Dance, General
Like many other modern professions, dance typically involves stints of freelance employment that necessitate an entrepreneurial mindset. The University of Iowa, Arizona State University, and the North Carolina School of the Arts are just a few of the many colleges and universities that offer dance programs that also include or require coursework in the business department to equip students with the necessary tools for professional success upon graduation. Future careers for dance students include performing, choreographing, and instructing. By combining dance with another field of study, students might better equip themselves for careers as dance critics, anthropologists, physical therapists, and arts administrators, among many others. The talents a dance major acquires are not limited to the field of dance. Choreography students must learn to conceptualize, investigate, design, edit, refine, and collaborate to bring a creative product from the rehearsal studio to the stage, where the public may see it. Twyla Tharp, a world-renowned choreographer, dancer, director, and author of The Creative Habit, characterizes the creative process as beginning with discipline and rigor of attention in a systematic pattern that grows into a habit (read more about creativity and habit here). Students cultivate creative habits by spending endless hours in rehearsal and performance.