Dance, Minor

The dance minor at Saint Louis University is a 23-credit program that aims to broaden a student’s perspective about dance in a variety of forms. Regardless of one’s previous experience in dance, the dance minor is open to all students from diverse cultural and educational backgrounds who seek to broaden their perspective about dance as a personal and cultural practice.  

Students in the dance minor hone the body as a skillful instrument for expression, communication and a heightened awareness of an embodied, human experience through the application of formal and improvisational dance techniques, choreographic processes, rehearsal and performance practices. They also gain an understanding of the historical and cultural contexts of dance.

With a curriculum that encourages connections between dance and other personal and professional pursuits, the minor investigates dance as a concert art form and personal practice. Students also explore dance's potential applications to other disciplines, such as pre-health, psychology, theatre and music, physical and occupational therapy, health and exercise sciences, nutrition and dietetics, and athletic training, among others. Seeking such intersections nurtures critical thinking, which can lead to the development of novel perspectives that ignite creative thinking and innovation.

Curriculum Overview

Dance integrates mind, body, and spirit, which can teach students to think with their body as an intelligent source for learning, exploration and discovery.  This education of the whole person can foster internal connections that sensitize students to a deeper understanding of themselves, their relationships to others and to their world as well as physical goals such as improved balance, strength, coordination and performance confidence. Dance enlivens the whole person towards living a life of integration, vitality, health and well-being. Therefore, dance is well suited to inform and support any track of study, worldview or personal goal.

Toward this aim, students are required to complete 23 credits total, comprised of eight credits in “dance foundations;” eight credits in “dance technique;”  four credits in “dance study;” and three credits in a “related area of study.” The three dance foundations courses include a theatre and dance history course, an introduction to dance course that covers ballet, modern and jazz dance, and a choreography course. These three courses provide an opportunity for students to gain knowledge of essential dance styles, performance and choreography practices, and a general history of dance and theatre.

Building on this, dance minors will take a further eight credits (four courses) of technique in ballet, jazz and modern dance forms. For their final three courses, students must choose from a selection of two courses in dance study and one course in a related area of study.

Additionally, students may petition to apply credit from related disciplines with approval of the coordinator as well as apply credit in dance study and a related area of study from dance courses offered at Saint Louis University’s Madrid campus, such as flamenco and Latin dance among others.   

Dance students must complete a minimum total of 23 credits for the minor.  Repeated course credits may not apply.

Continuation Standards

A student must maintain a 2.00 grade point average (GPA) in dance minor coursework.

Students can complete part of the dance minor at SLU’s campus in Madrid.