MUNCIE, Ind. -- For 10 years, Ball State University has kept dance majors on their toes by training them in multiple styles, offering stage experience and emphasizing a liberal arts education.

A decade after becoming a degree program, the dance portion of Ball State's Department of Theatre and Dance continues to grow with skilled students, expanding curricula and new facilities.

More prospective students are inquiring about the program, more professional choreographers are working with the dancers and more graduate schools are showing interest in Ball State's undergraduates.

Today dance alumni can be found working nationally and internationally with professional companies, cruise ships, studios, conditioning programs and national show tours such as "Damn Yankees" and "Fame." Graduates are also sending talented students to Ball State.

And on May 19, the Ball State Dance Theatre company will perform for the first time in the National College Dance Festival at the famed Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. The students were chosen to present choreographer Alan Sener's "Ancora Insieme."

"We want to be known as a leading training program for dancers in the nation and the Midwest," said dance coordinator and faculty member Sarah Mangelsdorf.

Versatile training, noted visiting artists, choreography and performance opportunities and the audition process have boosted the caliber of the students, she noted.

"I'm seeing a stronger dedication and a more serious approach to dance among our students," Mangelsdorf said. "They are really looking at dance as a career and as a way to achieve their goals.

They're seeing it in a global way and are more open-minded to different forms of dance."

Theatre and dance department chair Don LaCasse credited the program's faculty, disciplined training and broad scope.

"This is becoming a very high-quality undergraduate dance program," he said. "I've been impressed with the development of the dancers. They are disciplined and come out very well-rounded."

Major Movement
Ball State's dance major was first offered in the fall of 1987, after the dance faculty and students merged with the theatre program in the new College of Fine Arts. Previously, modern and folk dance was part of physical education and ballet was in music.

"It has proven to be a very fine match because of the technical, creative and musical theatre support," Mangelsdorf said.

About a dozen students majored in dance the first year; last fall the program swelled to 57 majors. More than 30 dance minors plus theatre and musical theatre students also take dance classes.

In 1987, the dance program had only a few ballet, history and technique courses and ballet, modern and folk dance companies.

Today's curriculum also includes modern, jazz, tap, ethnic, musical theater, dance styles and choreography plus costuming, stagecraft, acting, computer design and musicianship courses.

Majors gain experience in multiple dance styles, preparing them for a professional world that increasingly demands diverse skills. University programs traditionally have focused on one form.

"Pushing students to train in all forms is important to us and has made us different from other schools, especially in Indiana," Mangelsdorf said. "All of the dance forms enhance each other and can reinforce a student's specialty."

Ball State also stresses a liberal arts background in math, science, history, literature, foreign languages and social sciences to keep dancers in touch with the world and nurture creativity.

New Studios, New Traditions
Ball State's dancers have enjoyed gradual improvements in their facilities since starting out with one studio and offices in Lucina Hall in 1987. The program moved to Ball Gymnasium in 1990.

Last year's Ball Gym renovations provided three modern dance studios with sprung floors, multiple surfaces, raised ceilings and radiator-free walls. One studio includes a performance space for production, choreography, lighting and design training. The new facilities also feature a warm-up room and centralized classrooms.

At the same time, the dance program is establishing traditions with its veteran faculty, the Korsgaard Dance Studio, a scholarship named for the late faculty member Lynnette Jordan Schisla and a choreography award honoring retired professor Kay Knight.

"We're developing a history through the people who had the vision and influenced the program," Mangelsdorf said.

The future also might include more community outreach and more education about career options ranging from body therapies to company and studio development, she added.

"Through our program and our students, we'll be able to develop a larger audience that appreciates dance," Mangelsdorf said, "and they'll go out sharing their love and joy of dance."