. World Religions: except CLWR 43404350 

Social Sciences Area Requirement*

The social sciences requirement may be met by a selection of 9 semester hours from the following:

  1. African American Studies: AAS 101019002020220022502540,  3400341034503460368044004820 
  2. Academic and Global Communication: AGC 1300 
  3. Anthropology: except ANTH 20103460355036004470448047404960, and those listed as natural sciences below
  4. Business Law: BUSL 200025503400 
  5. Classical Archaeology: CLAR 2110212021303650 
  6. College of Arts and Sciences: CAS 11201415 14251605,CAS 2300 , 2410241124052500260044104911*  
  7. Economics: ECON
  8. Environmental and Plant Biology: PBIO 2170 
  9. Geography: GEOG except those listed under Natural Sciences (see below)
  10. History: HIST except those listed under Humanities (see above)
  11. International Studies: INST
  12. International Literature: ILL 3890 
  13. Japanese: JPN 3410 
  14. Law, Justice, and Culture: LJC 200039154945 
  15. Linguistics: LING
    Modern Languages: ML 2400 
  16. Political Science: POLS
  17. Psychology: except PSY 11102110PSY 2111 PSY 2112  221031103230 
  18. Social Work: SW
  19. Sociology: SOC
  20. University Professor: UP 1901S4901S (class subjects vary; check Course Offerings for more information)
  21. Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: WGS 3910 
  22. World Religions: CLWR 43404350 

Natural Sciences Area Requirement*

The natural sciences requirement may be met by selecting 9 semester hours from the following:

  1. Anthropology: ANTH 20103460355036004470448047404960 
  2. Astronomy: ASTR
  3. Biological Sciences: BIOS, BIOL 1010 
  4. Chemistry: except CHEM D015110011501151115230053006 
  5. College of Arts and Sciences: CAS 2411141524052600 
  6. Computer Science: CS 30004160 
  7. Environmental and Plant Biology: except PBIO 2170 
  8. Geography: GEOG 1100,GEOG 2060 GEOG 2680GEOG 2710301030203031 , 30403050315031603580GEOG 36504035 , 40604070408040904110GEOG 41304170466046704712GEOG 4730GEOG 476047704941494249434944 
  9. Geological Sciences: GEOL
  10. Mathematics: except MATH D004D00510601090110111021200130013211322MATH 1500 ,4100 
  11. Physical Science: PSC
  12. Psychology: PSY 21102210PSY 2111  PSY 2112 ,31103230 
  13. Physics: PHYS
  14. University Professor: UP 1901N4901N (class subjects vary; check Course Offerings for more information)

* May only count in one area.

Note: Methods courses are not applicable to area requirements.

*These listings must be used as the official guide for the completion of the Arts and Sciences area (distribution) requirements. Exceptions to the 9-hour Arts and Sciences area distribution will be made only under the most unusual of circumstances and by petition only. Consideration for inclusion of courses not listed is not made on an ad hoc basis but requires formal approval of the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee.

Some courses from these categories may also be applied to the University general education requirements. However, the three Arts and Sciences area categories differ in scope from the five OHIO BRICKS  groupings. If you wish to select a course that will apply to both the Arts and Sciences and general education requirements, take care to choose a course that has been approved for the desired category in both the College and the University listings. Courses that can fulfill quantitative reasoning and written communication OHIO BRICKS requirements and the capstone requirement do not apply to the Arts and Sciences area distribution requirements. Exceptions include MATH 1350 and PSY 2110.

The list of courses appears in the OHIO BRICKS  section of the catalog.

Level-of-Study Requirement

Hours at the 2000 level or above: Within the total hours applied to the degree, at least 57 semester hours of courses must be above the freshman level (numbered above 1999). These courses are listed earlier in this section under humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, and include foreign languages, courses from the department major, and courses taught by faculty in the College of Fine Arts or Arts and Sciences intended to meet the advanced writing or capstone.

Single Application of Credit and Exceptions

Excluding the exceptions listed below, no course may satisfy more than one of the three area distribution requirements in foreign language, humanities, social sciences, or the major requirement. For example, a theater major may not apply any courses in theater toward the humanities area distribution requirement. Courses that fulfill freshman OHIO BRICKS requirements or capstone will not apply to the distribution area requirements.

Exceptions are:

  • MATH 1350  and PSY 2110  (will fulfill the quantitative reasoning requirement, as well as the natural science area distribution).
  • Advanced writing courses offered by departments within the College of Fine Arts or the College of Arts and Sciences  apply to the area distribution requirement except when they are required for the major.
 

Foundational Dance Requirements


Complete the following courses:

Studio Dance Technique


Complete a minimum of one-year (2 semesters) of dance studio technique in addition to completion of the freshman dance major/minor requirements and demonstrate proficiency in a studio technique. Studio dance technique must be taken in sequence.

Complete two of the following courses:

Dance History, World Dance and Culture


Complete the following course:

Complete one of the following courses:


Complete one of the following courses:


Dance Kinesiology and Somatic Study


Complete the following course:

Complete one of the following courses:


Movement Analysis


Complete the following course:

Dance Pedagogy


Complete the following course:

Dance Production


Complete the following course:

Capstone


Complete the following course:

Dance Electives and Interdisciplinary Courses


Dance Electives


Complete a minimum of 10 hours, in consultation with your dance academic advisor.

Interdisciplinary Electives


Complete a minimum of 9 hours in disciplines other than dance in consultation with your dance academic advisor.