Admission Policy
The Department of Dance honors the university entrance requirements for admission into the department.
Auditions
There is no formal audition to be accepted into the Department of Dance. All students who are accepted into UNLV can declare a dance major and will be placed into the Pre-BFA program. The first-year curriculum of all degree tracks is the same.
Acceptance into the BFA in Performance and Choreography track is by audition. Students must attend both technique placements and the Performance and Choreography auditions on the same day in order to be properly evaluated for the program. Candidates for this program must audition every time during their first year of enrollment until they are accepted into the program. We highly recommend that students audition prior to the first semester of enrollment, as the auditions also determine inclusion into the Dance Faster program.
If interested in a Production and Management degree, students are required to attend placement auditions, and instead of a formal audition, there will be a short interview with faculty on production related topics. If the student has a portfolio of past production projects, this would be a great opportunity to present it.
Please note that after the first year, students are expected to be enrolled in either the Performance and Choreography track or the Production and Management track. If a student does not pass the Performance and Choreography audition after the first year, it is expected that the student consults with advisors and moves into another degree track, where the student will be successful and graduate in a timely manner.
BFA for the Professional Dancer candidates should reach out to the department at dance@unlv.edu to confirm if auditions are needed.
Please visit our events page to confirm dates, times, and requirements of Performance and Choreography and placement auditions.
Placement Auditions for Technique Classes
A placement audition to determine technical ability and level is required of all dance majors upon entrance into the Department of Dance. Please visit our events page to confirm dates, times, and requirements of placement auditions.
Non-dance majors are allowed to take majors-only technique classes if they have attended the placement exam and have been placed in these classes. Please contact the dance department at dance@unlv.edu if you are interested in attending placements.
Computer Requirements
All UNLV Dance majors must have a personal computer for completing class assignments. At a minimum, the computer should allow access to email and the internet, video conferencing software (Zoom, WebEx, etc.) and also have basic word processing programs (Microsoft Office or Google Docs software are recommended). The breakdown of the minimum computer requirements needed to run the programs and which programs are required for each course are listed below. An Apple laptop is needed as some of the programs only run on the Apple operating system (i.e. iMovie and Q-Lab):
MINIMUM HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
Macbook Air OR 13” MacBook Pro, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
DAN 271 – Electricity for Dance Production – Vectorworks (Education version), Lightwright, and Q-Lab
DAN 371 – Lighting Design for Dance I – Vectorworks (Education version) and Lightwright
DAN 373 – Scenic Design for Dance – Vectorworks (Education version) and SketchUp
DAN 380 – Stage Management for Dance I – Q-Lab
DAN 381 – Stage Management for Dance II – Q-Lab
DAN 471 – Lighting Design for Dance II – Vectorworks (Education version) and Lightwright
DAN 488 – Choreography IV – iMovie
DAN 384 – BFA Projects I – potentially utilize some or all of the software from previous courses
DAN 484 – BFA Projects II – potentially utilize some or all of the software from previous courses
WHERE TO PURCHASE
UNLV has discounted rates with Apple for computers. Please visit the student computer purchases website for further information.
Scholarships
All dance majors who are currently enrolled are automatically considered for departmental scholarships. New incoming students will be automatically assessed for scholarships and the Dance Faster program during auditions.
The selection of awards of scholarships and financial assistance for all students is based on nondiscriminatory inclusive criteria and not on the basis of availability of funds restricted to members of a particular sex, particular group, particular talent, or particular dance form.
