Dance at RIT
Dance at RIT
The RIT Dance Program is a community of students, scholars, artists, and artisans who regard the collaborative and creative process as the core of education, pursuing excellence and understanding through teaching and learning.
Dance Courses
Join our community of students, scholars, artists, and artisans who regard the collaborative and creative process as the core of education. You'll be engaged in a creative process that intentionally combines dance with technology, as you discover new ways of knowing yourself and the world around you.
Dance Courses
“I’ve been doing it so long, I consider it my fun time.”
Nicole Tsigaras A photography exploration major from Allendale, N.J., has been classically trained in ballet since she was 5 years old. She wanted to continue dancing in college, but not a lot of colleges offered opportunities for her to continue ballet. RIT’s wellness classes do, and she’s a member of Vis Viva Dance Company.
Nicole Tsigaras A photography exploration major from Allendale, N.J., has been classically trained in ballet since she was 5 years old. She wanted to continue dancing in college, but not a lot of colleges offered opportunities for her to continue ballet. RIT’s wellness classes do, and she’s a member of Vis Viva Dance Company.
Workshops and Guest Performances
A Bay Area native, Purple Fire Crow also Known as Mr. Antoine Hunter is an award-winning African, Indigenous, Deaf, Disable, Two Spirit producer, choreographer, film/theater actor, dancer, dance instructor, model, poet, speaker, mentor, and Deaf advocate. Mr. Hunter received his training in dance and acting training at Skyline High School Oakland, Ca, California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), and Paul Taylor Dance School in NYC. The founder and artistic director of Urban Jazz Dance, Hunter has performed with Savage Jazz Dance Company, Nuba Dance Theater, Alayo Dance Company, Robert Moses’ KIN, Man Dance, Sins Invalid, Amara Tabor-Smith, Kim Epifano, Push Dance Company, Fly Away Productions, Joanna Haigood, OET theater, and the Lorraine Hansberry Theater. He has performed throughout the Bay Area and the world including Cuba, Rome, Hawaii, Peru and London. Hunter is a faculty member at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, Shawl-Anderson, Youth in Arts and Dance-A-Vision. He is the founder of Iron Tri-Angel Urban Ballet in Richmond, was an instructor and rehearsal director for the Ross Dance Company, dance captain for Expedia.com commercials and was head Choreographer director for a Philippines's Musical "Amerikana-The Musical". while he loves doing short films and long films plus music videos, he was Head Choreographer for D-PAN: Deaf Professional Arts Network ASL Music Video: "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen.
Awards include the 2011 National Dance Week Dancer's Choice Award, Margaret Jenkin's CHIME award, the 2009 VRS Award (the international organization on arts and disabilities), and the 2000 Bay Area Star Award. 2016 receive many honors, just to name one New York's The Radio City Rockets' Pick for Dancer of the week; they quote, "Mr. Hunter is talented and inspiring dancer, proving that you don’t need to hear the music to move to it beautifully." He has been featured in front cover DeafLife Magazine, plus featured in Dance Spirit Magazine, Dance Teacher Magazine, Dance Magazine, Dance Studio Life Magazine, and more but also had been quoted also in several texts’ books. He is known as former president of the Bay Area Black Deaf Advocate and Director-at-Large for the Northern California chapter of the California Association of the Deaf. He has been featured in Oakland North, CNN's The Great Big story, KQED's Arts, and many appearing for Purple Technologies, which sells Deaf services and products. Mr. Hunter is an active supporter of DeafHope, an organization whose mission is to end domestic and sexual violence in Deaf communities through empowerment, education, and services. He teaches dance and ASL in both Hearing and Deaf communities and is the founder and artistic director of Urban Jazz Dance Company and has been producing the Bay Area International Deaf Dance Festival since 2013. His projects have been awarded funding by both CA$H Theater Bay Area and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.
Mr. Christopher Collins received his training from the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education, on scholarship with the Joffrey Ballet School, Hubbard Street Dance summer intensive, and Point Park University. He has performed with Gelsey Kirkland and the Joffrey Ballet School, as Arabian, Russian, Fritz, and Snow King, in their performances of The Nutcracker, and with Ballet for Young Audiences in New York City.
Mr. Collins has performed various roles with Rochester City Ballet including the Cavalier, Nutcracker Prince, Magical Doll, Lead Spanish, and Italian Ice in The Nutcracker, the Dance Master in Cinderella, and roles in Jamey Leverett’s 4Play and the world premiere of InCantation. His favorite ballet is Shoot the Moon by Nederlands Dance Theatre
William D’Ovidio is the co-owner of Aerial Arts of Rochester. William brings an innovative style and approach to teaching that allows people of all ages, levels and abilities to do experience the circus arts. Prior to aerial, he was a 3rd degree black belt and instructed martial arts for 10 years. Throughout college he focused on sports medicine, while attaining a comprehensive understanding of human physiology and anatomy. He has been able to help many athletes and aerialists avoid injuries and succeed in their training.
William is also a graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology and professional photographer. Having worked as digital editor for the New York Times Magazine, he has been able to use his multi-media experience to elevate the professionalism of Aerial Arts of Rochester.
When transiting back to his roots in the health and fitness industry William trained under Olympic Athlete, Christine VanLoo, Cirque Du Soliel artist, Ann Stimmel and at many circus arts training schools across the U.S. including the reputable New England Center of Circus Arts. Through education, he continues to inspire others to follow their dreams of running away with the circus.
Sean McLeod is an Executive Producer, Award Winning Businessman, and American Choreographer whose work spans more than 30 years and 3 continents including New York City, across the US, and internationally to the West Indies, the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Sean is founder of Reaching for Higher Ground Consulting – a Communication, Performance, and Development Company, President of Kaleidoscope Dance Theatre, and is Executive Producer of the Harriet Tubman Freedom Music Festival, New York Dance Festival and the Global Dance Initiative. He has worked with several Senators and Congressmen and is a Conference Designer, Fortune 500 Executive Life Coach, Mediation Expert, and Motivational Speaker that uses the arts to teach Personality Development and Emotional Development for Corporations and Executives. He teaches Life Skills to Teens, habit shedding to adults, and racial innovation Training for schools & universities.
Sean McLeod is President of the New York Institute of Dance & Education and the recipient of countless awards including the coveted Jefferson Award for Public Service to America founded by the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, the New York State Liberty Award (the NY Senate’s highest honor), and the NAACP Trailblazers Medal of Honor. Sean was inducted into the Auburn Music Hall of Fame and is presently working with the legendary Wycliffe Gordon on new arrangements of “A Soundtrack for Harriet Tubman,” a suite of songs he composed nearly 30 years ago. Sean is noted for promoting talent everywhere he works and has personally awarded over 400 thousand dollars to established and emerging artists.
Mr. McLeod attended the Conservatory of Dance at the State University of New York at Purchase and has established himself as successful Consultant and Executive Corporate Advisor. An expert creator, strategist, and wordsmith, he assists CEO’s and their teams connect their products with greater audience understanding and appeal.
Sean is a Master Teacher and acknowledged developer of movement systems, most notably his codified McLeod Technique “MT”, MT Afro Hip Hop, Training For Athletes – TFA, and Reinforced Motor Function ® RMF which are taught globally. Mr. McLeod works in New York City as well as in major cities across the Globe. He is an expert in Emotional Development, Personality Development and Body Alignment and created the syllabus for university study at the State University Of New York at Cayuga College that he also taught at RIT. Sean developed the Black Ballet Discovery Project, the Black Ballet Creative Workshops, and launched the Black Ballet Choreographers Symposium and Commission Conference in LA in 2018 launched with Denise Saunders Thompson and the International Association of Blacks in Dance. He believes you can be anything you want, provided you prepare yourself, share immensely, and help others be significant too.
As a Black Choreographer Sean has had countless commissions from Universities to the Federal Government. At the beginning of his career Sean McLeod used choreography and dance to present experiences that challenged the way minorities and people of color are seen in contemporary society. 30 years later Sean additionally uses movement to help women and girls around the globe to find their self-value in life and survive well in dance. Sean McLeod is an altruistic “believer in people,” whose purpose is moving people to tangible action, personal responsibility and aiding those in social conflict.
- Irish Step Dancing Lead - Ann-Katherine Candelori, B.S. in Management Information Systems ’22, started her dance career at the Griffith Academy at the age of 4 years old. Within her competitive Irish Step Dancing experience, she is a regional and a North American National qualifier, was a Griffith Dance Company member, and was a Student Teacher for beginner Irish and Ballet. Ann-Katherine pursued multiple dance styles such as tap, ballet, and jazz throughout her 14 years at the Academy. While at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Ann-Katherine Candelori became the Assistant to the Director of Dance at RIT and built experiential and educational programs for current Performing Art Scholars and students to pursue their individual dance careers through performances, workshops, and master class opportunities.
- Tap Dancing Lead - Bethany Folchi is an honors student in BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology and minoring in Music and Technology at RIT ’23. Bethany has been dancing for eighteen years in the style’s ballet/pointe, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, and contemporary. She has participated in regional and national dance competitions with Pinewood Dance Company, received awards and scholarships from the American Academy of Ballet’s Performance Awards Program and was given the opportunity to perform as the Sugar Plum Fairy in Dutchess Dance Theatre’s The Nutcracker. Bethany is actively involved in dance through leadership and choreography positions with Vis Viva Dance Company at RIT, as well as taken Ballet/Modern Dance with Thomas Warfield and Jazz/Hip Hop with Marc Holland.
Born in Conakry, Guinea, master drummer and dancer Kerfala Bangoura began his professional career in 1990. He has performed with numerous private ballets in Guinea, including the Macaca Ballet, Kounkoré Bamba Ballet, and Ballet Fareta, where he received his attestation and diploma – a certification of artistic excellence – in both drumming and dance, enabling him to work with the national performing ensembles of Guinea. Named “Master Drummer” by the Guinean Ministry of Culture in 2008, he was a featured djembe soloist for two of Guinea’s national groups, Percussions de Guinée and Les Ballets Africains, for over 8 years. Since his arrival in the United States in the spring of 2009, Kerfala has worked extensively as a performer and educator. He has taught at the University of Oregon and the University of Rochester, as well as numerous classes, workshops, and performances at elementary, middle, and high schools in Portland, Oregon. With his performing group, Mounafanyi, he opened Portland’s African Film Festival in 2010, and has also won a grant from Portland’s Regional Arts and Culture Council (RACC).
RIT/NTID Community has opportunities to watch world class performances during each semester. This Fall, we saw the Rochester City Ballet's "Theatrically Theatrical" and "Nutcracker" Studio Rehearsal Performances where the students were able to meet the Cast & Director of the RCB Dance Company.
Broadway Comes to RIT is a series of virtual conversations and master classes with actors, singers, dancers, choreographers and directors who have had successful careers on Broadway, TV and film. Shows that these guest speakers have performed in include, The Music Man, The King and I, Pippin, Fosse, CATS and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular to name a few. These stars meet virtually with students to share their experiences, talk about how they got to where they are today, and to get to know the RIT/NTID community in a casual setting and discuss all things performing arts.
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International performer and teacher James “Cricket” Colter teaches at dance festivals worldwide including the famous Bates Dance Festival in Maine and the international SDK (Street Dance Kamp) in Europe. He has performed as a featured dancer in TV commercials, the successful Disney movie Step Up 2 the Streets, and music videos for recording artists such as Boyz II Men, KRS-1, Will Smith, Eve, Avril Lavigne, Fall Out Boy, Chris Brown; and was host of MTV Japan’s Dreamers television show. This workshop was sponsored by the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival.
Deaf hip-hop artist and RIT graduate Sean Forbes returns to RIT’s National Technical Institute for the Deaf to perform his show “Deaf and Loud.” In addition to performing hip-hop, Forbes—a 2008 graduate of RIT’s College of Applied Science and Technology—is an accomplished drummer, songwriter and communicator. His debut album, Perfect Imperfection, contains 12 American Sign Language music videos that are coupled with his original songs. He has been featured on CNN, National Public Radio and the Ovation Network series, Motor City Rising, and articles about him have published in Spin, New York Post, and The Washington Post, among others. He has performed hundreds of live shows for both deaf and hearing audiences and has achieved viral success on YouTube.
Forbes is also the founder of D-PAN, the Deaf Performing Artists Network, which has created videos produced in American Sign Language that interpret songs such as Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful,” John Mayer’s “Waiting on the World to Change,” and others. He has opened for the nationally known rap artist Ludacris.
New York State Ballet will artistically recreate the classic fairy tale centered on a German family’s Christmas Eve celebration - and a dreamland filled with a cast of fanciful characters. Featuring live music by the RIT Orchestra, conducted by Michael Ruhling.
Facilities and Studios
Panara Theatre
Robert F. Panara Theater, named in honor of Dr. Robert Panara, RIT’s first Deaf professor and founder of the NTID Drama Club, has a rich heritage of offering challenging, entertaining, and provocative works of theater, all created for both Deaf and hearing audiences.
NTID Dance Lab
The NTID Dance Lab is available for blended (deaf, hard of hearing, and hearing) modern dance class, and other classes and student groups.
Global Village Dance Studio
This dance studio is a part of the Better Me Wellness Facility located in Global Village and is utilized for dance classes, clubs and other fitness wellness classes, and is available for student use. The studio features wooden floors and wall mirrors, and the sound system is available to borrow. RIT students have 24/7 ID swipe access, and faculty and staff can request 24/7 ID swipe access. Contact Better Me Wellness to reserve the studio.
SHED Dance Studio
A new dance studio at the south end of Monroe Hall allows for movement classes, ensemble rehearsals, lectures, and presentations while overlooking the south entrance to RIT's campus and the Gene Polisseni Center.
Student Life Center Upper and Lower Dance Studios
These dance studios are located in the Hale-Andrews Student Life Center and are utilized by Wellness Education, Club Sports, Performing Arts Clubs and other RIT users with a recreation membership. A minimum of 10 participants is required for reservations to be valid. Space is also available on a first come first served basis for smaller groups. The studios feature hardwood floors and mirrors. Ballet bars are only available in the upper dance studio. The sound system in each room is for Wellness Education use only; however, a boom box with Bluetooth may be loaned-out from the SLC Equipment Cage with your RIT ID.
A smaller dance studio is part of the Baker FIT area and resides in Baker Hall on the lower level between Gracies and Kate Gleason Hall. The space is available to RIT students, faculty, and staff with 24-hour swipe card access. The studio includes a mirror and TV and accommodates up to 5 people. It is available by reservation only using the Request Recreation Space (50 minutes) template.
The SHED
The SHED will transform the center of campus and put a spotlight on RIT students’ creative collaboration. The complex will house maker- and project team spaces, dance studios, rehearsal rooms, and performing arts theatres.
Student work will flow into the public spaces and passersby will see the activity from glass bridges connecting the SHED to Monroe Hall and Wallace Library on either side. Renovations to Wallace Library on each floor will create portals to the SHED and a sense of one building flowing into the next.
Past Performances
- Dances by Dancers (March 1999)
- Peter and the Wolf (April 2000)
- Visual Quest Dancing (November 2000)
- Dance Train (February 2002)
- Freedom! (February 2003)
- OZ (April 2004)
- Dancefest (February 2005)
- Ten Year Retrospective (February 2008)
- Story of Sleeping Beauty (February 2010)
- Danser Et Voler (February 2011)