Why Study Dance at UCalgary?
Discover your program options and opportunities for studying Dance at the University of Calgary!
Did you know that you can study dance at university? At UCalgary’s School of Creative and Performing Arts, you can create, perform, and analyze dance! Are you someone who enjoys dance and can see the impact it has on yourself and those around you? Why not discover how global of an impact dance has in every culture by studying dance at UCalgary?
Explore all the reasons why you should consider studying dance at UCalgary:
Why should you choose dance?
By choosing dance, you are opening yourself to a world of knowledge about the human body and its relationship to cultures around the world. Choreographers craft human movement in myriad ways to create meaning and make commentary on the world around us.
By studying how to create, perform and analyze dance, you will learn to ask such questions as: What frames our experience of dance? What kind of meaning exists in specific movements, at different times and in different places? What political and historical events have shaped specific dance forms? How do our choreographic choices impact an audience? How can we study dances and dancers from different angles — culturally, emotionally, psychologically, intellectually, and scientifically? How does kinesthetic awareness shape the dancing experience? How can we improve dance technique to prevent injury? How can we represent dance through digital technologies and what do such technologies offer our analysis of dance and the dancing body?
Dance enables you to fully experience yourself and your place in the world by heightening your senses, sharpening your perceptions, honing your physical capacity, and drawing attention to issues of representation and identity. In this program, you will transform your knowledge of dance by engaging with dance history, pedagogy, choreography, dance science, critical theory, dance for the camera, improvisation, dance production, and various dance techniques. During the course of your studies you’ll gain creative thinking skills, research and analytical capabilities, written and verbal communication skills, as well as a rigorous practical and theoretical training in dance.
Career opportunities
As a dance graduate, you’ll be prepared for career opportunities in such areas as dance performance, choreography, dance teaching, dance administration, dance journalism, dance scholarship, dance and digital technology, and/or dance science. An Arts degree can also be used as a stepping-stone to graduate studies or other professional degrees in such areas as medicine, education, law, architecture, journalism, arts administration, business, filmmaking, social work, or environmental design.
Program options
In the UCalgary dance program, you can earn a degree in:
Program highlights
There are two main benefits to studying dance at UCalgary:
- Study abroad opportunities — Cultural and academic experiences at destinations around the world
- Take workshops and classes from nationally and internationally renowned guest artists
Courses in this program
Want to get a better idea of what you could possibly study in a dance program at UCalgary? Check out some of the courses you could take as part of your program:
- Creative Process
- Contemporary Technique
- Dance Pedagogy
- Dance History
- Safe Dance Practice
- Dance for the Camera
- Cross Cultural Currents: Dance Theory and Global Forms
- Dance Anatomy
- Performance Practicum
- Ballet
- Hip Hop
Learn more about studying Dance at UCalgary