The Tisch School of the Arts at New York University has a variety of both undergraduate and graduate programs in dance. The school features the Institute for Performing Arts, which encompasses the dance and theater departments. The dance program includes study of dance technique, theory, art education, improvisation, music literature, acting, dance history and advanced production classes. The BFA in dance also includes general education classes. The drama, or theater, department has produced a number of famous performers, including Alec Baldwin and Marcia Gay Harden. The program includes theater studies focused on theater history, dramatic literature, theory and criticism and world drama. The program also includes general education courses and electives including voice lessons and audition technique.
Northwestern University in Chicago Illinois has both dance and theater programs. Both programs operate within the college's School of Communication. The dance major focuses on dance skills as well as choreography dance writing, research and analysis. From jump, rhythm, jazz styles to ballet and tap, the dance major teaches students to collaborate and improvise with music, composition and choreography. The theater department has produced performers such as Stephen Colbert and David Schwimmer and focuses on a broad range of theater arts. From acting and dancing to voice, directing and theater design, the school teaches that theater and dance act as a mirror of life and its variety.
Florida State University features a well-known and large dance department, in addition to its competitive theater department. The dance department offers both bachelor's and master's degree training. The programs feature both ballet and contemporary dance study, along with dance composition and choreography courses. Students must also complete liberal studies courses and several dance production courses. The theater department offers a BA and BFA program. The BA program offers a liberal arts education focusing on a broad range of education built around a core of theater classes and electives. The BFA represents a more intense level of study focusing more on preparing students for a career in professional theater. The theater department also features the London Theatre Experience, in which students travel to London in the fall of their third year for advanced theater study.
The University of California Los Angeles has a limited dance program, but its theater program at the School of Theater, Film and Television is among the nation's largest and most competitive. The school features undergraduate and graduate programs in theater, focusing on a liberal education and pre-professional training. Undergraduates may pursue specialties within the department including acting, design/production, general theater studies, musical theater, playwriting and the Teaching Artist Program. The graduate program features specialties in acting, design, directing, playwriting, and theater and performance studies. It has equally excellent film and television programs within the department, which collaborate with the theater department on a variety of projects. The school has produced a variety of noted alumni from Carol Burnett to Ben Stiller.