The BFA program is intended for students with professional aspirations and offers a curriculum that in its breadth and depth aims to prepare students to enter the field as young artists. At 78 credit hours the demands of the BFA program are significant. The BFA is therefore most appropriate for students who are ready to make a definitive commitment to dance. The program is selective and acceptance into the program requires formal application. Acceptance to the program is based on demonstrated physical and intellectual aptitude for pre-professional studies in dance.
The BFA in Dance features a comprehensive curriculum organized into three broad areas: Core Courses, BFA Electives, and Advanced Topics in Dance. Core Courses include all the requirements for a BA in dance and more: rigorous dance technique requirements, sequenced coursework in body sciences, historical and cultural perspectives, music and rhythm, dance theory and applications, and dance pedagogy, as well as courses in dance making devoted to the development of creative abilities and individual voice. BFA Electives allow BFA students to select upper division dance courses that best fit their interest and ambitions in Dance. Advanced Topics in Dance is an upper division course taken four times across the junior and senior years that provide substantial depth in particular topics within the field. Students will demonstrate their knowledge and skills at a pre-professional level in a Capstone Project of their choosing.
Upon completion of their coursework dance majors graduating with a BFA in Dance should:
- be skilled dancers with substantial physical proficiencies in two or more dance forms.
- be able to actively engage in dancemaking through choreography, improvisation and performance.
- be knowledgeable concerning historical, cultural, scientific and theoretical information and perspectives in dance.
- be knowledgeable concerning basic dance pedagogical practices and functional body mechanics.
- be able to describe, analyze, and interpret dance works.
Performance Standards
The Dance Department expects exemplary effort and accomplishment from our BFA candidates. Failure to meet one or more of the following expectations will result in review of a candidate’s continuation within the BFA program. BFA candidates must:
Pass all required courses with grades of ‘C’ or better and maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA.
- Advance through technical requirements in a timely manner.
- (BFA students will demonstrate continuing development as dancers. Typically BFA students will advance one level each year.)
- Exhibit full engagement and presence in their artistic and scholarly practices and conduct themselves in a manner beneficial to their own and others’ education.
Transfer Students Seeking a BFA in Dance
Transfer students seeking the BFA degree must be in full-time residence a minimum of four semesters (excluding summers) and complete a minimum of 50 credit hours of required coursework, including all required courses beyond the core, within Columbia’s Dance Department. Any prior dance courses will be evaluated for equivalency with our requirements, and a limited number may be allowed to stand in place of program requirements.
Program Requirements | 4 Year Planning Tool | Transfer Planning Tool
