While many colleges and universities offer a bachelor of fine arts in dance only a few offer the chance to specialize and receive a degree in ballet. A bachelor of fine arts in ballet provides students intense training, performance opportunities, advanced instruction and the discipline required to be successful in the professional dance world. Many dancers skip college to dedicate the majority of time to ballet while still young. Studying ballet in college gives dancers a chance to do both and expand career choices with a bachelor's degree.
The select few colleges and universities that offer a bachelor of fine arts in ballet include Friends University (friends.edu), Utah Valley University (uvu.edu), University of Cinncinati (uc.edu), The University of the Arts (uarts.edu) and Texas Christian University (dance.tcu.edu). All five universities have the opportunity to study other forms of dance but the main focus of the ballet programs is ballet technique and performance. All five universities also have a ballet ensemble or companies that perform frequently, allowing ballet majors to maintain a professional level of performance.
All ballet majors must complete college liberal arts prerequisites while pursuing a ballet degree. The liberal arts consist of between 55 and 65 course credits in the sciences, English, social and behavioral sciences, art and general electives. These courses provide the basis for the bachelor's degree and are taken throughout the four-year curriculum together with ballet courses. The ballet courses required by the major include fundamentals of ballet, point, partnering, character, movement, improvisation, bodywork, choreography, variations and ballet history. At some universities, dancers are required to take practical courses like anatomy, teaching ballet techniques, music, injury prevention, theater production and acting. Students also have the option of pursuing a double major to improve career possibilities.
A ballet major has the opportunity to practice and perform throughout the student years and inevitably comes into contact with employers and employment opportunities. Through travel, guest lecturers and the knowledge of faculty, ballet majors have access to all of the information they need to be professional dancers. Graduates of ballet programs have performed with a long list of well-known U.S. and international dance companies. A bachelor of fine arts in ballet can also open doors for a professional dancer to pursuit other careers within the field after performing ends. With a bachelor's degree former dancers can easily transition into dance education, arts administration and choreography.