School of Dance

Admission Requirements

Associate Degree

Bachelor's Degree

Possible Careers

Master Classes

Performance Schedule

Faculty

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"We have spent many strategic planning sessions developing this first BA degree in dance. It's great to see the wonderful results of that planning-a successful graduate. We are proud of the BA program and we are proud of Amy."
--Dr. Paula M. Rooney
President, Dean College

Founded 35 years ago by Joan Palladino, dean of the School of Dance, the key components of Dean's Dance programs are its strong emphasis on technique and its strong dance context within a liberal arts setting. It offers four main dance disciplines: ballet, modern, jazz and tap.

Admission Requirements:

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Bachelor of Arts in Dance
The Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance offers classes in the four main dance disciplines-- Modern, Ballet, Jazz and Tap--within a broad Liberal Arts environment. Areas of concentration are offered that mirror your career goals.

The B.A. program provides a well-rounded curriculum in advanced dance technical studies (ballet, modern dance, tap and jazz). Other courses of study include dance history, dance composition and pedagogy in accordance with liberal arts courses appropriate to career goals. B.A. Dance students may also minor in Business/Business Technology, Psychology, or Theatre.

Dancers who pursue the B.A. degree are preparing for careers not only in performance but also in teaching, arts management, dance medicine, movement therapy, dance journalism, and dance research.

Course Sequence - B.A. in Dance

2001 - The  First Dean College BA in Dance...

Quiet Amy Wool came to Dean College in 1996 determined to take advantage of every opportunity the school's prestigious dance program offered. She didn't know it at the time, but over the next five years, those opportunities would grow to include a baccalaureate degree in dance, and Amy would make history as the recipient of Dean's first BA.

When Amy visited Dean as a prospective student, she got more than she bargained for. Along with the requisite campus tour, she joined ongoing classes in tap, ballet, and jazz. "I loved them all," Amy recalls, but it was Jean Wenzel's tap class that cinched her decision to come to Dean.

Letting prospective students jump right into a class is an important part of the School of Dance philosophy, says director Joan Palladino. "Instead of just telling them about our terrific program and teachers, we let students experience it for themselves."

Amy made the most of performance opportunities at Dean in the associate's degree program. In her first year, she performed in the annual "Coffeehouse Cabaret," a student-choreographed production, and "Showcase," in conjunction with musical theater students at Dean and the Franklin School for the Performing Arts.

In "Showcase" she performed a tap routine she choreographed herself and was rewarded with the FSPA Showcase scholarship. The following year, she earned the Gregory Hines scholarship for excellence in tap and the Carrie Grant Chilson award for all-around excellence in music and dance. She was a member of the elite Dance Company both years.

Says Palladino, "Amy not only excels in tap, she's an excellent all-around dancer and wonderful to watch in any discipline. She has an extraordinary power within her to block out everything and dance her heart out."

The most distinctive element of Dean's dance program, Amy says, is the personal attention students get from teachers. "They know exactly what you need to work on," she says. "They know how to build you up and help you find your own strengths and your own style."

By the time Amy graduated in 1998, a BA program in dance at Dean was a strong possibility. She continued to take liberal arts classes at Dean, and when the BA program was announced last spring, she was among the first to enroll.

Completing her degree requirements in time to graduate this year required doubling up on classes and squeezing in a 120-hour internship. During her winter break she taught dance at a studio in New Hampshire, near her hometown of Gilford. Throughout the school year, she tutored tap students and did administrative work for Palladino in the School of Dance. Her summers were no less intense. Last summer she worked at a coffee shop in New York City, took classes, and auditioned for a talent agent. Two summers ago she spent eight weeks in Chicago studying and performing with jazz pioneer Gus Giordano.

Dean College Commencement Exercises were held Sunday, May 13 on the front lawn of Dean Hall. Amy received a standing ovation from her fellow graduates when she walked onstage to receive her degree in a distinctive black cap and gown, with the tassle and its black baccalaureate hood lined in maroon and white.

 Unassuming, Amy was surprised by her celebrity status around campus. "Random people just came up to me to shake my hand," she says with a laugh.

Amy plans to move to New York City, where she'll take classes at the Broadway Dance Center and Steps and audition as much as she can. "I want to perform first," she says. "I want to get it out of my system." Her long-term goal is to start her own tap company in the Boston area.

Palladino is both happy and sad. "We couldn't have picked a better role model than Amy for Dean's first BA," she said. "She is highly respected by her peers and the faculty, and she's set a high standard for those who will follow."

"We have spent many strategic planning sessions developing this first BA degree in dance," says Dr. Paula Rooney, President of Dean College. "Its great to see the wonderful results of that planning-a successful graduate. We are proud of the BA program and we are proud of Amy."