Discover Dance at Reed
Have you danced for as long as you can remember? Have you never danced before? Somewhere in between? Then Reed Dance is for you. Our courses offer a unique opportunity to connect the body and mind within Reed’s rich intellectual community. Explore studio and conference-based classes that build a range of skills widely applicable to your studies in the liberal arts: critical reasoning (in embodied and written formats), creativity, analytical approaches, and collaboration, among many others. Come experience dance as a way to understand—and change—the world.
Curriculum
All classes are open to majors and nonmajors. The department offers students at all levels of experience opportunities to choreograph, perform, undertake research, participate in residencies with visiting artists and scholars, and interact closely with faculty members. Our wide-ranging curriculum includes courses in contemporary dance, ballet, choreography, improvisation, critical dance studies, cultural studies, Latin American dance, and dances of the African diaspora.
Dance Major & Minor
In addition to the dance major, the department also offers interdisciplinary majors in Comparative Race and Ethnicity Studies–Dance, Dance–Theatre, as well as a minor in dance. Interested students may also pursue an ad hoc interdisciplinary major that includes dance, such as dance–art, dance–music, dance–Spanish, dance–psychology, dance–sociology, dance–literature, or dance–history.
Performing Opportunities
Reed dancers are invited to perform at the end of each semester in our biannual concert which also includes works created in dance courses. Reed dancers regularly perform in Reed Arts Week, in dance thesis productions, and with the student-run Reed Dance Troupe and the Reed Independent Performance independent projects. Guest choreographers and dance faculty create work for choreograph for the Contemporary Performance Ensemble.
Visiting Artists and Scholars
Reed brings well-known performing artists and scholars to campus each year, and Reed dance students frequently attend off-campus performances, talks, and master classes in conjunction with their coursework. Recent visiting artists, companies, and scholars have included Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, Ballet Hispánico, Michelle Gibson, Bárbara Lima, Eiko Otake, Michael Cusumano/Madame Olga, Meshi Chavez, Reggie Wilson/Fist and Heel Performance, Yoshito Sakuraba/Abarukas, and Gamelan Çudamani. Reed dancers have attended recent off-campus performances by Kyle Abraham/Abraham.In.Motion, Ballet Hispánico, The TL Collective, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Philadanco.
Exchange Programs
Reed dancers have the opportunity to participate in established dance-intensive exchange programs in New York, Paris, Jerusalem, and Havana. Reed students may also register for dance courses at nearby Lewis and Clark College.
Graduates
The department successfully prepares students—both majors and nonmajors—for specialized work in dance in graduate school and in the profession. Reed alumni pursue graduate degrees in dance, teach, choreograph, perform, write about dance professionally, work in dance outreach and arts administration, and establish their own dance companies and schools. Honors given to Reed dance students have included the Watson Fellowship, grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, and awards from the Dance Studies Association.