Our Mission
The Â鶹´«Ã½ Dance Department’s mission is to provide a high quality, comprehensive dance program dedicated to excellence and committed to meeting the current and future learning needs of our diverse community.
Dance Department History
Dance began at Â鶹´«Ã½ as part of the School of Kinesiology, Health and Athletics. In 1996, Kathryn Milostan-Egus was hired as the first full-time faculty member for dance. Kathryn, along with the help of Ted Weatherford, developed the dance department into what it is today. From 2005-2014, the Â鶹´«Ã½ Dance Department underwent many changes. The department changed from focusing primarily on dance technique to become a more performance-based program, and joined the School of the Arts. The Dance Department hired its second full-time faculty member, the beloved Marie de la Palme, during this period. Marie developed the Performing Dance Ensemble, a unique performing company for advanced dancers. Following Marie’s death in 2014, the Performing Dance Ensemble lives on as her legacy. In 2016, the Dance Department hired Jennifer La Curan as a full-time faculty member.
The Dance Department offers an Associate in Arts degree in dance, a Certificate of Achievement in commercial dance, a Certificate of Proficiency in dance technique, and a Certificate of proficiency in mind body therapy, along with many other dance courses that are transferrable for many different areas of study.