About

The Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree focuses on an in-depth curriculum of professional dance technique, choreography and performance in preparation for a professional performing career in dance.

Available Options

  • Dance for the Professional Dancer
  • Dance Production/Management
  • Performance and Choreography

Accreditation

For information regarding accreditation at UNLV, please head over to Academic Program Accreditations.

Learning Outcomes

  • BFA dance majors will be able to apply competent dance technique standards within professional practice and performance. Objectives – After completing the BFA dance program students will be able to:
    • Perform a variety of choreography in a dance concert performance.
    • Attend a dance audition prepared with performance resume, professional headshot and solo dance material.
    • Have a knowledge of correct dance terminology and its proper usage.
    • Have a knowledge of body mechanics through correctly applied kinesiological principles.
  • BFA dance majors will be able to organize and apply principles of research and critical thinking through choreographic and pedagogic environments. Objectives - After completing the BFA dance program will be able to:
    • Conceptualize choreographic form and be able to work with a group as a member or soloist.
    • Generate movement kinetically, respond to the movement of others, observe and analyze movement with regards to quality, shape form and structure.
    • Create dance based on structural limitations, music, props, scenic and/or costume production elements.
    • Recognize compositional forms from theme and variation to motif, abstraction, rondos, cannons, AB, ABA and natural forms.
    • Create and produce a five-minute original work with all elements of dance included for performance. Analyze and understand this work.
    • Organize design and execute a lesson plan for a 50-90 minutes dance class demonstrating various teaching methods or techniques.
    • Develop a curriculum of dance study complete with focus group, workshop or department objectives, course outline, schedule of classes, list of faculty and performance culmination.
  • BFA dance majors will be able to understand the application and use of music, voice and video within the dancers performance and choreographic needs. Objectives – After completing the BFA dance program the students will be able to:
    • Recognize and distinguish between simple and compound meters as well as constant and changing meters.
    • Analyze rhythm, meter, tempo and musical phrasing and to communicate with musicians and other dancers about musical components.
    • Demonstrate rhythms and meters on the body also known as eurhythmics to other dancers and musicians.
    • Create different types of accompaniments for their choreographies.
    • Recognize the various musical periods from primitive, medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary musical examples.
    • Understand the musical framework of rhythm and dynamics as it pertains to the phrasing of movement to music.
    • Integrate the voice and body in various technical exercises.
    • Explore the breath and resonating spaces of the voice and expressive actions and the expressive cycle within acting scene work and dance performances.
  • BFA dance majors will have knowledge of dance arts in a liberal arts framework/environment. Objectives – After completing the BFA dance program the students will be able to:
    • Compare and contrast aesthetics in dance and related arts through period, style, and theme.
    • Communicate knowledge of art, music, literature and theater in a general use or application to culture and society.
    • Working knowledge of these cultural dances; along with their music and costume use and significance.
  • BFA dance majors will understand dance from the practical, production and historical point of view. Objectives – After completing the BFA dance program students will be able to:
    • Evaluate and judge a positive production experience from a negative one and how to solve these problems for future concerts.
    • Communicate and specify their needs to the various production designers such as lighting designers, sound designers, costume designers and set designers.
    • Know how to locate the necessary elements to produce a dance concert.
    • Apply the knowledge of how to run a dance concert from the audition process all the way through to the final performance.
    • Identify and analyze the joints of the body. Students will be able to label the bones ad major muscles of the body and communicate an understanding of the correct use of the anatomical structures of the human kinetic instrument.
    • Communicate knowledge of historical, philosophical and sociological developments in dance from pre-historic times to the late 1800’s along with the events, personalities, and choreographic works and current trends in dance specific to America since 1900.
    • Apply and assimilate knowledge of the trends in dance and music that occur after the avant garde period (1945-2005) into the practical application of dance.
    • Understand the impact of and purposes of dances from around the world and throughout time and cultures in order to gain an appreciation and working knowledge of these cultural dances; along with their music and costume use and significance

Career Possibilities

Here are a few job titles in which dance majors have applied their degrees, skills, and abilities. In general, an advanced degree is required for those occupations marked with a * on the following list.

  • Performance & Production
    • Ballet Mistress/Master
    • Company dancer
    • Choreographer
    • Technician
    • Dance designer: costume, lights
    • Sound person
    • Consultant
  • Arts Administrator
    • General Manager/Administrator*
    • Business Manager*
    • Personal Manager
    • Personnel Manager: Dance Company
    • Booking Agent
    • Public Relations Manager
    • Press Agent
    • Grants Specialist*
    • Arts Council Director*
  • Education
    • College Professor*
    • Public School Teacher*
    • Dance Therapist*
    • Artist-in-Residence
    • Private teacher
    • Leisure and recreation instructor
    • Dance Company Rehearsal Director
    • Pilates/Body Conditioning Instructor

Beyond the traditional avenues and careers, a dance degree opens the door to many of the skills that numerous Fortune 500 companies look for in their executive recruits.  A degree in dance trains:

  • Organization, problem solving, and memory
  • Being calm under pressure
  • Communication and expression
  • Leadership and teamwork
  • Individuality
  • Balance of mind, body, and spirit
  • Decision-making skills
  • Confidence, positive self-image, and self-esteem
  • Commitment to a practice, diligence, and commitment to a team
  • Productivity and risk taking
  • Honesty/Integrity
  • Motivation/Initiative
  • Ability to build relationships
  • Flexibility and adaptability
  • An understanding of standards for success
  • Self-awareness
  • Understanding of space, time, and energy
  • Numeracy, accounting, and structure
  • How market to an audience
  • Innovation and passion

Individuals have obtained their degrees in dance and proceeded into careers in law, medicine, business, and numerous other professional areas.

Requirements

Dance (BFA)

The Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree focuses on an in-depth curriculum of professional dance technique, choreography and performance in preparation for a professional performing career in dance.

Please see the UNLV College of Fine Arts, Department of Dance web page for information about department programs, faculty, and facilities.  Degree worksheets and 4/5 year plan for the major are available on the UNLV Degrees Directory.

Available Options

  • Dance for the Professional Dancer
  • Dance Production/Management
  • Performance and Choreography

Learning Objectives

  1. BFA dance majors will be able to apply competent dance technique standards within professional practice and performance.
    • Objectives – After completing the BFA dance program the students will be able to: 
      • Perform a variety of choreography in a dance concert performance.
      • Attend a dance audition prepared with performance resume, professional headshot, and solo dance material.
      • Have a knowledge of correct dance terminology and its proper usage.
      • Have a knowledge of body mechanics through correctly applied kinetic principles.
  2. BFA dance majors will be able to organize and apply principles of research and critical thinking through choreographic and pedagogic environments.
    • Objectives - After completing the BFA dance program will be able to:               
      • Conceptualize choreographic form and be able to work with a group as a member or soloist.
      • Generate movement kinetically, respond to the movement of others, observe and analyze movement with regards to quality, shape, form, and structure.
      • Create dance based on structural limitations, music, props, scenic and/or costume production elements.
      • Recognize compositional forms from theme and variation to motif, abstraction, rondos, cannons, AB, ABA, and natural forms.
      • Create and produce a five-minute original work with all elements of dance included for performance. Analyze and understand this work.
      • Organize design and execute a lesson plan for a 50-90 minute dance class demonstrating various teaching methods or techniques.
      • Develop a curriculum of dance study complete with focus group, workshop or department objectives, course outline, schedule of classes, list of faculty and performance culmination.
  3. BFA dance majors will be able to understand the application and use of music, voice, and video within the dancers' performance and choreographic needs.
    • Objectives – After completing the BFA dance program the students will be able to:
      • Recognize and distinguish between simple and compound meters as well as constant and changing meters.
      • Analyze rhythm, meter, tempo, musical phrasing, and to communicate with musicians and other dancers about musical components.
      • Demonstrate rhythms and meters on the body also known as eurhythmics to other dancers and musicians.
      • Create different types of accompaniments for their choreographies.
      • Recognize the various musical periods from primitive, medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Contemporary musical examples.
      • Understand the musical framework of rhythm and dynamics as it pertains to the phrasing of movement to music.
      • Integrate the voice and body in various technical exercises.
      • Explore the breath and resonating spaces of the voice, expressive actions and the expressive cycle within acting scene work, and dance performances.
  4. BFA dance majors will have knowledge of dance arts in a liberal arts framework/environment.
    • Objectives – After completing the BFA dance program the students will be able to:
      • Compare and contrast aesthetics in dance and related arts through period, style, and theme.
      • Communicate knowledge of art, music, literature, and theater in a general use or application to culture and society.
  5. BFA dance majors will understand dance from the practical, production, and historical point of view.
    • Objectives – After completing the BFA dance program students will be able to:
      • Evaluate and judge a positive production experience from a negative one and how to solve these problems for future concerts.
      • Communicate and specify their needs to the various production designers such as lighting designers, sound designers, costume designers, and set designers.
      • Know how to locate the necessary elements to produce a dance concert.
      • Apply the knowledge of how to run a dance concert from the audition process all the way through to the final performance.
      • Identify and analyze the joints of the body. Students will be able to label the bones ad major muscles of the body and communicate an understanding of the correct use of the anatomical structures of the human kinetic instrument.
      • Communicate knowledge of historical, philosophical and sociological developments in dance from pre-historic times to the late 1800's along with the events, personalities, choreographic works, and current trends in dance specific to America since 1900.
      • Apply and assimilate knowledge of the trends in dance and music that occur after the avant-garde period (1945-2005) into the practical application of dance.
      • Understand the impact of and purposes of dances from around the world and throughout time and cultures in order to gain an appreciation and working knowledge of these cultural dances; along with their music and costume use and significance.

Career Possibilities

Here are a few job titles in which dance majors have applied their degrees, skills, and abilities. In general, an advanced degree is required for those occupations marked with a * on the following list.

Performance & Production

  • Ballet Mistress/Master
  • Company dancer
  • Choreographer
  • Technician
  • Dance designer: costume, lights
  • Sound person
  • Consultant

Arts Administrator

  • General Manager/Administrator*
  • Business Manager*
  • Personal Manager
  • Personnel Manager: Dance Company
  • Booking Agent
  • Public Relations Manager
  • Press Agent
  • Grants Specialist*
  • Arts Council Director*

Education

  • College Professor*
  • Public School Teacher*
  • Dance Therapist*
  • Artist-in-Residence
  • Private teacher
  • Leisure and recreation instructor
  • Dance Company Rehearsal Director
  • Pilates/Body Conditioning Instructor

Beyond the traditional avenues and careers, a dance degree opens the door to many of the skills that numerous Fortune 500 companies look for in their executive recruits.  A degree in dance trains:

  • Organization, problem solving, and memory
  • Being calm under pressure
  • Communication and expression
  • Leadership and teamwork
  • Individuality
  • Balance of mind, body, and spirit
  • Decision-making skills
  • Confidence, positive self-image, and self-esteem
  • Commitment to a practice, diligence, and commitment to a team
  • Productivity and risk taking
  • Honesty/Integrity
  • Motivation/Initiative
  • Ability to build relationships
  • Flexibility and adaptability
  • An understanding of standards for success
  • Self-awareness
  • Understanding of space, time, and energy
  • Numeracy, accounting, and structure
  • How market to an audience
  • Innovation and passion

Individuals have obtained their degrees in dance and proceeded into careers in law, medicine, business, and numerous other professional areas.

Advising

Please see advising information at the UNLV College of Fine Arts Student Advising Center.

Accreditation

For information regarding accreditation at UNLV, please head over to Academic Program Accreditations.

University Graduation Requirements

Please see 

Graduation Policies
 for complete information.

Dance (BFA) - Degree Requirements - Total: 120 Credits

General Education Requirements - Subtotal: 35-47 Credits

First-Year Seminar - Credits: 2-3

English Composition - Credits: 6

Second-Year Seminar - Credits: 3

Constitutions - Credits: 3-6

Mathematics - Credits: 3

Distribution Requirements - Credit: 18-20

Please see

Distribution Requirements
 for more information.

  • Humanities and Fine Arts: 
    • Automatically satisfied by Major requirements
  • Social Science: 9 credits 
    • One course each from three different fields
  • Life and Physical Sciences and Analytical Thinking: 9-11 credits
    • Two courses from Life and Physical Science;  at least one course must have a lab
    • One course from Analytical Thinking

Multicultural and International - Credits: 0-6

Multicultural, one 3 credit course required
International, one 3 credit course required

These courses may overlap with general education and major requirements.  A single course may not meet the multicultural and international requirements simultaneously. Visit the Provost webpage for the list of approved Multicultural and International courses​.

Major Requirements-BFA in Dance-Performance/Choreography Concentration-Subtotal: 82 Credits

Dance Electives - Credits: 6

General Electives - Credits: 0-2

Total Credits: 120

Major Requirements-BFA in Dance-Dance for the Professional Dancer Concentration-Subtotal: 61-82 Credits

Other administrative requirements: 

Professional BFA Candidates must have substantial experience working as a professional dancer and must have evidence of a dance career for at least five years or the equivalent.

Professional BFA Candidates will design their own program of dance study to fit their needs and interests in accordance with their Dance Advisor from the Dance Department.

Professional BFA Candidates will not be required to take dance technique but they may be required to perform.  They will not be required to take University Electives but may opt to take them to enhance their course of study in accordance with their advisors.

Professional BFA Candidates cannot take more than 21 University Electives unless agreed upon by the Dance Faculty.  They may take between 0 up to 21 credits.

Dance Core Requirements - Credits: 61-82 designed from the following courses:

General Electives - Credits: 0-23

These courses may include courses from Theatre, Music, Art, Architecture, Health Sciences, Education, Business, Hospitality, as well as other courses from the University.

Total Credits: 120

Major Requirements - BFA in Dance - Dance Production/Management Concentration - Subtotal: 82 Credits

Dance Core Requirements - Credits: 63

Technique Requirements - Credits 12 from the following:

Two CFA design courses from the following - Credits: 6

Technique Elective-Credit: 1

The Dance Technique Elective can come from any of the following.

General Electives - Credits: 0-2

Total Credits: 120

Notes

  1. DAN 199
    Loading from UNLV Catalog…
     is a Milestone Experience course for Dance BFA.
  2. DAN 484
    Loading from UNLV Catalog…
     is a Culminating Experience course for Dance BFA.
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Documents/Downloads

Contacts

Department of Dance

The Department of Dance strives to train world-class dancers who meet the growing needs of the entertainment capital of the world. Our students study with faculty members who are inspired educators, passionately gifted artists, dancers, choreographers, designers, visual artists, composers, and poets.

Website
https://www.unlv.edu/dance
Email
dance@unlv.edu
Phone
702-895-3827
More

College of Fine Arts

The College of Fine Arts provides an academic experience that heightens awareness of the physical, intellectual, and cultural world. We diligently prepare students for professional employment and/or post-graduate study in their artistic area.

Website
https://www.unlv.edu/finearts
Phone
702-895-4210
More
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