UNCG College of Visual and Performing Arts

School of Dance

Dance was first taught as part of the Women's Physical Education Program at UNCG when the university was known as the State Normal and Industrial School. In 1963, the university created a department comprising four divisions: Health Education, Physical Education, Dance, and Recreation. The Arts Forum had been created in 1943 which brought students and faculty together in painting, music composition, choreography, and writing. Virginia Moomaw was hired in 1945 and became a voice for dance at the Women's College. In 1949 the President of the University of North Carolina, Dr. Frank Porter Graham, approved the Graduate Creative Arts Program which established MFA degree programs in painting, music, writing, and dance. The major in dance was introduced in 1957. In 1970 the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation was formed. In 1980 it was renamed the School of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. In 1984 the instructional divisions were changed into separate departments. In 1989 the Dance Department moved into the Rosenthall Gymnasium and in 1991 became the School of Health and Human Performance. In 2010, the Department of Dance was combined with the Department of Theatre and the School of Music to create the School of Music, Theatre and Dance.^[7] In 2016, the School of Music, Theatre, and Dance merged with the Department of Art to create the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

Dance studios and black box theatre are in the Mary Channing Coleman Building

UNCG's Dance Program was ranked the best dance school in North Carolina, the best dance school in the Southern United States, and in the top 5 best dance schools in the United States.^[8][9]

The School of Dance's facilities are located within the Mary Channing Coleman Building, formerly the Human Health and Performance Building. This includes seven dance studios, a black box theater, dressing rooms, offices, a computer lab, and classrooms. Renovations on the Coleman building began in fall 2017 to convert the old swimming pool into an additional two dance studios, as well as to upgrade facilities within the building. Construction was completed in the spring of 2018. Dance concerts are primarily performed in the Dance Theater, as well as the UNCG Auditorium, the University's opera house. The current Head of the School of Dance is Janet Lilly.

Annual performances within the School include:

• Fall Dance Concert
• Prime Movers Dance Concert
• Spring Dances
• Delta Chi Xi Charity Concert
• BFA Thesis Concert
• Dancers Connect Concert
• MFA Thesis Concerts
• Graduate Showcase

UNCG dance students

Dance students also audition and perform in other productions within the School's other departments such as plays, musicals, and operas.

Students train with a focus in Contemporary Dance technique. They also train in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Capoeira, and African techniques. Somatic Practice courses are also offered such as Yoga, and Kinetic Awareness. Once a semester there is a technique review where students are observed by faculty in their technique classes to see whether or not they are eligible to advance in level.

The University has exchange programs for dance students at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, the University of Cape Town and the University of Malta. Students from the department have also gone abroad to study dance in Ireland, China, and Italy. UNCG annually attends the National Dance Education Organization Conference, the Mid-Atlantic Regional American College Dance Festival, and the Dance and the Child International Conference where students present their research projects, teaching methods, original curricula, and choreography.

School of Music

The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, in 1912, was the first in the Southern United States to offer an undergraduate degree in Music Education. The North Carolina Music Educators Association was founded at the School in the 1920s. The School of Music has been fully accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music since 1938. The School offers the only comprehensive music program from undergraduate through doctoral study in performance and music education in North Carolina.

Entrance to School of Music Building through Peabody Park

The current Head of the Music Performance Department is Dennis AsKew. The current Head of the Music Education Department is David Teachout. The current Head of the Ethnomusicology Department is Gavin Douglas.

The Music Departments have their own library, the Harold Schiffman Music Library.

The Ensembles of the Music Program are Choir, Symphonic Orchestra, Jazz Ensemble, Wind Ensemble, Chamber Ensemble, Opera Theater, String Ensemble, Symphonic Band, and University Band.

The Music Program at UNCG was ranked as the best music school in North Carolina, 13th best music school in the Southern United States, and in the top 50 best music schools in the United States.^[11]

School of Theatre

The current Head of the Theatre Department is David Sullivan.

Brown Theatre, the old School of Music Building, is now used by the Theatre department.

Taylor Theatre is the main theater.

UNCG Theatre's production of Cabaret

Notable performances include:

• Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson
• The Velvetine Rabbit
• Pinocchio
• Hairspray
• Hot 'N Throbbing
• Cabaret
• Pride & Prejudice
• Spamalot
• Junie B. Jones

School of Visual Arts

The School of Visual Arts offers degrees in Art History, Art Education, and degrees in Fine Arts such as sculpting, painting, and design.^[12]

Student organizations

Student Organizations include:

• Redemption Arts
• UNCG Prime Movers
• Paradigm Dance Company
• IDance Company
• Graduate Student Association in Dance
• Collegiate Music Educators National Conference
• American Choral Directors Association
• American String Teachers Association
• Graduate Music Student Association
• Society of Composers, Incorporated, Student Chapter
• UNCG Spartones Acapella group
• UNCG Sapphires Acapella group
• UNCG Chariots Acapella group
• UNCG Seraphim Acapella group
• UNCG Divine Harmony Acapella group

Notable alumni

• Andy Cabic, lead singer of Vetiver
• Emmylou Harris, Grammy Award winning singer-songwriter
• Beth Leavel, actress and singer
• Sam Norman, actor and internet celebrity
• Tom Smith, Jazz musician

Notable faculty

• Robert Blocker, classical pianist
• Janet Lilly, former principal dancer with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company
• Jan Van Dyke, dancer and choreographer
• B.J. Sullivan, dancer and choreographer
• Craig Walsh, composer
• Fred Wesley, Jazz & Funk musician
• Wycliffe Gordon, Jazz trombonist
• Steven Bryant, composer