Major learning outcomes for this program:

In addition to SUNY and Purchase College general education outcomes, students in the Conservatory of Dance demonstrate the following student learning outcomes:

  • Performance: Students will participate in the process of rehearsing a dance work to be performed on stage and will demonstrate technical proficiency and artistic expression in ballet, modern, and/or contemporary dance. They will:
    •  Engage in various professional models of creating, rehearsing, and performing: learning material taught by the choreographer, altering or inflecting material as directed, and responding to creative assignments.
    • Understand the individual performer’s responsibility in achieving the success of the whole work.
    • Develop aesthetic and creative flexibility in the practical application of technique to a specific choreography.
    • Increase their knowledge of theater protocols and professional standards on stage including: roles of warm-up class, “spacing,” lighting, and dress rehearsals, as well as hair, makeup and costume maintenance.
  • Technique: Students will demonstrate technical ability at a level to enter the professional dance field. They will:
    • Be required to analyze movement vocabulary and adapt general principles to specific movement challenges.
    • Develop greater artistry in the treatment and/or interpretation of new movement material.
    • Practice receiving and/or participating in critical feedback.
    • Increase their ability to observe, analyze, and embody the required movement language of the technique with a focused attention to detail and clarity of movement.
    • Understand the use of space, placement, and musicality.
  • Composition/Choreography: Students will demonstrate an understanding of the aesthetics and craft dance choreography. They will:
    • Demonstrate inventiveness and creativity in generating movement material.
    • Understand intuition, the creative process and the range of compositional approaches explored.
    • Focus on experimentation and discovery, on developing and structuring of movement material to communicate dance images and ideas.
    • Develop their observation and critiquing skills in terms of their own work and that of their peers.
    • Realize their full potential and will cultivate their unique, artistic visions and individual choreographic voices.