Department of Dance

Dance at Sam Houston State University

The Department of Dance at Sam Houston State University delivers a dynamic, challenging education that integrates creativity, performance, and scholarly pursuits designed to prepare each student for a 21st century career in dance. We have exceptional facilities, including a dance theater, four spacious studios, a costume shop, Pilates studio, and dance technology lab. Our robust performance calendar includes twelve fully produced concerts each academic year. The department’s highly dedicated dance faculty bring the expertise of their professional performing careers and choreographic portfolios to the classroom. Exciting guest artists and choreographic residencies enhance the students’ education.

The Bachelor in Fine Arts in Dance provides intensive study in modern, partnering, ballet, and jazz techniques; abundant performance opportunities; innovative choreographic exploration, including the integration of media into the creative process; and a solid academic grounding in coursework.

The Master of Fine Arts program in Dance integrates creativity, performance, and scholarly pursuits. In addition to rigorous studio experience with substantive choreographic and performance opportunities, the program includes pedagogical, theoretical, and research orientations to dance as an art form. Courses in composition, dance theory, dance technology, and pedagogy broaden the scope of study. Assistantships are available. A returning professional track is available for qualified candidates.

Sam Houston State University's Department of Dance is accredited by the National Association of Schools of Dance.

Enjoy our Dance @ Sam Promo Video here!

Register for an audition today!

The Department of Dance also offers a Minor in Dance. Ask about how you can add a dance minor to your degree plan today!

SHSU Dance News

Department of Dance Auditions

Students who wish to be accepted into the Department of Dance must be admitted to the University as well as to the Department through an audition. Audition Dates for 2024-2025:

BFA Auditions:
Friday, November 8, 2024 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Friday, February 28, 2025 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Friday, April 11, 2025 from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM

MFA Auditions:
Friday, November 14, 2024 from 8:30 AM - 5:00 PM

Auditions will be conducted in person. Follow this link to learn more and register for an audition.

Photo by Lynn Lane, Choreographer Evelyn Toh

LEARN MORE
Guest Artist: Netta Yerushalmy

Netta Yerushalmy is an Israeli-born dance artist based in New York City. For SHSU Dance she created an original work, tears, etched like so: that will premiere in Spring 2025 Dance Spectrum.

Learn More!

Netta Yerushalmy is a dance artist based in New York City. Her work aims to engage with audiences by imparting the sensation of things as they are perceived, not as they are known, and to challenge how meaning is attributed and constructed.

For her choreographic work, Netta has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Princeton Arts Fellowship, and a Research Fellowship at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, among others; she has also been commissioned and presented by such venues as Danspace Project, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Joyce Theater, American Dance Festival, New York Live Arts, and Baryshnikov Arts Center. Netta works across genres and disciplines: she has choreographed a Red Hot Chili Peppers music video, worked with cellist Maya Beiser and composer Julia Wolfe, and collaborated on evenings of theory and performance at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICI Berlin). Netta has created work for repertory companies and students nationwide, and has performed as a dancer with Pam Tanowitz Dance, Doug Varone and Dancers, Joanna Kotze, and the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, among others. You can learn more about Netta at www.nettay.com and follow her on Instagram @nettayerushalmydances.

tears, etched like so:

This work was created in a quick freezing whirlwind in mid January, a mere two days after I had returned to the USA from many months in war-stricken Israel. My time in the studio with these exuberant, diversely talented, and generous dancers here at Sam Houston State U, together with the deeply wise and warm Adele Nickel, was healing and uplifting. What we made together is a particular work - one which was created with this particular group of dancers, in a rich mix with my particular state of mind, heart, and body. As you witness this dance, I invite you to view it as a sculptural landscape, a cascading of images, a space for subconscious meanderings

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Senior Studio

Sam Houston State University’s Department of Dance is thrilled to present, Adorn, a collection of dynamic and vibrant choreography created by eighteen enthusiastic dance artists in the 2024 senior class. Collaboratively, they have crafted a concert satiated with dynamic shifts, storytelling, and intricate concepts. Each evening promises a distinctive lineup, providing the community with multiple opportunities to immerse themselves in various artistic creations. Join us at the James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center April 11-13, 2024, at 8 p.m. as dancers take the stage for a riveting night of collaboration!
Dance Spectrum in Concert

The Sam Houston State University Department of Dance’s Spring 2024 semester will culminate with Dance Spectrum in Concert – the bi-annual faculty and guest artist concert that highlights the multi-talented SHSU Dance artists. This evening features a premiere by New York based guest artist Netta Yerushalmy. The concert also includes a collection of dance works by SHSU faculty Francisco Graciano, Travis Lake, Adele Nickel, Andy Noble, Dionne Sparkman Noble and Tyler Orcutt. Come join us for an exhilarating evening of choreography and dance performance!

Dance Spectrum in Concert
Department of Dance, Sam Houston State University
Ticket information available at www.shsutickets.com
May 1-3, 2024 @ 8 PM

Learn More!

The Sam Houston State University Department of Dance’s Spring 2024 semester will culminate with Dance Spectrum in Concert – the bi-annual faculty and guest artist concert that highlights the multi-talented SHSU Dance artists. This evening features a premiere by New York based guest artist Netta Yerushalmy. The concert also includes a collection of dance works by SHSU faculty Francisco Graciano, Travis Lake, Adele Nickel, Andy Noble, Dionne Sparkman Noble and Tyler Orcutt. Come join us for an exhilarating evening of choreography and dance performance!

About the Dances
Opening this semester’s Spectrum concert is a beautiful duet by Francisco Graciano danced to Phillip Glass’s Closing. Originally created in 2011, Ondas is an experimental work that investigates how the concepts of symmetry, rhythm, and repetition manifest themselves in relationships.

Second on the program is tears, etched like so: a group work created for SHSU dance students by Israeli-born dance artist, guest choreographer Netta Yerushalmy. Yerushalmy, who has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship & Princeton Arts Fellowship (among others), commissioned by American Dance Festival and Jacob’s Pillow, and even choreographed for a Red Hot Chili Peppers music video, came to work with SHSU Dance in mid-January, directly after returning home to the US from spending many months in war-stricken Israel. About the work she states, “What we made together is a particular work - one which was created with this particular group of dancers, in a rich mix with my particular state of mind, heart, and body. As you witness this dance, I invite you to view it as a sculptural landscape, a cascading of images, a space for subconscious meanderings.”

Andy Noble’s haunting 2015 work, Flashburn, includes the magical effect of snow falling in the dark. This work was created with light design collaborator David J Deveau and involves placing light in selected locations on stage to illuminate small details of gesture and physicalized emotion. This dreamlike work, reminiscent of a wartime nightmare, focuses the eye on ghostlike images of tension and loss.

Opening the second half, Dionne Sparkman Noble’s all female cast brings to life Following Aunt Joan. In this dance, originally created in 2007, five women dancing with chairs and dressed in the classic little black dress explore themes of sensuality, empathy, and rivalry. Performed to “Concerto for Piano Trio and Percussion,” a dynamic score by Kenji Bunch, the dance reveals moments of vulnerability and strength, and questions what it means to be a woman of our time.

Adele Nickel presents The Spell, a quintet for three men and two women danced to Tchaikovsky’s Op. 66, commonly known as the Rose Adagio from his 1889 “The Sleeping Beauty.” This work is a further adaption of a pas de deux (a classical duet) created by Nickel and co-choreographer Brian Lawson in 2021 that gestures towards reimagining what contemporary expressions of intimacy and partnership could look like on stage.

Night Crawl, choreographed by Travis Lake, is an exploration of the enigmatic allure of things that go bump in the night. The cast of dancers move with a delicate balance of grace and intrigue, embodying shadows that creep beneath the moonlight. Set to an original composition by Lake, Night Crawl is a landscape where mystery and fascination intertwine, inviting its viewers to lose themselves in the depths of the nocturnal unknown.

Dance Spectrum closes with the premiere of a large group work by Tyler Orcutt. The Potato People have risen, but not without starchy strife in their hearts. Lethal Potatoes artistically examines the themes of coexistence, tribalism as an evolutionary inheritance, and commercialism, through the lens of absurdity.

DETAILS
Dance Spectrum in Concert
May 2-4, 2024 @ 8 PM
James and Nancy Gaertner Performing Arts Center, Dance Theater
815 17^thStreet, Huntsville, TX
Tickets: $12 advance general admission, $15 at the door, student RUSH available week of the show (one free ticket) for current SHSU students with valid SHSU student ID.
Purchase online at http://www. shsutickets.com or call 936-294-2339

Flashburn by Andy Noble and David J Deveau; Photo by David Rios

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Department News

Summer Dance at SHSU

Check out our Summer Dance study options for pre-professional and professional level students. Click here for more info!

New to SHSU Dance?

Info for Incoming Dance Majors

If you are new to SHSU Dance please download this Info Blast created just for you so that you know what to expect. Still have questions? Contact the Dance Office anytime during the summer to get answers regarding registration, auditions, and more!

Info Blast for New Dance Majors

Science Worth Dancing About

"What if I told you that dancing enhances the brain?" Professor Andy Noble advocates for the power of dance in the 2nd Annual TEDxSHSU event hosted by SHSU. Co-written by Andy and Dionne Noble, this talk highlights new research conducted by an arts-science team that is looking at the ways dance impacts brain health. Read more here!

Department of Dance
815 17th Street, Suite 150, Huntsville, TX 77340
Phone: (936) 294-3342 or (936) 294-1875 | E-mail: shsudance@shsu.edu

CAM CREATIVE COMMUNITY

Enjoy the many ways you can unleash your creativity and find inspiration while living among other student artist, communicators, and performers in CAM Creative Community. With modern amenities including access to stages, screens, and studios, Creative Community is open exclusively to College of Arts & Media majors!

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Dance at Sam Houston State University

SHSU Dance News