
Butler University Bulletin
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Department of Dance
Administration
Larry Attaway, BM, Department Chair
Professors
- Marek Cholewa
- Michelle Jarvis, MA
- Susan McGuire
- Cynthia Pratt, MFA
- Derek Reid, MA
Associate Professors
- Larry Attaway, BM
Assistant Professor
- Ramon Flowers, MFA
- David Ingram, MFA
- Rosanna Ruffo
Department Website
Dance at Butler
- The program continues a 50-year tradition of excellence in ballet, training serious and talented dance students, and preparing them for future careers in the dance arts
- Nationally and internationally renowned undergraduate department that is consistently ranked in the top 10 dance programs in the country
- Strong technical training based on the central focus of classical ballet
- Exposure to a wide range of techniques
- Extensive performance opportunities with Butler Ballet, the department’s pre-professional company
- Broad exposure to academic subjects in dance and other arts
- Opportunities to perform in major productions each year in Clowes Memorial Hall, a 2,200-seat venue, and also in the more intimate setting of the 450-seat Howard L. Schrott Center for the Arts
- Butler Ballet performs full-length classical ballets, commissioned and licensed masterworks, and contemporary repertoire from a variety of stylistic approaches
- Butler Chamber Dance performs experimental, often non-proscenium, multidisciplinary, highly contemporary choreographic work
- Opportunities for students to present their creativity through student choreographic showcases and senior productions
- Highly qualified professors who are artist-scholars combining broad educational backgrounds with professional performing careers, in-depth study, choreography, and teaching in the United States and abroad
- International summer study opportunities
Dance Student Learning Outcomes
The course work within each of the three degree plans is designed with the following student learning outcomes:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the intellectual underpinning of the various dance techniques in terms of structure, vocabulary, syntax, and phrasing
- Interpret, compare, and critique the art of choreography and performance through theoretical and practical study in terms of innovation, craft, and sophistication
- Demonstrate an understanding of the physical and intellectual underpinning of the various dance techniques as manifested in execution and pedagogy
- Articulate and apply an understanding of the impact of dance in history, society, and the allied arts, thus becoming advocates for the art form
- Incorporate the impact of other arts on dance through studies in music, theatre, and the fine arts
- Value an ethic of professionalism as manifested through respect for appropriate etiquette and interaction with faculty and fellow students
Degree Programs
- Bachelor of Arts in Dance (Pedagogy) (BA)
- Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance—Performance (BFA)
- Bachelor of Science in Dance (Arts Administration) (BS)
- Minor in Dance
Butler University is a fully accredited institutional member of the National Association of Schools of Dance.