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About

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Mission Statement

The Department of Dance prepares students to become highly skilled, visionary, and responsible contributors to the evolving field of dance and the broader creative economy. Through rigorous training in diverse movement techniques, choreographic inquiry, performance, pedagogy, and production, students cultivate artistic excellence and professional readiness. Our programs foster critical engagement with dance as a physical, intellectual, and cultural practice, emphasizing creativity, collaboration, and care. We challenge students to consider dance’s impact on communities, economies, environments, and the world, and to lead with purpose as performers, choreographers, educators, scholars, administrators, and advocates. Grounded in both academic depth and artistic integrity, our department equips graduates to thrive in a dynamic, interconnected, and increasingly compassionate professional landscape.

Alumni Highlights

Where to find our graduates:

  • Radio City Music Hall Rockettes (New York, NY)
  • Streb Extreme Action (New York, NY) 
  • Virginia National Ballet (Manassas, VA) 
  • Savannah Ballet Theatre (Savannah, GA) 
  • RVA Dance Collective (Richmond, VA) 
  • Richmond Ballet (Richmond, VA)
  • Suzanne Farrell Ballet (Tallahassee, FL)
  • Jacob’s Pillow (Becket, MA) 
  • The Washington Ballet (Washington, D.C.)
  • Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company (Union, NJ)
  • DoubleTake Dance Company (New York, NY)
  • Dissonance Dance Theater (Washington, D.C.)
  • City Ballet of Boston (Boston, MA)
  • Palmetto City Ballet (Charleston, SC)
  • Atlanta Festival Ballet (Atlanta, GA)
  • Barefoot Dance Company (Gridley, CA) 
  • West Virginia Dance Company (Beckley, WV) 
  • Nai Zou and Company (Baltimore, MD) 
  • Full Radius Dance Company (Atlanta, GA) 
  • Roanoke Ballet Theatre (Roanoke, VA) 
  • Exhale Dance Tribe (Cincinnati, OH) 
  • TRANSForm Dance Collective
  • Full Circle Dance Company (Baltimore, MD)
  • Ariel Rivka Dance (NJ)
  • Mountain Movers Modern Dance Company (Johnson City, TN)
  • Next Reflex Dance Collective (Lorton, VA)
  • Saltare in Elementis Dance Collective (New York, NY)
  • Roanoke City Modern Ensemble (Roanoke, VA)
  • RVA Dance Collective (Richmond, VA)
  • Cruise Ships (Caribbean)
  • Disney World (Orlando, FL)
  • Dancin’ Unlimited Jazz Dance Company (Fairfax, VA)
  • Todd Rosenlieb Dance (Norfolk, VA)
  • X-Contemporary Dance (Huntsville, AL)
  • MorrisonDance (Cleveland, OH)

Performing with artists:

50 Cent, Trey Songz, Remy Ma, Ashanti, Ne-Yo and more.

Various stages and venues:

  • Carnegie Hall
  • John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC
  • Madison Square Garden
  • Mercedes-Benz Superdome
  • Atlantic Barclays Center

Television appearances: 

MTV, BET, STARZ, and more.

Graduate study:

  • MFA in Dance at the University of Oregon
  • MFA in Arts Management from George Mason
  • MFA in Dance University of Arizona
  • MA Dance/movement therapy and counseling at Drexel University
  • MFA in Dance from Florida State University

Higher Education Teaching 

  • Jacksonville University
  • Emory and Henry College
  • Winona State University in Minnesota
  • Savannah State University

Writing

Book: The Experience of Body Image in Transgender, Nonbinary and Gender Nonconforming Adults, A.T Moffett

"Higher Order Thinking in the Dance Studio" in the Journal of Dance Education.

 

Guest Artists

We are grateful to have guest artists come to campus each year, greatly enriching our students' dance experience. Past guest artists include:

  • Kyle Abraham, Abraham in Motion.
  • Alyce Finwall, Founder and Artistic Director of the Alyce Finwall Dance Theater residing in San Francisco, CA.
  • Dance Theatre of Harlem, Company members.
  • Darrell Grand Moultrie, Princess Grace Award winner and international choreographer for companies and theater.
  • Melinda Jackson and Michael Kessler, Founders and Artistic Directors of the M&M American Dance Theatre.
  • Mira Kingsley, Associate Professor of Dance, University of California at Santa Barbara.
  • Valentina Kozlova, Former Company Member of the Bolshoi Ballet and New York City Ballet.
  • Donald Laney, West Virginia Dance Company.
  • Gemze de Lappe, Choreographer and teacher, especially known for reconstructing the work of de Mille, Isadora Duncan and Jerome Robbins.
  • Keith Lee, Founder and Artistic Director of the Dance Theatre of Lynchburg, Former dancer with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.
  • Natalie Marrone, Artistic Director of the Dance Cure.
  • Christopher K. Morgan, Christopher K. Morgan and Artists, A Contemporary Dance Company located in the D.C. area.
  • Donald McKayle, Professor of Dance at UC Irvine, Internationally renowned modern dancer, choreographer, teacher, director and writer.
  • Northwest Dance Project, Company members.
  • Sherone Price, Principal Dancer with Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble.
  • Reginald Yates, Dancer, choreographer and educator with extensive affiliations with Alvin Ailey, the Juilliard School and the New World School for the Arts.
  • Keshia Wall, Matriarch Dance Company.
  • Wesley Williams Jr., Former member of the Chuck Davis and the African American Dance Ensemble, he is now the Artistic Director of Suah African Dance Theatre in Greensboro, NC. 
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