By Marcella Moore
Tri-C’s dance program is cooking up something behind the scenes, and we want to hear from you. Tri-C has quite the impressive dance studio. Personally, I enjoy breaking it down in the studio when no one else is present. On my last visit, another student joined. As we both spent about an hour dancing to our own tune in the studio (quite marvelously, might I add), I found out we both dance as a hobby—not with a class or a group, but independently. It made me wonder how many other students at Tri-C are excellent dancers, or just want to learn some moves they can bring to their next party (solo or group), but aren’t in any kind of group, nor want to “major” in dance.
When talking to dance instructor Sarah Carey, I was surprised to hear that she was already looking for alternatives to the for-credit dance classes offered. “We’ve thought about that before, it’s always a challenge about how we structure that at the college…we want to do something different because what we’ve been doing are credit classes and what’s happening is-you can’t drop in and we’ve been having trouble getting enough people to run a movement class.” Another issue is the financial aspect. “If you’re not an AA major and you’re not meeting elective classes, you can’t use financial aid toward dance classes just for fun.” To combat this, Carey has two solutions.
The first is drop-in classes. These are offered regularly as an extracurricular as opposed to a full class or a part of a major. Drop-in classes would add more flexibility for students who already have full academic schedules. Another advantage is the ability to experiment without making a complete commitment. The only concern is the cost. If not covered by a grant it would be a fee for students. However there is another option: student clubs.
Student Clubs are run by a student with faculty oversight. This would allow more flexibility than taking it as a credited class. The main issue is what happens when the student head graduates? There’d need to be a surety that there’d be another student to continue with the goals of Dance Club.
As we discussed different possibilities, Carey asked the following questions: What are people interested in, taking a class for credit or just for fun? What kind of styles are you interested in?” Carey wants to create dancing opportunities that are both desired by students, and accessible to students. Together, we’ve discussed this idea and created a fun little survey for you to fill out. In the survey, you’ll choose from a variety of different dance styles you’re interested in, how often you’d be looking to attend, and the location you’d prefer to go to.
https://forms.gle/5FtEh9ueFtpmZzXn6
