The UW–Madison Dance Department is a leader and innovator in the field of dance, with a diverse, world-class faculty and state-of-the-art dance facilities, including its own theatre, the Margaret H’Doubler Performance Space. Located near Lake Mendota, the state capitol, and downtown Madison, historic Lathrop Hall includes four spacious dance studios, a multimedia lab, and resource center.
Our institution was the first in the nation to establish a dance degree program in higher education. It was here, on the campus of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, in 1926, under the leadership of dance pioneer Margaret H’Doubler, that dance became a rigorous academic discipline and the body became the route to scientific inquiry, self-discovery, creativity, and citizenship.
Our department and its faculty and staff, are committed to excellence through teaching and research, and we strive to impact the world within and outside of the university, through the Wisconsin Idea, with the aim to improve people’s lives through dance.
In addition to our BFA and BS degree programs in dance, the department offers three certificates, offers elective dance courses to hundreds of students each semester, and brings pre-collegiate students to campus for summer intensive study and dance festivals biannually. We also produce several concerts annually and host internationally renowned guest artists each academic year.
Mission
The Dance Department creates, investigates, and practices dance as a dynamic and integrative process of self-awareness, interdisciplinary learning, and engagement with local and global communities. Through teaching, performance, and scholarly research, we illuminate those aspects of self and culture that are uniquely manifested in human movement. Our students are challenged to navigate risks, think critically, and live creatively.
Land Acknowledgement
The University of Wisconsin-Madison Dance Department acknowledges that we occupy the ancestral lands of the Ho-Chunk, a place their nation has called Teejop since time immemorial. In an 1832 treaty, the Ho-Chunk were forced to cede this territory. Decades of ethnic cleansing followed when both the federal and state government repeatedly, but unsuccessfully, sought to forcibly remove the Ho-Chunk from Wisconsin. We commemorate the resiliency of the Ho-Chunk and the other eleven First Nations of Wisconsin. Today, we respect their inherent sovereignty and we celebrate their traditions, their heritage and the culture that thrived long before our arrival. This history of colonization informs our shared future of collaboration and innovation.
Events
- November
- November 16Faculty Concert Fall 2023Dance Department Concert8:00 PM, Margaret H'Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall
- November 17Faculty Concert Fall 2023Dance Department Concert8:00 PM, Margaret H'Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall
- November 18
- November 18Faculty Concert Fall 2023Dance Department Concert2:30 PM, Margaret H'Doubler Performance Space, Lathrop Hall