What to Expect

There is a huge variety of options available in the study of dance. Students cover areas ranging from dance technology to choreography.

Dance students literally move to get their degree! Post-secondary students learn about movement, technique, choreography, theory, history and more.

Most dance programs have a foundation in ballet, but also include studio courses where students learn many different forms of dance.

Justin Reist plans to join the dance community as an independent artist. He will soon complete his bachelor of fine arts in dance.

"The program also focuses on the choreographic process with a number of improvisation and [dance] composition courses available," says Reist.

Anna Stanutz wants to become a professional dancer with a dance company. For now, she is a college dance student. She enjoys how much she gets to practice her art in class.

"It's pretty close to the schedule of professional dancers and therefore prepares us for professional life. We also share the studios with [a professional ballet company] and we have class once a week with them. It's really good experience to take professional classes with professional dancers and teachers. I also like the fact that we have vocal and drama class each week," says Stanutz.

Dance students should be prepared to spend a lot of time dancing. This is exciting yet very tiring to new students.

"The first few weeks are really tiring, and it takes a few weeks for your body to adjust. I dealt with it by sleeping a lot the first few weeks, until I got used to the schedule," says Stanutz.

Reist says dance students attend a technique class every weekday morning in addition to theory, history and composition classes.

"On average my dance-related hours would be around four to six hours a day, with academic courses spread out wherever I could fit them in," says Reist.

Stanutz says she doesn't have much homework. But she's in the studio between 30 and 40 hours per week.

"The dance program does not have many extra costs to be considered, textbooks are rare, and relatively cheap. No private training is necessary outside of classes. Students may be required to supply their own exercise bands and mats," says Reist.

How to Prepare

"Students entering [a post-secondary dance] program should have some basic modern dance and ballet training," says Reist. He says participating in yoga or Pilates may be beneficial, but is not required.

Stanutz recommends taking dance if it's available at your high school. Also, participating in as much extracurricular dance as possible will be an asset.

"Honestly the more experience with dance, the better," says Stanutz.

Students who wish to pursue dance as a hobby or passion -- rather than a career -- also have many training options. There are numerous well-organized, recreational options for learning dance as an enthusiastic amateur.