Developing minds and teaching life skills such as a critical thinking and inventive problem solving is the mission of a disciplined program at the University of Houston – the dance program in the UH School of Theatre & Dance. It is the only dance degree program in Houston.
“One thing that makes us special and different is that it’s focused on choreography and the creative process,” says Ali DiNunzio, a UH dance student. “So, for the dance community to have these dancers who know how to dance and move technically, but to also create and choreograph is invaluable.”
The program not only emphasizes performance skills—which you might expect— but also demands innovative and analytical thinking, and collective collaboration by its students, many of whom choose to use those skills to pursue careers in other fields.
“Dance, overall, is an art that is very disciplined and very creative, so you have these skills to go into the workforce,” says DiNunzio. “We have a lot of dancers in the community who have graduated but have gone on to work in advertising or other job markets which need that creative edge and discipline. So, you’re getting that professional experience to be a dancer or choreographer, but at the same time, you can take the skills you’ve learned and take them into any field you want to go into.”
All dance major, minor and dance certification students must audition to be accepted into the dance division.