tuc58580

Very Accessible Culture in City, and Great Teachers

I'm a sophomore Dance Major at Temple University. The transition to an inner city school from the small town I am from was fairly difficult since the school and the professors did not really help facilitate learning to live in a city. Because Temple University is located right in Philadelphia, there are plenty of dance shows and companies to see. Especially interesting is Philly's Fringe Show which features hundreds of dance works, even some created and performed by Temple Dancers. Temple's dance program is challenging for the most part, but it depends on which teacher you choose to take class with. Oftentimes, a teacher will 'play favorites' giving attention to only select students and ignoring others. Grading can often be slightly unfair and you are left feeling you deserved a slightly higher grade. Unique aspects of Temple University's Dance program are the beautiful black box theater that gives students a chance to work in a real theater, but on stage and behind the scenes. Students can perform, work in the crew, or stage manage an entire show giving them working knowledge of the theater, rather than simply reading a theater book. At Temple University, education, choreography, technique, and body awareness are more stressed than 'showy performances' which allows the dancers to maintain healthy and agile bodies that will be able to dance for a longer time period. Most of Temple University's dance teachers have their own dance companies based right in Philadelphia, which really helps students to get off to a good start in a company right out of college. The workload for a dance major is as difficult as you would like. You can simply take required classes or you can choose to participate in other dancers' choreography and be in multiple shows throughout a semester. The classrooms are very boring; they consist of black marley and white walls. There are nice mirrors with curtains to cover them for certain classes. There are numerous ways to get out into the dance word with Temple University whether you choose to study abroad at their numerous campuses, or get involved in one of your professor's dance companies.