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May 22, 2010

LMC adds dance program

Nathan Straus Jacksonville Daily Progress

JACKSONVILLE — Lon Morris College wants to add another program to its growing lineup; this time the addition is a performance dance set. Program Coordinator Sarah Imhoff-Jones said it begins this fall semester.

“We are very excited about this program,” she said. “We are currently designing the curriculum and it will have 30-35 credit hours for two years in the program.”

She said the program will have three main focuses.

One focus is technique. The program, Imhoff-Jones said, will have a modern base. A ballet instructor could be hired by next year and the school already has a tap and jazz adjunct.

A choreography set is also planned. Imhoff-Jones said this will help students learn the process of dance making.

The third focus is on academics. She said there will be anatomy classes for dancers and fomatics, a study of body awareness techniques. Imhoff-Jones added she hopes for a fomatics course each semester.

“This would include Pilates and yoga. It is my desire that by the time the students leave the program they will also leave with a certification to teach Pilates and yoga,” she added. “This would be very unique and students could have a career right in front of them after graduation. Dance is a very tough career field.”

Along with the classes the school will hold an annual dance concert where students can show what they have learned. She added this will feature a mix of both student and faculty work.

The number of students estimated to take advantage of the set of courses is still up in the air, but Imhoff-Jones said she would be happy to see 10 enter the program.

Public Relations Director Afton Barber said though the school already offers some dance classes, there is a huge difference between offering a full-fledged program and a few classes.

“This is actually going to be an associate’s of fine arts in dance performance,” Barber said.

She also said college officials hope this new program, combined with LMC’s current programs and other new programs such as football, hospitality and agriculture, will bring the total student population to about 1,000 for fall 2010.

Auditions for the program will be held at 11 a.m. June 5 in the college’s theater building.

Imhoff-Jones received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine arts and has taught Pilates at Sam Houston State University. She also teaches at the White Mountain Summer Dance Festival each year at Sarah Lawrence College in New York.

College records indicate about 70 percent of Lon Morris’ roughly 800 students lived on campus-controlled property during the end of the 2009-10 school year, which includes a pair of hotels that contracted with the college for additional space, as well as the school’s new Cooper House building. Another housing building, estimated to hold 116 students, is planned for completion in the fall.

Barber said there are no plans to add further programs for the upcoming school year.

For more information on the new program or audition, call Imhoff-Jones at 979-997-0794.

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