Dance careers generally don’t last forever—many dancers even transition into second careers during or after their years onstage. Because Point Park University recognizes this reality, it’s preparing its students for the many chapters in their dance journeys, starting with the first day they step on campus in Pittsburgh.
To that end, Point Park is now offering a bevy of advanced degrees that Conservatory of Performing Arts students can pursue while simultaneously completing their degrees in dance:
For undergraduate dancers with a passion for education, Point Park is now also offering a BA in Dance Education Certification for preK through 12th grade. All of the master’s programs offer an accelerated schedule, allowing students to graduate with two degrees in just four and a half years.
“These programs are evidence that our dancers are eager to translate their knowledge across different mediums, and to be part of different types of professional communities,” says Colleen Hooper, associate professor of dance and coordinator of dance education. “It will create more opportunities for them.”
Learn more about how these three areas of study can benefit dance students, and how Point Park’s faculty is turning the best of what the university has to offer into bespoke opportunities that will further dancers’ careers—now and in the future.
Dance + Business
More than 20 years ago, Point Park created a program within its MBA concentration in Sports, Arts, and Entertainment Management to bring Conservatory alumni back to campus to complete an MBA following their performance careers. “What we found out is very few students, if any, actually came back,” says Stephen Tanzilli, the dean of Point Park’s Rowland School of Business. “They go on, they start their lives, and they move on. Knowing what we know, we thought the best way to go about it was to provide the opportunities up front.”
This is the genesis of the new BFA + MBA. After expressing interest in their sophomore year, students start taking MBA classes in between their junior and senior years, with both online and in-person options. After graduating with their BFA, students can move out of Pittsburgh and complete their final MBA semester remotely—an ideal choice for dancers eager to jump into performing opportunities.
Point Park University dance students in performance. Photo by Mark Simpson, Courtesy Point Park University.
While Tanzilli hopes that some graduates of the joint program will go on to work in arts administration, he says that the skills they’ll learn in their MBA courses will serve them no matter where their careers take them. “I want them to go follow their dreams, but let us give them that business skill set, because they’re going to be their own business. They’re going to have to understand insurance and intellectual property and how to protect themselves and pay their bills.” At a recent open house for prospective dance students, Tanzilli met two families interested in Point Park because of the new MBA option. “This is the first program of its kind in the nation,” he says. “And that’s what we’re trying to do here: to be innovative and dynamic in all that we do.”
Dance + Public Relations, Advertising, and Social Media
Given the explosion of dance on social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, and the increase in dancers using these platforms to promote themselves, it seems like a natural fit for Point Park to offer its dance students the chance to pursue an MA in Public Relations, Advertising, and Social Media. Says Jenna Lo Castro, an associate professor and the director of Point Park’s School of Communication graduate programs: “The courses seemed like something that students were just naturally interested in. From a professional perspective, but also students were interested in how you build and sustain a personal brand in the dance field.”
A Point Park University dance student in performance. Photo by Aviana Adams, Courtesy Point Park University.
Students in the MA program choose between two concentrations: Public Relations and Advertising, or Social Media. As with the MBA, they start their graduate coursework between their junior and senior years and can complete the program—which is entirely virtual—after finishing their undergraduate degrees.
“It prepares students to work on both agency and brand sides, and in content creation or influencer content,” says Lo Castro. “Graduating students have gone on to work in anything from a traditional agency setting to corporate communications, crisis management, and event planning and promotion.” Lo Castro hopes that the degree will gain traction with dance students because it’s dynamic, responding to the industry in real time. “People who go into dance, their trajectory is not linear,” she says. “This is providing those students with additional tools to help them succeed in their careers.”
Dance + Education
Dance and teaching often go hand in hand, and countless dancers teach at some point during their careers, whether they’ve planned to or not. “I think it’s really giving weight to the fact that teaching is a huge part of the dance field,” says Hooper of Point Park’s new educational degree pairings. Within the Master of Education (MEd), there are two options: A certification to teach preK through fourth grade in all subjects, and a dance-education–specific certification to teach preK through 12th grade. The latter option is made possible by Pennsylvania’s new dance-education certification, which Hooper says has been many decades in the making.
Both master’s programs can be completed fully online starting the summer after sophomore year. The only in-person component is a student-teaching requirement, half of which needs to be completed in Pennsylvania and half of which can be done in another state. Hooper says that many students opt to do the first half in May and June, immediately following their April BFA graduation, before moving out of state.
Point Park University dance students in performance. Photo by Mark Simpson, Courtesy Point Park University.
After creating the MEd in Dance Education certification, Point Park added a third option for dancers interested in teaching, sans an advanced degree: the undergraduate BA in Dance Education with certification for preK through 12th grade. “We realized that some students may want to pursue careers as dance educators, and they may already know that coming into their time at the conservatory,” says Hooper. “This will allow them to complete the entire program within four years, get their teaching certification, and also continue training at a really high level.” Like BFA dancers, BA students still have to audition for the program, and are eligible for the same performance opportunities as their peers.
Hooper believes that all of these degree-pairing options—in education; business; and public relations, advertising, and social media—will give dancers a leg up after graduation. “It makes me feel great that we can offer dancers different options for their careers that can help them at a range of junctures,” she says. “It’s not just about the day you graduate, but also the years after. How can you have a career in dance your entire life?”
For more information on Point Park University’s degree-pairing programs for dancers, click here.
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