Dance and Dance Education

Dance—The Bodily Expression Known as the “Mother of the Arts”
Pursuing Fundamental Human Expressive Behavior through Theory and Practice

Music and dance scholar Curt Sachs refers to dance as the “mother of the arts.”

The Performing Arts program examines human physical activities and expressions from sports with a focus on dance to daily actions, and explores their significance and characteristics through hands-on practice in a multifaceted and comprehensive manner.

This is the only specialized program at a four-year national university with the word “dance” in its name. Since this is a new discipline, you might even be able to break ground in a new area of performance or the discipline itself. Course graduates are already working as pioneers in a variety of different areas, including education and the arts.

Objective: Learn about Expressive Behavior in a Multifaceted Manner

This program is not a training center for professional dancers and athletes. The goal is to learn and engage in research about the history and geographical spread of dance and sports, and about their structure, philosophy and aesthetics. The program also examines the social significance and the outlook for the future, the human body’s mechanisms and the physiology of movement, and the operational characteristics of body movement including everyday actions.

Students in this program can acquire a health and physical education teaching certificate for the middle and high school levels. Courses designed to help them acquire that certificate include Track and Field, Gymnastics, Ball Sports, and Strengthening exercise/Martial Arts.

Paths after graduation include teaching as well as jobs at general corporations—with many positions in the media, transport and travel industries in recent years—as well as graduate school. Increasing numbers of students have also started careers in the arts and academic professions, including dancers participating in performances and educational activities.

Features: Approaches Based on Theory and Practice

The Performing Arts program covers a diverse range of research fields including the humanities, social science and natural science, with lectures, seminars and courses in practical skills. While exploring these research fields both broadly and deeply, students pursue dance from perspectives that include the body, motion, expression, communication and more.

Courses include Study of Clinical Dance, which pursues the connections between humanity and dance; Study of Dance and the Arts, which researches both theoretical and practical aspects; Dance Ethnology , which researches dance from a cultural perspective; and classes such as Humanistic Study of Sport, Principles of Physical Education, and Study of Human Movement. Courses in practical skills include Modern Dance Techniques, World Dance, Dance Performance, Practical training of Dance Expression , Creative Dance, Dance Teaching Practice, Ballet Practical Training , Japanese Dance Practical Training , and a variety of other genres.

Dance and Dance Education