Dance
Dr. Karen Bond
Department Chairperson
215-204-6280
karen.bond@temple.edu
Dr. Laura Katz Rizzo
Assistant Professor of Dance
Undergraduate Program Coordinator for Dance
215-204-6279
laura.katz@temple.edu
Dr. Sherril Dodds
Graduate Program Coordinator
215-204-4959
sherril.dodds@temple.edu
https://boyer.temple.edu/about/academic-departments/dance
Mission
The Dance Department is committed to artistic and scholarly excellence through fostering a creative, reflective and inclusive learning environment. Through embodied practice, the Dance Faculty and students seek to honor traditions while exploring new ways of knowing dance. In recognition that we experience through the body, the programs encourage students to consider how bodies in motion contribute to knowledge, transform our social world and facilitate community engagement.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) in Dance emphasizes modern dance technique, performance, choreography, and dance theory. The B.F.A. in Dance at Temple is focused on building well-rounded, versatile artists who are not only technically proficient, but have a broad range and a deep understanding of their work. The B.F.A. program focuses on modern dance technique and choreography, but with a broad curriculum that includes requirements in ballet, which follows the AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE® National Training Curriculum, African dance and other technique electives. Other course requirements include composition, repertory, creative process, improvisation, and dance science, in addition to courses that explore cultural, historical and analytical approaches to the study of dance.
Full accredited Member of the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD).
The degree program in dance aims to:
- Guide students toward a balance of cognitive, analytic, intuitive, and creative skills.
- Aid students in development of their creative potential through technique, choreography, performance, research, and other creative media.
- Educate students about the various forms and purposes of dance within their historical, social, and cultural contexts.
- Provide intensive training in a range of dance techniques and styles as represented by the faculty and selected guest artists.
- Prepare students for professional careers as performing artists, choreographers, teachers, scholars, and informed and responsible leaders in academic and other professional settings.
The Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance is conferred upon a student by recommendation of the faculty and upon the satisfactory completion of a minimum of 124 semester hours of credit and completion of the required Dance and university requirements.
Dance Resources: The Dance Department, with its three studios, rehearsal room, Pilates room, black-box theater, video library, and assorted classrooms, embraces a broad array of activities. The Philadelphia Dance Collection at Temple University (PDCAT) provides access to the dance legacy of the region through a permanent collection of multi-format archival resources related to the history of Philadelphia dance.
Special Opportunities: The Conwell Dance Theater season provides many opportunities for students to perform and choreograph. A typical season features two student concerts, two Master of Fine Arts thesis concerts, two Bachelor of Fine Arts senior concerts, a faculty dance concert, and an alumni concert. Added to this are performances by guest artists, repertory showings, and informal student choreography performances. Recent guest artists have included Kyle Abraham; Rennie Harris Puremovement; Cornelius Carter; Ruth Andrien, former soloist with the Paul Taylor Dance Company; and Nina Watt, member of the José Limón Dance Company.