The Duke Dance Program curriculum is designed to encourage the exploration of dance from interdisciplinary perspectives: historical, cultural, aesthetic, literary, technological, musical, scientific and creative. Students are able to customize their undergraduate dance curriculum by choosing one of the three study concentrations.

Bachelor of Arts in Dance Requirements:

• 10 academic course credits
• 4 half-credit technique and performance credits
• 15 hours of service and production support

Download PDF: Dance Major Worksheet

Academic Course Credits: 10 Course Credits

• DANCE101 Introduction to Dance or DANCE165 Let's Dance! Live Art and Performance (1 credit)
• DANCE105S Dance Composition (1 credit)
• DANCE375 Music for Dancers (1 credit)
• DANCE487S Research Methods in Dance (1 credit)
• DANCE489T or 488T Senior Project (1 credit)
• Two course credits in dance at the 200 level or above (2 credits). See Courses.
• One credit (one course) in dance history, theory or world cultures of dance, selected from the following:
  • DANCE306S Dance for the Camera (1 credit)
  • DANCE308 Performance and Technology: Composition Workshop (1 credit)
  • DANCE315S History of Modern Dance, 1890-1950 (1 credit)
  • DANCE316S Postmodernism in Dance (1 credit) 
  • DANCE326S The Diaghilev Ballet, 1909-1929 (1 credit)
  • DANCE335L West African Rootholds in Dance (1 credit)
  • DANCE355 History and Practice of Dance and Theater of India (1 credit)
  • DANCE356 Dance and Dance Theater of Asia (1 credit)
  • DANCE365L The Art and Cultural History of Flamenco (1 credit)
  • DANCE367 Dance and Religion in Asia and Africa (1 credit)
  • DANCE368 Gender Performance in Dance and Dance Theatre (1 credit)
  • DANCE378S Beyond Technique: The Art of Performance (1 credit)

NOTE: Students cannot select a course that is also listed under their chosen concentration.

• Two credits (two courses) chosen from one of the following three concentrations:
  •     Dance and the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries
  •     Dance and Human Movement in its Cultural Context
  •     Choreography and Performance

Technique and Performance Credits: 4 half-credit courses

• Two half-credit courses in dance technique at the second level or above (e.g. Modern Dance II, African Dance II, Ballet II, Jazz II). Choose one from two different dance forms. Students majoring in Dance are expected to attain and/or maintain the high intermediate level of modern dance or ballet or African dance technique.
• Two half-credit courses in repertory. Students must audition for repertory courses, and schedules are announced each semester.

Service and Production Support

• 10 hours total of service and production work are required of each student. This may be completed at any time during the four-year undergraduate experience.

Course Substitutions

You may petition that courses offered in other departments and programs be counted as coursework toward the major, as long as there is clear documentation of their intellectual value to the overall goals of the major. No courses may be used to substitute for DANCE101, DANCE105S, DANCE375, DANCE487S and DANCE489T. One course credit earned at the American Dance Festival may be counted toward the requirements for the major.  Appropriate courses taken through the Duke in New York Arts Program and during study away may fulfill requirements for the major.