Visual & Performing Arts

Program Description

California Institute of the Arts

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Located in Valencia in Southern California, the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) School of Dance offers a Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree in dance performance/choreography/production and a Master of Fine Arts (M.F.A.) degree in choreography. The B.F.A degree program carries with it a complete component of general studies as presented by the School of Critical Studies. An audition is required of all incoming students. Acceptance into the program is based solely on talent. Information on times, locations, and dates is available from the School of Dance office and the Office of Enrollment Services.

The B.F.A curriculum places a strong emphasis on the individual development of each dancer through modern and ballet techniques, performance opportunities, and dance production and nurtures creative freedom through dance composition and choreography. Because of a low student-faculty ratio, equal importance is placed on studies relating to dance, such as production technology, music, dance history, anatomy, kinesiology, video, digital technologies, production crewing, Pilates, and African and Indonesian dance as electives. Interdisciplinary collaboration is encouraged on all levels, broadening the future of dance in ways that constantly challenge the imagination.

Program Facilities

 The CalArts Sharon Disney Lund Dance Theater is a 50-foot-by-70-foot space used exclusively for dance performances, rehearsals, and classes. This hall features wall-to-wall L Air sprung flooring covered with seamless black Lonstage. Retractable theater seating allows for many different staging configurations. Seating capacity is usually 125 persons, with a maximum capacity of 250.

In addition to the Sharon Disney Lund Dance Theater, there are three other full-time dance studios available for technique classes, composition classes, and rehearsals. The two larger dance studios measure 36-feet-by-50-feet each. Each studio has one mirrored wall and barres set into the other three walls, and is equipped with a set of eight portable barres, a piano, and power outlets for sound and video equipment. Both spaces have L Air sprung floors covered in seamless Lonstage. The third studio is 39-feet-by-23-feet and has a sprung wooded floor, a full wall of mirrors, and a chalkboard.

A fully carpeted Pilates body-conditioning studio measures 39-feet-by-23-feet. It has a mirrored wall and includes the following equipment: four Pilates studio reformers, two trapeze tables, one Wunda chair, one whale, four tumbling mats, and one Pacemaster Pro-Plus treadmill.

The School of Dance’s array of digital, video, and sound equipment allows M.F.A. and upper-division B.F.A students to experiment with multi-track mixing and video editing techniques while creating movement-themed DVDs as well as Web page design. Digital video is incorporated into documenting all dance works and a variety of other classroom and production purposes.

In downtown Los Angeles, The Roy and Edna Disney/CalArts Theater, otherwise known as REDCAT, is housed as a separate entity in the stunning, Frank Gehry–designed Walt Disney Concert Hall. REDCAT is conceived as a unique platform to showcase CalArts experimental and interdisciplinary work in dance, theater, music, the visual arts, and film/video.

Faculty and Alumni

 The School’s faculty consists of well-known, seasoned professional artists who are continuing to pursue and explore dance while teaching. The School of Dance faculty members include Stephan Koplowitz, Dean; Cynthia Young, Associate Dean; Laurence Blake, Assistant Dean; David Kroth; Fontella Boone; Colin Connor; John Gaydos; Kate Fox; Ed Groff; Francesca Penzani; Robin Cox; Rosanna Gamson; Cheryl Montelle; Stephanie Nugent; John Pennington; Mitchell Rose; and Glen Eddy.

The School of Dance has alumni performing in dance and touring companies, choreographing, directing, and teaching. Among these include Dallas McMurray, who dances with the Mark Morrison Company; Brooke Smiley, who tours with Transitions Dance Company in London, England; Jamie Bishton, artistic director of Jamie Bishton/Dance in New York City; Keisha Clarke, who tours with the Garth Fagan Dance Company in Rochester, New York; Qi Zhang, choreographer; Laura Gorenstein, artistic director of Helios Dance Theater in Los Angeles; Dawn Stoppiello, co-artistic director of Troika Ranch in New York City; Yuan-Yuan Wang, choreographer; Jacques Heim, artistic director of the Diavolo Dance Theater in Los Angeles; and others.

Student Performance/Exhibit Opportunities

 The School of Dance’s performance schedule features as many as six regularly scheduled dance concerts, Winter and Spring concerts, and three to five graduate thesis dance concerts.

Special Programs

 The School of Dance has an ongoing exchange program with the London Contemporary Dance School. Each fall, two upper-division undergraduates selected by the dean and faculty enjoy the unique opportunity to study abroad for one semester.

Application Procedures

Deadline--freshmen and transfers: January 5. Required: essay, high school transcript, college transcript(s) for transfer students, 2 letters of recommendation, audition. Auditions held 15 times on campus and off campus in New York, NY; Baltimore, MD; Dallas, TX; Houston, TX; San Francisco, CA; Chicago, IL; Hilo, HI; Minneapolis, MN; Portland, OR; San Diego, CA; San Antonio, TX; Phoenix, AZ; Atlanta, GA; Valencia, CA; videotaped performances are permissible as a substitute for live auditions with approval from the department and for international students.

Contact

Mr. Clyde Howell, Recruitment Specialist, School of Dance, California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, California 91355; 661-291-3046, fax: 661-253-1562.