We are the only department in the Five Colleges that combines studies and production work in both theater and dance. Students who take courses in both theater and dance will learn to appreciate the theoretical and aesthetic similarities of theater and dance. In particular, study of design is directly related to both.
A wide range of additional dance offerings and performance opportunities are available through Five College Dance. We offer a wide variety of rotating courses in various dance techniques, and repertory and composition, including contemporary, hip-hop, ballet, jazz, partnering, contact improv, and explorations of mixed and multi-media performance. We also regularly produce full-scale dance concerts and informal studio performances related to courses in dance.
Serious students of dance receive considerable individual attention in the program and are encouraged to explore and expand their personal movement vocabularies, techniques and interests in the context of developing original choreography and performance. In addition, there is a strong emphasis on relating performance studies to other disciplines within the liberal arts.
Amherst College also has many student-run groups on campus, all with their own unique styles, including Amherst Dance, African and Caribbean Student Union Dance (ACSU), Intersections, and Dancing & Stepping at Amherst College (DASAC).
In addition to our full-time faculty and visiting technique lecturers, we regularly host guest artists. Recent visitors have included Annie Wang, Gierre Godley and Project 44, Marion Spencer, Maree ReMalia, Sydney Mosley, Kayla Hamilton, Idan Cohen, Sean Curan, Tere O'Connor, Bill T. Jones, Yanira Castro and Company, and Karinne Keithley.