Dance Institute

of The University of Akron

Photo of dancers rehersing at the Ballet Center

Mission Statement

Dance Institute is committed to providing superior training to dance students in the Northeast Ohio area. Our program is designed to stimulate and nurture the formative years of a young dancer's development, starting with an introduction to dance in pre-ballet and continuing through the pre-professional environment of the advanced level. It is the ultimate goal of Dance Institute to prepare students to enter into a professional performance career in a classical or modern dance company or to enter into a strong university dance program in order to pursue scholarship and performance opportunities in dance through degree work in higher education.

Dance Institute believes in excellence at all levels. Dance Institute's faculty focuses on the kinetic breakdown of movement, blending styles and techniques in order to thoroughly prepare students for the highly diversified aesthetic that dominates current creativity. Designing technique classes organically from barre to center work our school emphasizes the principals of the anatomy and physiology, physics, and artistry of technique. Alignment and placement, musicality and stylistic nuance are addressed at each level. Students are instructed through a series of syllabi based on an immersion into the fundamental vocabulary for their level and progressing through the physical and intellectual dynamics and challenges of more complex work that prepares them for the next level. Performance opportunities are designed, developed and offered to each student to provide them with the experience and fulfillment of collaborative and artistic expression within a public setting. Students advance through the curriculum individually with promotions based on careful evaluations conducted by the faculty with special attention given to their physical, emotional, and musical development. Our school is dedicated to the nurturing of the technical and artistic potential of each student and the encouragement and support of their self-esteem and personal growth. Through this philosophy, we seek to engender and inspire the development of confidence, a creative spirit and a love for dance within each student.