About

Dance Program Mission Statement

We acknowledge that dance is more than an art form. Through practice and play, we discover the value of dance to foster empathy, creative freedom and inclusion. We are a community of professional and emerging artists who understand the power of dance to transform the individual in the community.

We value open-access enrollment, nurturing the whole individual. The program’s belief in the interconnectedness of diverse backgrounds, cultures, education and teaching styles provides self-realized growth among students and faculty. We practice the integration of the art form in all of its diverse manifestations - societal reform, social justice, arts, education, research and language.

• Amplified Objectives of the WSU Dance Program
  • Shaping individual perspectives into realized performance experiences
  • Offering programs connected with current career pathways social issues
  • Amplifying experimentation and innovation in and out of the studio classroom
  • Promoting safe and supportive environments in which play and exploration of mental, emotional, physical and spiritual connection is encouraged
• Statement of Empowerment

  We acknowledge dance is more than an art form and through practice and play, we have discovered that the vitality of dance lies in fostering empathy, creative freedom and inclusion. As a community of professional and emerging artists, we understand the transformative power of dance and how it brings together communities. With that same aim, we maintain that the nurturing of individuality and expression is equally vital to establishing those communal bonds.

  We value open-access enrollment and our program believes that the interconnectedness of diverse backgrounds, cultures, education and teaching styles provides self-realized growth among students and faculty. We practice the integration of all the art form’s diverse manifestations in relation to societal reform, social justice, arts, education, research and language.

  Weber State University’s Dance Program recognizes art can provoke.

  We support and hold space for diverse, equitable and inclusive perspectives. In doing so, we empower students, artists, audiences and members of the community to remove themselves from situations that trigger individual reactions during courses, performances or events.

  This statement ensures all individuals have the agency to use their voices and the right to be met with respect and grace.

• University Land Use Acknowledgment

  Weber State University was built on land that has been cared for by the Fremont, Goshute, Paiute, Ute, and Shoshone peoples. As guests on their land, we would like to acknowledge them and their livelihoods for their past and current contributions in caring for the Earth. The land we are meeting on today has long served as a site of gathering and exchange for Native and Indigenous Peoples, which, in the state of Utah, includes eight federally recognized, sovereign tribes. It is they who have provided the landscapes and spaces for us to continue communing.

  It is important to recognize tribal sovereignty when we acknowledge the land. Tribal sovereignty is the right for American Indians and Alaska Natives to govern themselves, a right the United States Constitution recognizes. American Indian and Alaska Native tribal nations have distinct governments that hold the same authority as federal and state governments, thus allowing them to govern their communities, preserve their culture, control their economy, define citizenship, enforce laws, and regulate property and land use, all of which further protect Indigenous land and people.

  We would also like to acknowledge and honor the enslaved and colonized laborers who built and maintain the brick-and-mortar foundation of our country. They too sustained the land only to be mistreated continuously on an individual, institutional, and societal level.

  Weber State University recognizes, validates, respects, and honors these sovereign nations and their traditions, cultures, and histories. In our work, we will continue to pay our respects to the elders who lived here before us, and to the generations to come.

  For more information, visit Weber State University’s official Land Acknowledgement website.

• Community Statement

  We are mindful of the loss of life and livelihood in the world from disease and violence. We find ourselves also contending with the pain and inhumanity of institutional racism and injustice. The only way we can heal and provide care for everyone is through the reawakening of the collective understanding that each of us is worthy of respect.

  Our responsibility as an arts program and as community members is to promote inclusivity, compassion, equity and dialogue. WSU’s Dance Program knows the magnitude of transformation and good that teachers, students and staff can accomplish together.