Mission The mission of the Department of Dance is to promote excellence in, access to, and appreciation of dance as a unique body - based art form through which humans can express their personal, historical, and cultural diversity. Creative research is central to our mission - informing teaching; mastering dance as a physical discipline; nurturing the creative process; generating and regenerating the art form; presenting artistic enrichment to the world Goals The UGA Department of Dance prepares students for a professional role in dance. The dance degree programs offer students: a concentrated dance curriculum providing comprehensive training in ballet and contemporary dance genres balanced with a general curriculum inclusive of diverse groups and varied aesthetic preferences strong professional preparation via courses centered on the technical, stylistic, somatic, historical, cultural, analytical, scientific, experiential, creative, and aesthetic components of dance professional level technique and performance training pre-professional performance opportunities which challenge the creative/aesthetic potential of select students who demonstrate artistry and possess accomplished technical skills in dance opportunities for teaching experiences for obtaining teacher certification, assistance in employment placement, and additional post graduation experiences an introduction to and hands-on experience in the use of innovative technology/media equipment/software capable of educational, commercial, and artistic applications Through its curriculum and student-centered research activity the Department of Dance is an advocate for dance and the other arts at the University of Georgia – and for dancers and dance organizations in Athens, the State of Georgia, the United States, and the world