Program History

The area of Dance at Alma College began in the 1970’s. Under a largely Modern Dance curriculum, the program displayed its performance talent in a group known as Orchesis. With the completion of the Heritage Center for the Performing Arts in 1993, the Dance Program was expanded to equally include the idiom of Ballet and the name Orchesis was changed to the Alma College Dance Company (ACDC). In moving to our new home in the Heritage Center, the division was able to expand its offerings and performance opportunities. In addition to the Fall and Spring concerts, the Student Choreographers Concert was added with January performances in the Studio Theatre (the Dance Studio converted to a performance venue).

With the expansion of the Dance Program, we have been able to offer more and better performance opportunities within the Alma College Dance Company. Since 1993 famous Modern Dance works such as Doris Humphrey’s Partita V and Soaring have been performed. Famous ballets such as Les Sylphides, Paquita, Pas de Quatre, Swan Lake, Act II and Giselle have been added to our repertoire. The Nutcracker is performed every other year. Guest choreographers such as Laurie Eisenhower (Detroit) and Matthew Rose (New York) have set works on ACDC and faculty members continue to choreograph original works in Modern, Ballet, Jazz and Tap. What sets the Dance Program apart from other college programs is that students who are non-majors are allowed to perform with the Alma College Dance Company. We are the only college in Michigan and one of the few in the mid-west who perform some of the classics from the ballet repertoire; i.e. The Nutcracker.