UA Dance Program is First in State to Earn Accreditation

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s dance program in the College of Arts and Sciences recently earned accreditation, which makes it the only accredited dance program at any university in the state.

“We are so proud of the fact that as a very small program with limited facilities and resources, we have competed favorably with the best institutions in the nation,” said Edie Barnes, professor and director of the dance program. Approximately 125 institutions across the country have fully accredited dance programs, including New York University, Rutgers, Barnard, the University of Arizona and the University of Utah.

In the past several years, the UA dance program has increased its scope nationally, with both the American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Rockettes choosing UA as the site of their inaugural summer dance workshops outside of New York City. UA dance students have presented original choreography at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and currently are appearing on the stage of Radio City Music Hall and professional companies in Philadelphia, Chicago and San Francisco. Dance program faculty members have been invited to teach and present choreography nationally and internationally.

UA dance students also have several opportunities to perform each semester through Dance Alabama! and the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre. ARDT is a pre-professional company started by Cornelius Carter, professor of dance. Carter also was selected as the U.S. Professor of the Year in 2001 by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

The dance major program at UA provides professional standards for technique in Classical, Ballet, Modern and Jazz dance complemented by an intensive choreographic curriculum. Admission to the dance major program is by audition only. Course work includes Improvisation, Anatomy for Dance, Dance History, Repertory, Performance and Independent Study.

The College of Arts and Sciences is the University’s largest division and the largest public liberal arts college in the state, with approximately 5,500 undergraduates and 1,000 graduate students. The College has received national recognition for academic excellence, and the College’s students have been selected for many of the nation’s top academic honors, including 13 Rhodes Scholarships, 14 Goldwater Scholarships, seven Truman Scholarships, and 15 memberships on USA Today’s Academic All-American teams.