About The Department of Dance

Welcome to the Kennesaw State University Department of Dance, where imagination moves!

We’re Georgia’s largest undergraduate Dance Department, and we’re home to Atlanta’s only discipline-specific Dance Theater. Founded by Dr. Ivan Pulinkala, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Kennesaw State University, the Department of Dance provides a comprehensive education in dance while promoting an artist-scholar model. We value and pursue creative artistry, innovative research, and engagement in professional practices.

The Department of Dance offers a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with concentrations in ballet and modern dance. Our professionally-oriented performance dance degree integrates the study of dance into a wide-ranging liberal arts curriculum. KSU Dance offers students opportunities beyond studios and classrooms, including a diverse professional presenting season, guest artist residencies, unique professional partnerships with industry experts, extensive co-curricular activities, and exciting performance and choreographic opportunities. The KSU Dance Company is one of the few companies in the American College Dance Association history to receive five invitations to perform at the National College Dance Festival gala concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC. In 2021, the Kennesaw State Dance Company was selected to present work in ACDA’s inaugural Screendance Festival National Gala Concert. Along with nine regional gala selections, these distinctions position the Department of Dance at KSU as a leading program among peer institutions in the Southeast. 

Our faculty of professional artists and scholars foster innovations in teaching and learning, all within our state-of-the-art dance studios and facilities. We cultivate a learning environment of inclusion and diversity while preparing the next generation to become versatile dance artists, critical thinkers, creative risk-takers, and visionary leaders who can engage in a complex and ever-changing global arts industry. 

Our dance department encourages students to take advantage of the many opportunities offered on our beautiful campus, and within the vast Atlanta arts community. We have forged unique partnerships with Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre and created a KSU Choreographic Residency that provides students with opportunities to engage in this professional masterclass in dance. Our Education Abroad program offers students the opportunity to work with the internationally acclaimed Batsheva Dance Company in Israel. This summer dance intensive collaboration imparts students with life-altering experiences, broadening their understanding of dance in a global context. 

If you’re looking for a rigorous and progressive dance curriculum, a student-centered environment complemented by professional experience and high-caliber, enthralling performances, then the KSU College of Dance is the home for you. If you’d like to schedule a campus visit or dance audition, please email us at KSUDance@kennesaw.edu. We invite you to be a part of the Department of Dance at KSU.

Marsha Barsky, M.F.A.
Chair, Department of Dance

Partnerships

At KSU Dance, we are committed to offering our students the opportunity to explore and experience the professional practice of dance through a broad range of partnerships. We believe that connections, outreach, and industry partnerships enhance students’ education and lead to valuable career opportunities. We have built connections with local dance studios, professional dance companies, community organizations, embassy and consular services, and nonprofit institutions. Students can pursue internships and employment with many of these organizations, and several of our alumni work professionally with them upon graduation.

Our current partnership with Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre of Atlanta includes weekly masterclasses for the KSU Student Dance Company, scholarships for KSU students in Terminus’ intensives, and access to Terminus performances and other events.