In its 45th year, the Moravian College Dance Company is offering a dance minor program through the college’s Music Department.

The program provides students with an in-depth introduction to dance as an art form through historical, theoretical and practical studies. Students participate in dance creation, development of technical skills and performances that deepen their understanding and appreciation of dance.

Lisa Busfield, Artistic Director of the Moravian College Dance Company, and Dr. Hilde Binford, Moravian College Music History Professor and the program’s former Coordinator, worked collectively to design the curriculum.

“Dr. Binford and I wanted to develop a comprehensive dance curriculum while complementing a student’s major in another discipline,” says Busfield in a phone interview from her residence in Northampton.

Other individuals who assisted in the project are Dr. Neil Wetzel, Chair of the Moravian College Music Department, and Karen Riehl, Assistant Director of the Moravian College Dance Company.

The dance program will be housed in a new facility on the college’s Main Street (South) Campus, where the Music Department is located. There will be two dance studios, a dressing room and storage room.

Moravian College dancers will take master classes with professional companies such as Momix, Ballet Hispanico, Koresh Dance Company, as well as Charles O. Anderson of Dance Theatre X.

Moravian College Dance Company dancers have taken classes with Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Staycee Pearl Dance Project, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Rebecca Moyer, and Illstyle & Peace.

They have performed in the Dance EXposure concert at SteelStacks, Bethlehem, and Lehigh Valley Dance Exchange’s Spring Up Dance Festival at Cedar Crest College, Allentown.

In March, students selected from the Moravian College Dance Company attended the American College Dance Festival’s Mid-Atlantic North Conference at the University of Maryland. Students took classes on dance composition, partnering, pilates, ballet, modern and more. Students watched performances of college dance companies, adjudicated by dance professionals.

Because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown, the 45th anniversary concert, “Dancers in Concert,” April 3 and 4, Foy Concert Hall, Moravian College, Bethlehem, was rescheduled in June, but was canceled.

Says Busfield, “The Dance Company will likely meet in a variety of formats, including face-to-face in the new studio, if possible, with a limited number of dancers; outside on Moravian’s campus, and online when necessary.

“Dancers will continue to advance their technical and artistic skills through our work in class along with workshops and masterclasses via Zoom.

“Our students will be working closely with Moravian College’s Doctoral Graduate Teaching Assistant Bridgette Whitermore in her Master of Science in Athletic Training program to aid in our dancer’s knowledge and understanding of their physical health and performance.

“We are hoping to conclude the semester with our annual “Dance Progressions,” as a virtual informal showcase portraying our in-class work and master classes, in mid-November.”

Notes Busfield, “There has been dance on campus for 45 years. It started more as a club.

“They moved from being part of the athletic department to the music department. We are now an academic program. We received the Dance Minor [accreditation] as of May 2019.

“It was a good two-year project of putting together the proposal and receiving approval from faculty, deans and the provost,” Busfield says.

The accomplishment was worthwhile and rewarding for Busfield and for the college.

“[We made] sure it was in line with what Moravian was already offering. Also, trying to stay in a collaborative relationship with our music department, we really wanted to consider projects on how dance and music can be intertwined.”

Busfield has been Artistic Director of the Moravian College Dance Company for 1-1/2 years, amidst the dance company’s transition and playing an integral role. “I was very happy to take that on and help the program grow from an academic standpoint.”

Busfield has taught at charter schools and dance studios for 17 years. She received a B.A. from Muhlenberg College and a Master’s of Dance Education from Temple University. She teaches part-time in the Muhlenberg College Department of Theater and Dance.

During Busfield’s studies at Muhlenberg College, the dance company there transitioned from a minor to a major. She was in one of the first classes to graduate with a dance major. Having experienced the process as a student and as faculty provided Busfield with valuable insight.

In April, the Moravian College Dance Company was awarded the Progress Award by the Omicron Delta Kappa Society of Moravian College.

The award is presented to an organization at Moravian College which has shown the greatest improvement during the year, demonstrated by enhanced membership, increased activity and improved organizational effectiveness.

Auditions for the Moravian College Dance Company are held annually. Company dancers must have five or more years of technical training in ballet, modern or jazz prior to auditioning.

Information: https://www.moravian.edu/music/dance-at-moravian