UC Irvine

ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS

Pioneering Dance at Evangelical Christian Universities

By

Autumn Mortenson

Master of Fine Arts in Dance

University of California, Irvine, 2016

Associate Professor Sheron Wray, Chair

There are very few pre-professional dance major programs at Evangelical Christian universities in the U.S. today. Why do faith-based universities that have theatre, music, and art programs not also offer dance? This inquiry investigates why this gap exists and identifies what it would take to establish a new program. It explores the historical relationship the Christian church has had with dance. It gathers and synthesizes current perspectives and statistics about dance and Evangelical universities. It evaluates how the Bible and tenets of the Christian faith can integrate with dance training in higher education. Methods utilized include: a review of historical and current literature, interviews with thirteen professors and administrators at three Evangelical universities, an anonymous survey of undergraduate students, data gathering from accrediting agencies and target universities for statistical analysis, and a choreographic exploration of Biblical text. Results of this inquiry reveal that, currently, there are more structural challenges such as finances, facilities, and impact to existing programs, than there are anti-dance sentiments at the study sites. There is growing interest and receptivity to establishing dance major programs at Evangelical Christian universities where excellent dance training is intertwined with and inspired by faith.