About Us
Mission
Our Mission is to inspire dance artists to achieve academic and creative success through diversity and respect for dance as culture.
Dancers will graduate from McCallum Dance prepared to enter top university dance programs and pursue a career in dance. We also believe that the skills of the artist are transferrable into all areas of academic study and professional pursuits.
Our dance majors graduate with a broad range of movement capabilities along with social and emotional experiences that expand their ideas about art, dance, culture and community.
Enforcing a “learning how to learn” curriculum allows our dance majors to recognize design concepts and patterns of movements in order to create and solve problems in unique ways.
We believe that dance becomes even more important in a technological society. Our curriculum incorporates technological advances in art and education.
McCallum Fine Arts Academy Dance Program
The McCallum High School and Fine Arts Academy Dance Program offers a rigorous dance curriculum in a public high school setting to prepare students for both professional and academic excellence. The core dance curriculum has its foundation in the study of ballet, modern/contemporary, and jazz dance techniques, composition/choreography, performance, aesthetics, anatomy/somatics, cultural/historical studies and analysis. The program develops expertise in these areas that can be applied to the various creative and intellectual interests of the student. To this end, the program is committed to providing the study of global dance forms such as African dance, Latin dance, Hip Hop etc., in order to develop student leadership and learning in a 21st century context. The Dance Majors’ curriculum meets the requirements for the National Honor Society for Dance Arts.
Learning outcomes include artistic/aesthetic development, technical acuity, dance/movement theory: inquiry and application, creative process and dance design, performance intention and virtuosity, critical reasoning and analysis, and inter and intra-personal skill development. The Dance Department produces two main-stage productions each year with numerous other performance opportunities including student-run productions. Upon acceptance into the Fine Arts Academy, dance majors become part of the McCallum Youth Dance Company and are required to perform in both main-stage dance productions for all four years in order to maintain their status as dance majors in The Academy.
Principles of Dance I, II, III, and IV students have the opportunity to increase their dance knowledge by enrolling in dance classes through the comprehensive high school procedures. There is an annual dance concert for these students to provide the opportunity to perform. As well, students are invited to audition for specific projects and productions. Non-majors can decide to audition for the dance program provided they qualify based on the Academy requirements.
The 2023-24 McCallum Youth Dance Company
Pre-Professional Dance Group
Gaby Alvarado, Analise Bady, Azul Cepero Cortes, Sasha Grapko, Catherine Haikola, Olivia Hexsel, Clara Hopkins, Lucy Kuhn, Eli Lopez, Zalie Mann, Zoe Maxwell, El McGinnis, Ana Mejia, Leyla Molina-Lopez, Sovie Nance, Kitty O’Neal, JT Ofuatey-Kodjoe, Sofia Orton, Julia Rasp, Sofia Rayas, Kylie Reeves, Gabriella Smith, Spirit Smith, Eva Southerland, Courtney Swinney, Fiona Thompson, Perla Vela, Greta Wayman
Intermediate Ensemble
Alix Buonodono, Marshall Clifton, Samari Davis, Sydney Dawkins, Sage Flowers, Mia Gonzales, Owen Griffin, Corinne Hampton, Jill Hoffman, Landry Houston, Eric Judge, Lilianne Kirby, Emma Ligarde, Selene Medina, Vivian Medina, Ana Mejia, Paige Mitchell, Ru Motwani, Tessa Pillette, Olivia Pittman, Hazel Reddy, Ollie Roberts, Elliana Rocap, Emily Spigner, Olivia Stewart, Ava Sylliaasen, Maya Tien, Lucas Wheeler
Emerging Dance Troupe
Harper Binfield Maxwell, Annabelle Duhon, Delilah Grad, Fiona Kirsh, Emily Mosser, Mila Ostrovich, Peyton Robenhorst, Opal Rodgers, Davianna Rondero, Celia Sanchez Espinosa, Emma Simon, Pia Sosa
Master Classes
Fosse Technique
Modern & Contemporary Dance: Limón Technique, Horton Technique
Jazz
Salsa
Flamenco
Language of Dance ®
Argentine Tango
Gaga Movement Language
Lectures/Workshops: portfolios, auditions, health & nutrition, somatics
Recent Guest Teachers
The Verdon Fosse Legacy
Ty Graynor, former dancer of the Limón Dance Company
Cheryl Copeland of the BHumn Dance Company
Alvon Reed, Professor of Dance at SMU
Olivia Chacon of Flamencura Dance Company
Alyson Dolan of Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company
Amy Morrow of AMARTS
Tina Curran, Professor of Dance at UT Austin
Kelsey Oliver of KOgraphy
Rachel Meador, local dance journalist and dance professional, UT Professor
Brooke Schlecte, Baylor University, Out on a Limb Dance Company
Ashlee Langas, Season 3 So You Think You Can Dance
Jean Claude-Lessou, West African Dancing
Stephanie Keeton, Dancer and Teacher at Esquina Tango
The McCallum Youth Dance Company | Dance Majors
The Emerging Dance Troupe
The Intermediate Ensemble
The Pre-Professional Dance Group
Dance Curriculum
Ballet
Modern Dance
Jazz Dance: classic jazz, contemporary jazz, Latin jazz, Afro-jazz, tap
Hip-Hop Dance
Contemporary Topics in ballet, modern, jazz and hip-hop dance
Social Dance: vernacular and partner dances
World Dance Forms
Improvisation/Composition/Choreography
Laban Movement Analysis and Theory
Language of Dance ®
Dance History
Applied Anatomy and Kinesiology
Non-Major Courses
Lifetime Fitness Dance & Principles of Dance I
Principles of Dance II, III, and IV
Ballet
McCallum Fine Arts Academy Information
More information about the McCallum Fine Arts Academy, programs, and the application process can be found on the main AISD website.