Dance program increasingly

 
    With only four total credit hours offered this semester, students in the dance program are having a difficult time getting the classes they need to complete their minor.             The major complaint is that the classes have prerequisites that are only offered during times when core classes are in session.     Christy Breyman, a sophomore dance minor said, “The most difficult thing for me is the times, because only certain dance classes are offered during certain semesters so those have to take priority.”
    Dance at GCSU, which is a part of the Music and Theater program, is headed by Amelia Pelton.
    Pelton, who has been teaching full-time at GCSU for thirteen years, does not see a problem with the availability of classes.
    “I don’t feel that it is difficult at all to take the dance classes; we put a lot of thought into the times of the classes and which would be offered during the semester,” Pelton said.
    Pelton claims that the reason for the low amount of dance classes offered is an issue of money. Only she and Emily Mlot, another dance instructor, teach the dance classes at GCSU.
    “If the school would let Ms. Amelia hire new instructors, the dance program would probably be bigger here,” said Katie Hanna, a freshman dance minor.
    Hanna is a Special Education major who plans to pursue a career in dance therapy.
    “I am taking ballet workshop through the school. I am taking Ballet and Pointe through the community dance program,” Hanna said.  “I was lucky to get into the class my first semester based on my experience, I got a jump-start working towards my minor.”             The availability of classes isn’t the only issue being raised in the dance program recently: dance students want to know why dance is not offered at a major at GCSU.
    Pelton feels the university is ready to offer dance as a major, but says there are no plans to do so.
    “I would love for there to be a dance major at GCSU,”  Pelton said.             Hanna feels “the dance program is not well advertised, so it may not attract many people as a major.”
    The dance program, which is relatively new  has undergone a lot of growth, though.             GCSU hosts three intensive and semi-intensive dance programs in the summer that attract international students from places like Japan and instructors from New York City and the Atlanta Ballet.
    “The dance programs this past summer were very successful and we are planning on having more next summer,” Pelton said.
    The dance program is putting on a performance of “The Nutcracker” later in the semester, and having a spring concert for which there were auditions last week.
    Hanna said that there were a lot of people at the auditions because “it was on a Monday, rather than on a Sunday, which is when they usually have auditions, so more people showed up.”
    “The dancers performed pieces of ballet, modern and tap,” Pelton said of the criteria for the auditions.         The spring concert will be held at the end of April.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 16 2007. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry