Next semester may see a new addition to the school of visual and performing arts family – a major in dance.
But according to Derle Long, director of the VAPA department, a Bachelor of Arts in Dance is not quite a firm reality yet.
“The plan was approved on this campus by the administration and is now winding it’s way through the various hallways and meetings in Baton Rouge necessary for final approval,” Long said.
Although Long feels good about the degree and said he cannot imagine that it would not be approved for the fall.
Professors in the VAPA department Robin Stephens, Tina Mullone and Gretchen Jones approached Long with the idea of a dance major last year.
If approved, the BA in dance will be the only degree of its kind offered north of Interstate 10.
Long said three new dance courses at the 4000 level have been designed that will serve specific technical needs based on what the student wants to do with the degree. One new course is called dancing for the camera.
No new faculty will be hired to implement the degree and the dance minor will continue to be offered.
Taylor LaFrance, a freshman pre-pharmacy major, has been dancing her whole life but doesn’t think she would be interested in pursuing a dance major herself since she’s always had her heart set on the medical field.
Despite that, she thinks it would be nice to watch the dance department expand.
“It gives students other options than just being a dance minor and having to pick a major they don’t really want to do,” said LaFrance.
Kenya Ross, a senior communications major, has been dancing since she was three-years-old and said she would have definitely double majored in dance if she had the opportunity.
“A dance major is just as valuable as any other major. It would definitely allow a student to take another route with their careers if he or she is not interested in the corporate world,” Ross said.
Senior dance minor and kinesiology major Kelseia Ellison believes she’s missing out on a great opportunity.
“I would have chose dance over anything. I hate now that I’m a senior it’s finally happening,” said Ellison. “But I can always come back and get it.”
