Best of Two Worlds
Dance at UCR offers the best of two worlds: artistic exploration and academic growth.
Students in the Bachelor of Arts program in Dance gain in-depth experience as choreographers authoring their own work, while forming a cultural and historical perspective on the art of dance. The principal areas of study are movement practices, dance composition, performance, production, pedagogies, cultural and historical studies, and digital or screen studies. Movement practice courses are offered in modern, ballet, tap, dance forms from Mexico and 18 th-century Europe, and other movement forms as they are practiced in various cultures of the world.
The Master of Fine Arts program in Dance constructs the opportunity for highly motivated choreographers to conduct both research in dance and an assessment of contemporary issues in dance aesthetics, history and culture. The focus of this program is the development of experimental choreography that challenges cultural assumptions and is informed by a critical and reflective perspective. Core courses focus on what constitutes an experiment in contemporary dance, improving choreography, systems of representation used to create choreographic meaning, and the collaborative process. Through close cooperation with the Ph.D. program in Dance History and Theory, students explore the dynamic relationships between theory, method, and object of study.
The Ph.D. program in Dance History and Theory – the first of its kind in the United States – provides an advanced interdisciplinary base for innovative research in the emerging field of cultural and historical studies of dance. The program embraces a theoretical consideration of all dimensions of the practice of dance. These dimensions include, but are not limited to, digital culture; body politics; media studies; mobilization and class; ethnicity, sexuality, and gender; and corporeal knowledges and choreography. In addition to theoretical and historical concerns, the program also promotes the articulation of a number of methodological approaches to the analysis of bodily performance. The faculty puts into motion a variety of modes of production, including performance studies, technology, choreography, history, critical race theory, feminist studies/masculinities, Marxism/post-Marxism, ethnography and witnessing, and other specific area studies such as African Diaspora Studies, Asian Diaspora and Asian American Studies, Native American Studies, and South Asian Studies. The program provides a provocative environment for investigating unexplored strategies for original scholarly work in dance.
The Department of Dance at UCR is distinctive for its outstanding faculty of nationally recognized scholars and artists who draw from a variety of academic and creative backgrounds, including choreography, history, literature, anthropology, performance studies and cultural studies. In addition, visiting professional dancers, choreographers, and scholars come to UCR frequently to conduct workshops, master classes and lectures.
Explore and discover dance at UCR!