Have you heard? The College of Charleston fine arts department has acquired a new dance major! After many years development,
students now have a chance to further their dance ability and even work towards
a career. It took many years for dance to find its place under the list of
College of Charleston declared majors. One factor in the delay was the lack of
available dance studios. The Cato Center was under construction and was
supposed to open before 2010. During the delay, dance classes were held in physical
education spaces.
“ We could not go through the approval process until the
Cato building was opened and we had our own dance studio,” said Gretchen McLaine, director of the CofC dance program. After diligent research on the
prospective dance major, the proposal for the dance majors had to go through
much analysis by the Commission on Higher Education, Theatre department, School
of the Arts committee, the Dean of Fine Arts, the Faculty Senate, Academic
Planning and the president of CofC. After much deliberation, the dance major
was introduced into the curriculum in the fall semester of 2012.
There are approximately 25 majors with many still in
consideration. There are two concentrations incorporated in the dance major.
One is general dance studies and the other is performance and choreography
concentration. Although there is no audition for the dance major, students must
earn a C+ or better in all technique classes in order to obtain a dance degree.
The dance department will be offering scholarships in the future for students
who need assistance. The new major has very specific goals and over time, will hopefully
be achieved.
“We want to be a competitive program within the Southeast
region. That will happen as we continue to assess our strengths and weaknesses
and evolve as a program. We also hope to eventually become recognized by
National Association of Schools of Dance, but we can’t apply until after our
first full class graduates with the major and we have at least one more
fulltime faculty member“, said McLaine.
Although dance is a new major, many faculty members and
students are eager and excited about this new journey.
"Once the major was available this year, I saw dance as more than just something I enjoy, but also a possible future for me."- Kelsey Favret, 20, Junior
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