School Buzz: Montclair Debuts Studio-Teaching Concentration

Montclair Debuts Studio-Teaching Concentration

Lauren Alvarez, photo courtesy Lauren Alvarez

Dream of running your own studio? Check out Montclair State University’s new dance studio teaching concentration, available to students pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in dance education.  “The program will prepare students for both the marketing and education sides of owning and working at a dance studio,” says Dr. Elizabeth McPherson, Montclair’s dance education coordinator. In addition to a full load of technique classes, students enrolled in the program will complete an internship at a local dance studio and take three general education courses, two dance education classes and four business courses.

“I’m hoping to gain more insight into owning my own studio,” says Lauren Alvarez, a dance education major at Montclair who recently added the concentration.

University of Rochester Adds Two Dance Minors

Students perform in the spring 2011 University of Rochester dance concert, photo by J. Adam Fenster/University of Rochester

When Missy Pfohl Smith became director of the University of Rochester’s dance and movement program in 2010, she was blown away by the level of enthusiasm for dance on campus. With 14 student dance groups and about 600 students taking dance classes, Smith decided it was time to add two dance-related minors to the program. “After students take one course, they realize just how broad the dance world is and they want to learn more,” she says.

The two minors launching this year are in dance and movement studies. The dance minor covers technique and choreography in styles such as ballet, jazz and West African dance, while the movement studies minor focuses on Eastern somatic studies, such as yoga, tai chi and qi gong. Unlike the school’s student dance groups that highlight specific genres, like ballroom, hip hop and even South Asian folk dance, the two minors allow students to explore many styles and design a program around their individual interests.

Movin’ On Up

Wondering what dancers from the Class of 2011 are up to now that they’ve graduated? We checked in with three top ballet programs to find out.

The School of American Ballet

Meaghan Dutton-O’Hara
, Peter Walker, Aaron Sanz, Joseph Gordon and Harrison Ball have joined the New York City Ballet…Pennsylvania Ballet hired Alexandra Hughes…On the West Coast, Chloe Sherman, Bianca Bulle and Ben Winegar have joined the Los Angeles Ballet and Angelica Generosa is now a member of the Pacific Northwest Ballet School’s Professional Division…Dresden Ballet hired Zarina Stahnke.

Miami City Ballet School

Jovani Furlan
has been promoted to the Miami City Ballet…Daniel Savetta and Laura Chachich have joined The Washington Ballet…Sarah Chisholm is now a part of Ballet Arizona…Ashley Baszto was hired by Orlando Ballet.

Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy

Derrin Harper Watters
has joined the Houston Ballet…Sarasota Ballet has hired Sareen Tchekmedyian…Amy Potter is now dancing with Ballet West II.