Skip to main content

California Institute of the Arts

BFA: Dance

The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance

Two dancers stand on a dark stage, turned slightly toward each other, with their arms and legs spread out.

Winter Dance Concert 2024

Cultivate your artistry

With artistic rigor and thoughtful critique at its core, the four-year BFA Dance program provides an environment where students and faculty collaborate as artists to develop bold and innovative choreography. The curriculum offers comprehensive instruction in the technical skills you’ll need to flourish in your career, including stagecraft, lighting design, costume design, and audio and video production. Coursework is augmented by opportunities for choreographic performances and exchanges at REDCAT and other venues in Los Angeles, and graduates join a global network of renowned dance artists.

A dancer in loose cargo pants and curly hair stands in a single spotlight, inside a gold cube frame

Savannah Shoals, BFA 2 dance solo

BFA Dance

CalArts’ Dance BFA is an intensive four-year program designed to develop high-level professional skills in a variety of dance practices. Built on a strong foundation in both classic and contemporary dance styles, the program enables you to develop both your technical skills and artistry, preparing you for a future that you can take in many different directions as an artist.

Related programs

Let’s connect

From courses in critical dance studies, performance studies, dance on camera, music, Pilates, anatomy, and more—as well as classes in other arts and media—BFA Dance candidates draw upon a wealth of knowledge and expertise from their faculty and peers throughout the Institute’s six schools. Benefitting from its unique position within the country’s only comprehensive institute of both the visual and performing arts, The Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance offers comprehensive instruction in production as well as rigorous training in technique (ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, and more), choreography, and interdisciplinary and media-driven collaborations with students in a wide range of disciplines.

At CalArts, we invest in preparing you for a life as an artist, not just a student, with activities such as career-building workshops and internships that help you match your creative vision with the professional tools needed to see them through. CalArts dancers regularly perform and experiment in both conventional and unexpected contexts—on stage, sure, but also in galleries, films, public spaces, digital platforms, and more, reflecting the School’s connection to the evolving contexts and demands of dance.

The BFA program is grounded in one-on-one mentoring by a diverse faculty of experienced, practicing artists and scholars. Our faculty have danced professionally with companies and artists such as Nederlands Dance Theater, Ballet Preljocaj, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Rennie Harris, Boris Charmatz,  Heidi Latsky, and Mia Michaels. Your faculty mentors will encourage you to explore a range of performance contexts, from commercial industries to experimental realms, and to understand the sociopolitical context of each endeavor. You’ll be exposed to a range of internationally renowned artists working in dance and performance, and regularly benefit from choreographic residencies and performance workshops.

We maintain close relationships with choreographers around the globe, especially in Europe. BFA students have opportunities to study with them beginning in your first semester, through learning and performing existing repertory as well as co-creating new work. 

Interested in this program?

View our step-by-step application guide to learn more.

Start your application

Admission requirements

To be considered for the BFA Dance program, you must complete an application and all program-specific requirements, including an audition and an artist statement. Live auditions are strongly recommended! Before applying, please familiarize yourself with the detailed application requirements and resources available to assist you in this important process. 

View detailed admission requirements

Degree requirements

Each CalArts student develops a course of study in consultation with their faculty mentor. The first two BFA years are intended to create a strong foundation for art making and critical thinking; the final two BFA years allow more personal exploration, grounded in one-on-one study, performances, and corresponding reviews.

BFA Dance academic requirements

In addition to work in your specific program, all undergraduate students must complete requirements in general education, which we call Critical Studies. This liberal arts curriculum is designed to enable students to consider aesthetic questions within larger socio-cultural, ethical, and political contexts. 

Critical Studies requirements

Minors and interdisciplinary opportunities

CalArts offers students the chance to pursue additional interests alongside your chosen discipline, such as a minor in Digital Arts, Critical Studies, or Arts Education.

Minors and Interdisciplinary Opportunities

Courses you might take

What courses would you take as a BFA Dance student? Browse the courses offered in the Sharon Disney Lund School of Dance, including opportunities to build high-level proficiencies in performance technique, choreography, dance production technologies, and critical understanding of the art form.

Explore our course catalog

Meet the faculty

At CalArts, faculty and students are collaborators, teaching, learning, and working together as members of our community of artists. 

Some of our alumni

More School of Dance alumni

Building the Haus of Sugar

Alumni story

“CalArts was the place you go to strip all of your knowledge of competitive dance training, which I grew to really appreciate. When I was there, the feedback I received was: ‘Technique is good, but let’s prioritize your artistry. Let’s start from the base and grow as an individual.’” – Jasmine Sugar (BFA 18)

Person in elaborate pink makeup looks at the camera, raising a pink gloved finger to her mouth.

Jasmine Sugar as Spotlight. Hair and makeup design by Jasmine Sugar, photo by Stephen Achziger

Dance x Film

Art in motion

Get inspired! Explore a selection of films created with CalArts dance artists.

group of people dancing in the middle of a field; dancers are wearing different colors

Rosey Battaille (Dance BFA 19), We Are Kids

Gallery

Want to learn more?

We got you. Our Admissions team is all about providing the information you need to decide if CalArts is right for you. We’re excited to connect with you for a tour of our legendary campus, a virtual info session, or at one of our admissions events across the country or around the world. Take the next step—we’re here to help.