Performing Arts

The LIU Brooklyn Department of Performing Arts, is dedicated to teaching the disciplines of dance, music and theater in a liberal arts environment. The Department aims to provide undergraduate students with a solid technical and artistic foundation that is enriched by personal understanding – one that prepares them as they move on to their professional careers after graduation.

Department of Performing Arts faculty members have years of local, national and international performance and teaching experience. In addition to their teaching responsibilities, many perform in the New York City area. Their experience guides students in exploring the rigorous critical study of their art form and the disciplined aesthetic practice of the technique. This daily practice provides essential tools and analytic understanding of the student’s performing arts discipline. Students critically investigate and sustain the ideas, traditions and practices in which their present art form is rooted. Through a full range of educational experiences they are prepared to create, perform and prosper within their chosen artistic field.

Dance Program

The Dance Program, which offers both the B.F.A. in Dance and the B.S. in Dance, is a modern-based program that provides rigorous, conservatory-style training for those interested in pursuing careers as professional dancers. The B.F.A. features a foundation in ballet, modern and post-modern dance techniques. The B.S. is designed to meet the artistic and academic needs of students who want to double major or to work in complementary fields. Additionally, the Department’s Dance Wellness Program has put it at the forefront of dance medicine.

Small class sizes provide majors with individualized attention from professional faculty members who are drawn from New York’s finest dance companies. Students learn from and perform historic and contemporary repertory alongside professional guest artists and faculty members.

Dance Auditions

Music

Versatility is the hallmark of the undergraduate music degree programs at LIU Brooklyn. Music majors have the opportunity to learn from a diverse group of professional musicians who live and perform in New York City – the entertainment and music mecca of the world – and the surrounding area. They can choose from majors in classically oriented traditional music, music education or jazz studies.

Students can incorporate courses from other fields such as media arts, education or business, into their plan of study. In all programs, a strong academic foundation is provided by the diverse core curriculum of the LIU Brooklyn. Degrees offered include the B.A. in Applied Music, the B.S. in Music Education in Urban Schools, and the B.F.A. in Jazz Studies. The latter features many of the world’s leading jazz professionals who serve as class instructors, ensemble directors, clinicians and private teachers.

Music Auditions

Theatre

The study of theatre entails intensive training in acting, voice, and movement for the development of charcterization in preparation for performance. Students also learn about the history of theatre, the visual elements of production, play analysis, and participate in production and/or performance work. Students have the opportunity to perform in the main stage spring theatre productions and in smaller theatre pieces in the fall semesters. As a result, students gain valuable experience working in a large proscenium theatre as well as a smaller experimental theatre space. Students studying theatre who decide not to pursue an acting career may also go into other fields such as, working behind the scenes, directing, stage managing, producing, and teaching. The experience and training that students gain in theatre will serve them in any field they choose to work in. Students interested in pursuing studies in theatre should consult with the theatre program coordinator, Professor John Sannuto (718-488-1252, john.sannuto@liu.edu), and/or the department chair regarding class selection and graduation requirements.