Dance Performance & Choreography
Major Requirements | Minor Requirements
Dance at Spelman is a critical and creative thinking laboratory that nurtures women of the African Diaspora. Students investigate intersections of experimental creative practices, cultural discourse,
and technology. In keeping with the College’s focus on social justice and innovation, the department’s theory and composition classes fuse technology and womanist theory along with other social discourse.
The curriculum centers on the choreographic process through the lens of Black feminist theories, contemporary dance techniques, and interdisciplinary collaborative practice.
Department Offerings
Dance Technique
(Fulfills Wellness Credits for non-majors and for majors - after completing 7 credits)
- Contemporary Modern (three levels)
- African Dance Forms
- Commercial Hip Hop
- Principles of Jazz
- Int./Adv. Jazz
- Jazz Funk
- Improvisation
- Ballet
Choreographic Process
- Level 1 (solo works)
- Level 2 (group works)
- Level 3 (interdisciplinary collaboration)
- Capstone Projects
Performance
Spelman Dance Theatre provides opportunities with innovative professional choreographers
Dance Theory
(Some Courses Fulfill Arts Credits*)
- Dance Perspectives and Process*
- Critical Writing for Dance* (also a Writing Intensive)
- Dance for Camera
- The Art of Teaching Dance
- Dance, Community, and Social Change*
- Choreographing Lives
- Black Presence in American Dance*
- Navigating The Business of Dance...and more!
Dance Faculty
- Julie B. Johnson, Ph.D., department chair
- CiCi Kelley, M.F.A., director of Spelman Dance Theatre
- Angela Harris, lecturer
- Morgan Hawkins, M.F.A., program coordinator
- Lyrric Jackson, M.F.A. faculty career counselor for dance
- Omelika Kuumba, African dance instructor
- T. Lang, M.F.A., associate professor
- Kathleen Wessel, M.A., director of Spelman Dance Theatre
Video Highlights: Dance in Action at Spelman
#DanceatSpelman
#ARTSATSPELMAN
The dance department's faculty includes globally recognized working artists who mentor and guide students through scholarship, artistic production, and entrepreneurial strategies. The Department cultivates freethinkers and intelligent movers interested in becoming creators, innovators, writers, historians, and scholars within the evolving field of dance.
Photos