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
• Rosanna Ruffo

Department Website

www.butler.edu/dance

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.