Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Dance
The BA in dance is for students seeking a broad liberal arts education with a specialization in the area of dance.
Students pursuing the bachelor of arts in dance or the minor take classes through Mason Gross, but they are enrolled in other schools such as School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences. No audition is required.
BA dance majors complete 41 credits in dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts. Dance courses include modern, ballet, jazz, somatics, improvisation, choreography, production, dance history, kinesiology, rhythm, Laban Movement Analysis, dance studies, and electives in more advanced levels of practice and additional movement forms such as Street and Club dances and Latin and Hispanic dance forms.
REQUIREMENTS FOR DECLARATION
Current Rutgers students interested in declaring the BA MINOR or BA MAJOR must have:
- a 2.5 GPA and
- have completed 8 credits of MGSA technique/studio classes with a C or better
- To declare the major/minor
- SAS/SEBS students must declare through MyMajor. Students from other Rutgers units must contact their major advisor for instructions specific to their unit.
- Major and minor declarations can be submitted at any time but will only be processed when all requirements have been met.
- Applications are due on the first of the following months: November, January, April, and August. Decisions are made by the 15th the month that application is received.
- Students are advised to declare the major/minor no later than the second semester of their sophomore year to allow for adequate time to complete all requirements by their expected date of graduation.
- Students must be declared majors/minors to register for Dance Composition and to audition for department sponsored concerts.
Even if you are not yet ready to declare, you can receive Dance department course information by emailing dance@mgsa.rutgers.edu using your scarletmail email address with the subject line “Dance Department Inquiry.”
Learning Goals of the BA in Dance
What students will know:
Upon completion of the BA degree, our students will possess the knowledge and skills to constructively engage with diverse embodied practices and perspectives in the dance field, including historically marginalized practices; articulate how their intersectional identities connect to and impact their artistic/pedagogic/scholarly practices; utilize creative research methodologies; and engage with dance as a political, social, cultural, historical, and economic act.
What students will value:
Upon completion of the BA degree, our students will value rigor in their artistic practices; self-knowledge and understanding of their positionality as an artist and scholar; the potential of cross-curricular, multidisciplinary, and interdisciplinary engagements as resources within dance and related fields; the distinctive physical and cultural values of diverse movement practices; a social and environmental justice mindset; community service engagement; and wellness and self-care.
What students will do:
Upon completion of the BA degree, our students will be able to employ critical thinking and creative and scholarly research to become self-directed and self-managing practitioners; and investigate, integrate, and synthesize embodied experiences through artistic and scholarly methodologies into dance or other career fields.
Career Outcomes
This degree program prepares students to explore careers in:
- Interdisciplinary arts
- Performance and choreography
- Arts administration
- Lighting design
- Stage management
- Teaching Pilates and yoga
- Dance history/scholarship
- Physical therapy
Minor in Dance
The minor in dance program provides introductory experience in dance training and dance theory. Minors in dance complete 20 credits in dance at Mason Gross School of the Arts. A minimum of 2.5 GPA is required to apply and students must earn a C or better in required courses to complete the minor. Online versions of many courses are available through Rutgers Arts Online.
Learning Goals of the Minor in Dance
What students will know:
Upon completion of the minor, students will possess the knowledge and skills to utilize a creative mindset; constructively engage with diverse embodied practices and perspectives in the dance field, including historically marginalized practices; articulate how their intersectional identities connect to and impact their artistic practices; and engage with dance as a political, social, cultural, historical, and economic act.
What students will value:
Upon graduation, our students will learn to value a creative mindset; rigor in their artistic practices; the potential of cross-curricular, multi and interdisciplinary engagements as resources within dance and related fields; the distinctive physical and cultural values of diverse movement practices; wellness and self-care.
What students will do:
Upon completion of the minor, our students will be able to employ critical thinking towards becoming self-directed and self-managing practitioners; and investigate, integrate, and synthesize embodied experiences.
Possible career outcomes:
The minor in dance supports integrating artistic and embodied mindsets into a variety of careers.