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WinterWORKS. Photo: Rich Soublet (2025))

winterWORKS (2025) Photo: Rich Soublet
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Dance

 

UC San Diego's Department of Theatre+Dance offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance, a Dance minor, and courses that satisfy the university's general education requirements at the Undergraduate level.

The Dance program strives to maintain an artistically and culturally diverse curriculum that serves to enrich the creative lives and education of all students.The university setting provides a solid academic base on which to build dance technique, creative skills, self expression and expand perspectives. Dance students are encouraged to develop theories and practices that enable them to engage creatively with the world and society, find their own individual artistic voice, and become confident, positive, responsible, respectful and proactive citizens.

The Dance program serves the university campus by offering a diverse range of classes for all students who wish to include dance into their schedule for their arts and humanities requirements. These classes include all levels of dance techniques such as ballet, hip hop, jazz and contemporary approaches to dance practice, as well as world dance courses in West African, Indian, Latin and Flamenco dance. There are many creative dance making courses, contact improvisation and dance improvisation as well as history and theory courses. There are performance opportunities for all students who wish to be included in the creative processes and presentation of choreographic works by faculty, guest artists, MFA choreographers and in particular the New Directions concert that features the works of our undergrads.

There are many benefits that dance classes provide for all students, regardless of whether or not they are choosing dance as a major or minor, which positively complement their academic studies. 

 

Dance Major Requirements (As of FA25)

  • UC San Diego's Dance Major offers students an opportunity to specialize their training in the creative, aesthetic and conceptual discipline of dance as a contemporary art form, within the context of a broad undergraduate education. The Dance Major allows students to study a range of techniques and dance practices that include traditional and contemporary forms, world dance, somatic movement approaches, dance making, history and theory.

    Our program emphasizes innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration, encourages hybridization of dance vocabularies and aims to push forward the boundaries of dance as a culturally and aesthetically diverse art form. Integral to the practice and appreciation of dance is relationship, interaction and exchange with others, both physically and intellectually.

    Our program fosters an open, respectful, imaginative, inventive, curious, and noncompetitive approach to all areas of practice, and encourages students to be self motivated, rigorous, proactive and reflective to prepare them for the demands of a variety of professional careers.

     

     Dance Major Requirements (As of FA25)

     

Dance Major Requirements (Pre FA25)

  • The dance Major offers students an opportunity to specialize their training in the creative, aesthetic and conceptual discipline of dance as a contemporary art form, within the context of a broad undergraduate education. The Dance Major allows students to study a range of techniques and dance practices that include traditional and contemporary forms, world dance, somatic movement approaches, dance making, history and theory.

    Our program emphasizes innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration, encourages hybridization of dance vocabularies and aims to push forward the boundaries of dance as a culturally and aesthetically diverse art form. Integral to the practice and appreciation of dance is relationship, interaction and exchange with others, both physically and intellectually. Our program fosters an open, respectful, imaginative, inventive, curious, and noncompetitive approach to all areas of practice, and encourages students to be self motivated, rigorous, proactive and reflective to prepare them for the demands of a variety of professional careers.

     

    Dance Major Requirements (Pre FA25)

     

Dance Minor Requirements (As of FA25)

  • The Dance minor provides a balanced educational experience for students who has a strong interest in dance but who wishes to major in another area of study. The minor provides movement courses in ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary and various world dance perspectives. Students have the opportunity to perform in our Dance productions and receive academic credit. The Theatre and Dance productions are held in our Theatre District shared with the Tony award-winning La Jolla Playhouse.

     

    Dance Minor Requirements (As of FA25)

     

Dance Minor Requirements (Pre FA25)

  • The Dance minor provides a balanced educational experience for students who has a strong interest in dance but who wishes to major in another area of study. The minor provides movement courses in ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary and various world dance perspectives. . Students have the opportunity to perform in our Dance productions and receive academic credit. The Theatre and Dance productions are held in our Theatre District shared with the Tony award-winning La Jolla Playhouse. The Dance minor consists of seven courses, one of which is Practicum. It is recommended that students declare the dance minor as soon as possible as priority enrollment in Practicum is given to majors and minors.

     

    Dance Minor Requirements (Pre FA25)

     

Dance Productions

  • Dance students have the opportunity to perform in 2 fully produced dance concerts in each academic year:

     

    WinterWorks - In winter quarter, WinterWorks features choreography by faculty and guest artists. 

    New Directions - In spring quarter, students perform in the experimental choreographic works of other students in the New Directions concert.

     

    In addition, UC San Diego's University Events Office, Art Power, presents an annual dance series with companies of international stature performing and providing master classes within the Theatre and Dance department.

     

Dance Faculty