Dance

The Dance program at Saint Mary’s College of California is one of the largest dance programs in the Bay Area. In addition to our professional and graduate programs, Dance offers three undergraduate majors and two minors in dance. If a dance career interests you, investigate the Dance: Choreography and Performance major. This pre-professional focus allows for conservatory style training and performing much like the BFA model. If you are a student interested in Dance from a Liberal Arts context you may want to pursue the Dance major. With a total of 40 units, it balances easily with other areas of study. We also offer a BS in Dance Science, an interdisciplinary major that investigates dance practice with a focus on an application of the scientific principles and methodologies. This major is the gateway to careers in health and fitness, and also prepares students for graduate studies in the sciences. There are two choices for the minor in Dance; one is a Dance minor (21 unit) option which allows the student to focus on several genres of dance; the other option is a minor in Latin Dance (18 units) which focuses on Baile Folklorico and the art, history and cultures of the Latine diaspora.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of either BA in Dance, the student will:

DISTINGUISH technical terms and theories used in dance studies, influenced by aesthetics, anatomy and science, Somatics, pedagogical and performance theories; and employ this terminology appropriately when discussing and writing about specific works and/or assessing one’s practice;

RECOGNIZE the cultural context of a work of art or style of movement in the studio and in writing. Frame creative challenges within larger historical/theoretical questions to locate one’s own place in history by recognizing the dance lineage that shapes us in our search for defining the dancing identity necessary in today’s world;

ENGAGE in critical discourse to explore how social identities are constructed, constrained, reinforced, and treated with inequality by systems of power, including within the field of performing arts by analyzing issues of access, representation, exclusion, and inclusion in the field in both creative practice and on paper;

DEMONSTRATE individual artistic choices and promote self-authority and agency to express individual thought and creativity outside of rigid, dominant and binary world views both experientially and in writing;

FORMULATE an intersectional perspective through the lenses of race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, ability, age, and culture; strengthening our sense of how socially conscious bodies are able to see and take action towards social diversity in relationship to the SMC community, the Bay Area, the country and beyond when assessing one’s practice.

Faculty

Deanna Zibello, MFA, Associate Professor, Theatre Program Director, Head of Design and Technical Theatre (Scenic Design, Collaboration, Play Analysis), Chair

Rosana Barragán, MFA, Associate Professor, Director, MFA in Dance (Phenomenology, Choreography, Somatic Movement, Dance History, Dance Movement)

CatherineMarie Davalos, MFA, Professor, Undergraduate Dance Program Director (Dance Movement, Dance History and Theory, Choreography, Somatic Movement, Dance Science, Production)

Rebecca Engle, MA, Professor Emerita, (Acting, Directing, Contemporary Theatre)

Julie Ford, DMA, Associate Professor, Head of Vocal/Choral Arts (Classical, Pop, and Jazz Choirs, Vocal Science, Lyric Diction, Private Voice, Conducting)

Dana Lawton, MFA, Professor, Dance (Dance Movement, Choreography, Dance Appreciation, Dance Pedagogy)

Rogelio Lopez, MFA, Associate Professor (Dance Movement, Choreography, Costume, Baile Folklorico, Production)

Sixto Montesinos, DMA, Assistant Professor, Music Program Director, Head of Instrumental Studies (Music Fundamentals, Orchestration, Jazz Band, Chamber Players, Concert Ensemble)

Lino Rivera, DMA, Professor (Piano, Music History, Music Theory, Form and Analysis, Chamber Music)

Shaunna Vella, MFA, Adjunct Associate Professor, Director of LEAP (Dance Movement, Dance and Social Justice, Performance Studies, Choreography, Production)

Jia Wu, MFA, Associate Professor, (Dance Movement, Chinese Dance and Diaspora Studies, Dance for the Camera, Choreography)

Martin Rokeach, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Music

Dance SSTE Credential Pathway

This major has an integrated Single Subject Teacher Education (SSTE) pathway to prepare future middle and high school classroom teachers. The integrated program of study enables students to graduate with their BAs and a CA teaching credential in 4 years. See Teacher Education - Major Emphasis/SSTE Pathways for detailed information on credential courses.

Dance

Learning Objectives

Faculty

Dance SSTE Credential Pathway

Programs

Courses