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Department of Theatre and Dance

  • Dance Education Students lead a class

What You'll Become

Our students gain the practical skills to be successful in any school environment, while discovering their individual passions and strengths in the field.  As a result, our students graduate knowing what they want to do and where they want to go next to begin their careers as dance educators.

What will you take away from your practicums?

Over the course of your four years of study, our program ensures that you will:

  • Experience teaching at every level. We ensure that you have the opportunity to teach at the elementary, middle and high school levels before graduating. Your level of placement will mirror the course curriculum of your Dance Education course so that you may implement what you are learning in classroom directly in a realistic environment.

  • Teach in a variety of school settings. Your placements will take you to a variety of K-12 schools that utilize various approaches to dance as a performing art and academic discipline. Experiences include learning how to integrate other subjects into dance teaching, using dance to support learning in other subject areas, teaching dance as a discrete discipline, and designing and managing productions in elementary, middle, and high school environments.

  • Work with a diverse body of students. We guarantee practical experience teaching in diverse environments. Beyond-the-classroom learning and field placements are designed to ensure that students have opportunities to work with students from a variety of backgrounds, abilities, and districts to ensure that you will be prepared for challenges and opportunities in any work environment you may encounter once you enter the field.


Where are our students placed?

In South Carolina alone, there are 20 school districts that offer dance education in specific schools or district wide.  Columbia and its surrounding area has over 36 dance education programs available to our students for practicum placements throughout their studies and student teaching.

While most students who pursue the BA in Dance with K-12 Teacher Certification are teaching in public school dance programs, some students choose to pursue further study and other career paths related to dance performance and education. Some examples of paths that our dance education graduates have pursued outside of K-12 dance education include:

  • Founding of non-profit Carolina Dance Collaborative 
  • Dancer at Disney
  • Graduate school in dance therapy
  • Teaching in special education
  • Teaching yoga
  • Administrative work in dance in a university environment

 

 

Challenge the conventional. Create the exceptional. No Limits.

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