Dance

Students build a wide range of professional skills in performance, choreography, production, scientific thinking, dance film, and more. They gain cutting-edge dance practices, diverse movement techniques, and experiences that integrate the health and cultural perspectives that prepare them to be dance artists, visionaries, advocates, and leaders.

Mark Evans Bryan '96

Mark Evans Bryan ’96 , Associate Professor, Chair of Theatre, Chair of Dance

Ojeya Cruz Banks

Ojeya Cruz Banks , Associate Professor, Associate Chair of Dance

Kristine Mathews

Kristine Mathews , Program Coordinator, Music, Theatre, Dance

Swasey Chapel

Highlights

Prospective Dance Students: Connect with Us

Discover all the arts at Denison

student dance performance

More than 10 nationally known guest choreographers and dance companies visit Denison each year to host intimate performances and work closely with students.

Spotlights

Woman posing with fencing foil

‘You’ll never guess what I did today’

Dancer Grace Lukens ’26 never imagined herself a fencer. But that’s the kind of thing that happens at Denison.

Yaz Simpson ’23 performing slam poetry

HERE US showcases original performances by students of color

In its third stage production, HERE US continues to thrive, evolve, and carve out space for passionate performers.

Winter 2022 cover

Denison Magazine

The ON Switch

Conversations with faculty about what it means to teach — and to trigger those amazing moments of illumination

Alison Waldman ’10

Where We Go

The healing power of breaking barriers

Artists can cross lines that medical professionals sometimes don't have the space to.

Denison students and Sri Lankan performers dance in concert

How We Learn

Sri Lankan Odyssey

A five-year immersion in Sri Lankan culture gives Denison students a profound cross-cultural experience.

Dancers in front of exhibition

How We Learn

Art and Space Connect and Encourage Empathy

Resident artists Christian and Anne Manns pay tribute to local history through exhibition “Monumental!”

Students in the dance studio

How We Learn

A New Home for the Performing Arts

As budgets across the country cut corners on the arts, Denison goes all in.

Denison alumni dance panel on stools

Where We Go

Alumni talk about dance, careers

Five dance alumni gathered for a career panel and answered questions about their careers in dance.

Megan Frazier

Where We Go

Dance into Life

For Megan Frazier '97, her love of movement and physiology has translated into her career as a pediatric physical therapist.

denison students in Sri Lanka1

How We Learn

Cultural exchange in Sri Lanka

In the summer of 2016, students were immersed in the culture of Sri Lanka during a research trip.

molly_shanahan_3

Where We Go

Molly Shanahan '90

Alum Molly Shanahan recognized as a singular voice in Chicago  dance.

sri-lanka-group

How We Learn

Crossing borders through dance

Research in Sri Lanka changed perspectives teaching and interpreting dance.

Steve Flores

Where We Go

Hip-Hop Entrepreneur

From econ major to hip-hop dancer with Steve Flores '11.

Emma Draves

Where We Go

Emma Draves '01

Draves' work navigates spaces of contemporaneity, hybridity, & globalization.

Life in Ghana 1

How We Learn

Life in Ghana

Life in Ghana was very different from life on the hill.

What's Happening

Students

Dancing across Europe

What began as an audition featuring a first dance improv performance turned into a summer experience that changed a post-graduation trajectory.

Performances, Visiting Artists

Fall Dance Concert: Timeless/Eterna

Timeless/Eterna blends enduring music and stories in a contemporary dance concert

Faculty

Creating dance soundscapes

Matthew Dixon is the creative force behind the live music at Denison’s dance concerts

More From Denison

Denison Seminars

Denison Seminars

Study Abroad

Living at Denison

Living at Denison

Career Exploration

Career Exploration