The Marymount Manhattan College Dance Department provides the best of both worlds—a rigorous dance program that has built its reputation on the integrity and artistic sensibilities of its faculty, and the well-rounded education that comes from being part of a liberal arts college. Becoming a dance artist is not just a matter of learning specific dance techniques; it requires the intensive personal growth that balanced intellectual and physical training permits. We believe that this combination offers the dancer the best preparation for a lifetime in performance, on stage and off.
Located in Manhattan—the dance capital of the world—Marymount Manhattan College (MMC) is a four-year, private, independent, coed liberal arts college. Each year, the Dance Department enrolls a total of 165 dance majors, from across the United States and with strong international representation.
The B.F.A. program offers four areas of concentration: Ballet, Modern, Choreography, and Jazz, while the B.A. offers four areas of concentration: Teaching Dance Arts, Dance Studies, Body, Science & Motion, and Dance and Media. Each program offers a wide variety of courses including ballet, modern, jazz, tap, improvisation, pointe, composition, rhythmic training, music for dance, production, dance history, and anatomy/kinesiology.
The Department has six full- time and 35 adjunct faculty members. Special features include the prior-learning experience program; the option to double major; minors in many other disciplines including arts administration; and participation in the MMC Dance Company. Several performance opportunities are available each semester: Dancers At Work, the student choreography workshop, presents as many as 10 choreographers per semester; the main-stage production features choreography by faculty and world renowned guest artists such as Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham, Jirí Kylián, Mark Morris, David Parsons, Stephen Petronio and Chet Walker. It is held in the Theresa Lang Theatre—Marymount Manhattan’s own 250-seat off-Broadway theater.
MMC enrolls more than 1,600 undergraduate students from 48 states and 36 countries. The student-faculty ratio is 12:1— 2010-11 tuition and fees are $22,656/year and residence is $12,250/year. More than 85 percent of our students receive some form of financial assistance—scholarships, grants, loans, and work-study.
Auditions for admission and competitive scholarship are held regionally in San Francisco, Chicago and Florida each January; and locally on Marymount’s New York City campus each spring. The audition consists of a ballet class, modern and jazz combination, and a one-to-two-minute solo dance in the style of choice: ballet, modern, or jazz.