Department of Dance

Dance
Dance education is aimed at fostering all aspects of human development: social, physical, intellectual, and emotional. The dance curriculum is structured to stimulate creativity, increase awareness and mastery of the body, challenge the intellect, and increase opportunities for social interaction. Career opportunities in dance include teaching, dance therapy, dance historian or critic, performance, and choreography. The dance facilities are located in Hinkhouse Center. There are two spacious dance studios with sprung floors, mirrors, and ballet barres. Students have access to the temperature-controlled studios seven days per week. Student dance performances are given in both the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts and Hinkhouse Center.

The dance department at Cottey College is committed to teaching, producing, and presenting dance with the highest aesthetic standards in order to introduce its students and audiences to dance’s artistic and educational value.

To achieve its mission the dance department:

• Provides quality technical dance training by introducing its students to the basic skills and elements of dance through movement and written course work.
  
• Offers beginning level technique courses for students whose desire to take dance is social rather than vocational.
  
• Offers theory courses, appropriate for non-majors, which introduce students to the art of dance. Courses include: Creative Movement for Children and Dance Appreciation.
  
• Offers opportunities for performance by all students enrolled in technique classes by producing two informal dance concerts each year.
  
• Offers courses designed to prepare students who are planning further study in dance at four-year bachelor degree granting institutions. To this end the department offers a wide variety of courses including: Ballet, Ballroom, Choreography, Creative Movement for Children, Dance History, Jazz, Modern, and Tap.
  
• Offers advanced level students additional opportunities for performance through the Cottey Repertory Dance Company (by audition). To further its mission of preparing students for continued study in dance the company stresses performance qualities and professional commitment.
  
• Provides cultural enrichment for the campus community and the Nevada area through performances, lecture-demonstrations, and classes.
  

Dance Facilities
The dance department is located in Hinkhouse Gymnasium which is the home to the physical education department, dance department, and student life and development programs. Students study dance in our two beautiful dance studios. Each studio is climate-controlled with sprung floors and floor-to-ceiling mirrors. Each studio is equipped with sound playback units and student rehearsal tapeplayers. Our dancers have access to the studios from 6 a.m. to midnight seven days a week. Students study dance theory in one of two classrooms in Hinkhouse. Our dancers are able to swim in our Olympic size pool or work out in our fully equipped weight room. Our spacious gymnasium is open for recreation during open gym hours throughout the week. Performances are given in both Hinkhouse Gymnasium and the Auditorium of the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts (495-seat auditorium with state-of-the-art sound and light systems).

Faculty

• Professor Jo Byrnes
  

Course Descriptions

The Cottey Repertory Dance Company

News, Announcements and Opportunities

Fields of Study in Dance