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Plans to implement dance minor begin

Now that the University has approved the addition of a dance minor, plans are being drawn up to make it a reality.

Terry Rhodes, senior associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said that dance has been the missing link to the University’s fine arts department.

“It’s going to add a whole dimension,” Rhodes said.

This project has been in the works for quite some time, Rhodes said.

The next step in the process toward becoming a minor includes submitting a budget proposal to the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, which will be done at the end of February.

After the proposal is approved, faculty will be hired, and the project will move forward to the administrative boards of the College for approval, Rhodes said.

Dee Reid, director of communications for the college, said getting the project for the new dance minor off the ground could take about a year.

While early plans for the curriculum have been drawn up, Rhodes said she would like for most of the designing to be done by the new hires.

“We’re talking about a performance aspect and a scholarly aspect in terms of a program,” Rhodes said.

Upon hearing that the dance minor was approved, Lauren Friedmann said she felt like she was walking on a cloud.

Friedmann, a junior mathematics and economics major who serves on the student advisory committee to the chancellor, first proposed the minor to the committee this fall.

Having taken dance classes at Duke University since her freshman year, Friedmann said she has been working to bring that same dance-oriented community to the University.

Friedmann said her classical ballet training has had much to add to her academic career.

“I would love for my peers to explore dance in an academic setting,” she said.

“It really has a great deal of discipline and teaches a creativity that is really unique.”

Friedmann said she hopes the minor will be fully representative of what students want and have been passionately fighting for.

“We’re really excited and pleased about this possibility and working with students as we move forward with the proposal,” Rhodes said.

Friedmann said she is excited for the University and for future students who will have the ability to enroll in the minor.

“I have so much hope for the program as far as what it can bring to people who may not be dancers and would like to learn,” Friedmann said. “And also for people who have danced all their lives and want to continue being a part of the dance community.”

Rhodes said the College of Arts and Sciences is aware of the interest of the students in the minor.

“We’re doing our best to make it a reality,” she said.

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Contact the desk editor at university@dailytarheel.com.

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