{"id":290312,"date":"2018-01-08T12:44:20","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T17:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=290312"},"modified":"2018-01-16T15:16:47","modified_gmt":"2018-01-16T20:16:47","slug":"inspiredance-five-things-dance-290312","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/inspiredance-five-things-dance-290312\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018You can dance if you want to:\u2019 Five things you might not know about dance at Rochester"},"content":{"rendered":"

1. You can major in dance.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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(University of Rochester photo: Keith Walters)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rochester\u2019s Program of Dance and Movement offers students the chance to earn a bachelor of arts in dance with the option to choose from two different tracks. One track focuses on form, creative expression, and performance. Another is interdisciplinary, allowing students to combine their research interests and non-dance major with a second major in dance. Students have connected dance to everything from architecture to mental illness.<\/p>\n

2. You can study hip hop. <\/strong><\/h2>\n
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University of Rochester photo: Chi Huang ’18)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to taking courses in hip hop, you can watch some of the finest hip hop dancers from all across the New York state and Canada, who travel to Rochester\u2019s River Campus to compete in the annual inspireDance Festival\u2019s hip hop battle. \u201cDancers are top notch,\u201d says Missy Pfohl Smith, director of the dance and movement program. The dance crew 7Sessions, who trek in from Binghamton, New York and Pennsylvania areas, won at inspireJAM in 2017 and 2016. No Wings Attached\u2014a crew led by Jon Kraus, a Rochester faculty member who teaches Hip Hop Culture and Breaking, won in 2015. \u201cThey [dancers] spin on their heads. They flip standing on one hand and they spin on one hand with their bodies up in the air. Many achieve that level of skill by practicing and learning authentically on the street,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

3. Beginners are welcome (and they come).<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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(University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

More than half of the students who have taken a course in the University\u2019s dance program had never taken a course in dance before, according to Pfohl Smith. Many students start out at the inspireDance Festival, where the program offers a taste of almost all the courses\u2014including several at beginner level\u2014offered by the program. It\u2019s a great time to try something new,\u201d Pfohl Smith says. \u201cWe have students that would never have considered themselves a dancer.\u201d<\/p>\n

4. You can learn how to advance social causes through dance.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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(Photo of New York City-based dance artist Maria Bauman by Scott Shaw)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Courses in dance and social activism include Arts and Activism and Choreographic Voice: Dance and Social Justice. Students and faculty regularly choreograph pieces that engage their audiences in sociopolitical issues or in conversations about highly charged topics.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s why we\u2019re bringing special guest artist Maria Bauman to the inspireDance Festival in 2018,\u201d says Pfohl Smith. Bauman, a New York City-based dance artist and one of today\u2019s leading dancers of color, will bring her community action-led choreography and company MBDance to the River Campus for a special live performance.<\/p>\n

5. You can use dance to help out in the community.<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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(University of Rochester photo \/ J. Adam Fenster)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dance and movement students regularly engage with senior communities and children in the Rochester City School District. Several courses in the program help students achieve a citation in community engagement studies. Students have the chance to visit senior communities where they choreograph movements for seniors with limited mobility by using chairs. They can also visit City of Rochester high schools where they use dance and movement to help students understand lessons on such topics as the circulatory system, geometry, and world cultures.<\/p>\n

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inspireDance Festival 2018: Things to know<\/strong><\/h3>\n