Do you know anything about the dance program at Amherst? I looked at Amherst Dance, but I'm a pretty advanced dancer so I kinda want something that's more on my level but I can barely find any info on the major on their website.
Howdy! Great question. None of the FYAC mods are particularly involved in the Theater and Dance department, but there are a good amount of dance classes you can take within the department that count as half-credit and are apparently awesome. For example, there have been ballet and African dance classes in the past. I’m not exactly sure what the department offers for more advanced dancers.
Amherst Dance is “no experience necessary,” but the choreographers group dancers in pieces based on skill level. Basically, if you kill it in the try-outs, you’ll be in an advanced piece for sure. There are some amazing dancers in Amherst Dance. Aside from Amherst Dance, there’s DASAC (Dance and Step at Amherst College). DASAC is super competitive and AMAZING. It’s definitely more of a significant time commitment than Amherst Dance, and it’s so worth it because the DASAC shows are mind-blowing.
Final note: Because UMass is a bigger school with a pretty legit fine arts program, I’d imagine there’d be ways for Five-College students to get involved with their productions, programs, classes, etc. Hope this helps!
