The Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment is dedicated to preparing dancers to work as performers, teachers, choreographers and arts/entertainment managers.
Students selected through the audition process enter as dance majors. They take a foundation curriculum of dance technique, arts management and production, teaching dance, choreography, dance history, music fundamentals and general education courses in the first two years.
Students are placed in one of the three dance major degree tracks (Dance Performance, Dance Teacher or Dance Management) for their junior and senior years. Placement in the degree for which students are best matched is based on the students’ interests and faculty evaluation of their skills, knowledge and accomplishments.
The dance management degree is focused on developing employable dancers and managers for the entertainment industry. The dance management program has three core focuses: dance technique training, arts management instruction and business administration. The dance training core focuses on tap, jazz, theatre dance and ballet as used in musical theatre. The arts management and business administration cores focus on developing the knowledge and cultivating the expertise essential to managing successful arts organizations. Students develop technical and professional skills necessary to have life-long careers in show business.
Oklahoma City University offers 10 levels of instruction in each technique of tap, jazz and ballet. Each semester students rotate through four to five teachers in each technique to expose students to multiple styles of instruction and choreography. By constantly being exposed to multiple professors each semester, students learn to adapt their personal style and technique preparing them to be comfortable in any audition situation.
Equally important as educational growth, the professional development of students is central to the philosophy of the Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment. Students will learn how to take responsibility of their career path through career preparation courses and co-curricular activities.
In addition to dance technique classes and a strong liberal arts foundation, dance management majors take courses in:
Dance management majors take a variety of arts management classes to equip them with a wide variety of skills that will help ensure success in any entertainment career path. Arts management courses include:
Business administration classes provide students with a sophisticated view of management and the skills necessary for effective leadership within arts organizations. Business classes include:
