Meg Schriffen is the Dance Program Director of the dance program at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina. According to Meg, the B.A. degree in dance aligns with the university’s liberal arts-based vision of education that encourages breadth of knowledge.
The College of Visual and Performing Arts at Winthrop University offers nationally accredited programs in art, design, theatre, dance, and music, and provides academically challenging instruction in an interdisciplinary environment that inspires and prepares the next generation of artists, educators, scholars and audiences. They promote intellectual inquiry and collaborative opportunities that encourage each student to develop a uniquely creative vision cultivated through artistry, teaching, scholarship, public performance and community engagement.
The Department of Theatre and Dance fosters individual students’ aesthetic, intellectual and creative development within the context of a liberal arts education as they pursue a Bachelor of Arts in theatre. Through class instruction, private coaching, mentoring and performance, the department advocates both theoretical and creative exploration to achieve an understanding of the social, political, historical and technological aspects of theatre. Class size remains small for majors: sometimes as small as five and never more than 25. The department offers a minor in theatre or dance and welcomes all students to enroll in courses and audition for productions. The department presents four main stage productions (three in theatre, one in dance), two student choreography showcases, and five studio dance/theatre productions and other informal performances each year. The department also regularly hosts festivals, and students join faculty in travel to professional conferences.
Winthrop University is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Theatre (NAST) and by the National Association of Schools of Dance (NASD). Accreditation through these organizations means that the Winthrop University theatre and dance programs meet the highest standards of excellence for faculty expertise, for quality of facilities, for curricular offerings, and for quality of artistic work.
The faculty shape class projects and mentor students in production work in a way that promotes collaboration – an essential skill for success in the performing arts and a very valuable skill in any profession. All dance majors have opportunities to assume artistic leadership roles during their academic careers in the department. Advanced students take on solo performance roles, stage management positions and choreograph pieces in student concerts. Select students choreograph their own full-length dance productions. Faculty members individually mentor majors so that they will be successful in the dance program and in preparing for careers.
The Department of Theatre and Dance offers a B.A. in Dance and a B.A. in Dance with K-12 Teacher Certification. The B.A. degree in dance aligns with the university’s liberal arts-based vision of education that encourages breadth of knowledge.
The dance faculty conducts a placement class at the beginning of the fall semester as an assessment of modern and ballet technique proficiency for all new dance majors (whether first-time or transfer students). Faculty use this placement class to recommend enrollment in the appropriate level of technique for each student. All dance majors are required to complete a sophomore review in their fourth semester. In this review the students demonstrate proficiency in modern and ballet technique and present their resumes/portfolios to faculty. Faculty members work with the students to improve their presentation skills, discuss their progress in the program and explore their future goals.
In their senior year, all majors take DANT 432: Careers and Current Trends in Dance and demonstrate proficiency in modern and ballet technique a final time. In their last semester all majors complete an exit interview as a final step to prepare them for careers. Dance majors also participate in master classes presented by professional dancers from companies such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Parsons Dance Company, as well as from local/regional companies.
Their season of productions typically includes one faculty-choreographed concert in their mainstage proscenium space – Johnson Theatre. The Department of Dance also produces a musical every year, often produced in collaboration with the Department of Music. Additionally, the season includes two student choreography showcases (choreographed by advanced dance majors) in Johnson Theatre and one or two concerts prepared by select students. Students and faculty in the department regularly participate in the annual Charlotte Dance Festival every fall. Ensembles of their students also perform at the annual ChristmasVille Festival in Rock Hill and tour to local K-12 schools every spring. Faculty and select students travel every spring to the regional American College Dance Festival to perform. For details about the curriculum for the B.A. in Dance and the B.A. in Dance with K-12 Teacher Certification, check out the school’s website.
In Meg’s opinion, their dance program is different from other dance programs because of its small class size, individualized attention from faculty, and collaboration cross disciplinary approaches. Also, very few undergraduate programs offer this high number of opportunities for students to perform, design, direct, choreograph, stage manage, and run productions.
Meg’s proudest moment while being a part of this dance program has been their students’ many accomplishments in performance, teaching, and presenting research.
In Meg’s opinion the one thing that the seniors tend to know about dance that the freshmen still have not learned yet is that dance is hard work and you have to put in a lot of work to reap the benefits!
Her goals for the program this year are to continue to grow their enrollment especially with out-of-state students, and continue to improve the quality of their program in terms of offering more master classes, choreography intensives, guest performers, and more sessions on career development.
The university has approximately 50 dance majors and about 20 dance minors. According to Meg, they are a theatre and dance department that nurtures cross disciplinary work.
If you would like more information about the dance program at Winthrop University, visit their website at www.winthrop.edu/cvpa/theatredance, call them at 803-323-2287, fax them at 803-323-2560. You can also “like” them on Facebook.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Meg Schriffen of Winthrop University.
Written By Cyndi Marziani
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