Program Recognition
•Housed in a Department of Dance accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD).
Training
•53-credit-hour BA in Dance built around ballet, jazz, and modern technique with liberal-arts electives students tailor to career goals.
•Part of a department serving roughly 120 BA/BFA dance majors plus 55 dance minors.
Performance & Productions
•Majors may audition for Western Dance Project, a touring company of 10–12 students that gives concerts, lecture-demonstrations, and masterclasses at schools, festivals, and venues statewide, regionally, and nationally.
•Student-run Orchesis Dance Society stages showcases of student choreography and brings in professional guest artists.
•Performances run in the D. Terry Williams Theatre and the 571-seat Laura V. Shaw Theatre in the Gilmore Theatre Complex.
Facilities
•Studios in the Dorothy U. Dalton Center plus a new Dunbar Hall studio (opened 2024), all with sprung, vinyl-covered floors, pianos, and percussion.
•Conditioning room with four Pilates reformers; Studio B (40' x 55', marley sprung floor) converts to a performance space.
Location
•Based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, within WMU's College of Fine Arts.
