Westphal opens new dance studio
Ashley Peskoe
Issue date: 10/10/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
The first-ever dance studio of the Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design, the Ellen Forman Memorial Dance Studio, held its grand opening Oct. 3 in Mandell Theater, according to Miriam Giguere, dance program director.
The dance studio was named after the Ellen Forman Foundation, who gave the largest single donation. Renovations took place over the summer and were completed in time for the first class in the fall term.
The studio has been designed with special flooring, which makes it easy on the joints. The bottom level consists of strips of foam for spring with air in between. On top of that is a layer of wood followed by Marley, vinyl flooring, as the top layer.
"You don't have to worry about it being incompatible with different types of dance," Grace Gamble, a freshman majoring in international business and marketing who takes dance classes, said.
In addition to a new dance studio, Westphal College is now offering a dance major that will filter students into Drexel's graduate programs. A student can take a threshold review test and if they pass it then they will be saved a spot in either the six-year BS/MA Dance Movement Therapy Program at Hahneman or in the five-year BS/MA dance in education program through the Department of Performing Arts and finish in the School of Education, according to Giguere.
Currently there are seven dance majors, 20 dance minors and 200 students taking dance classes utilizing the new facilities.
By next year the goal is to have 12 dance majors with a goal of 100 dance majors in the next four years, according to Cecilia Fitzgibbon, program director of Arts Administration and department head of Performing Arts at Westphal.
"I'm happy to know that there will be this new program at Drexel," Evan Forman, associate professor in the department of psychology and son of Ellen Forman, explained.
"[Adding a dance major] will add a new dimension to Westphal College and the University [and it] officializes and makes the pursuit of the education of dance take on this scholarly tone," Forman said.
Allen Sabinson, dean of Westphal College, said the dance studio is one of the best accomplishments of AWCoMAD.
The dance studio was named after the Ellen Forman Foundation, who gave the largest single donation. Renovations took place over the summer and were completed in time for the first class in the fall term.
The studio has been designed with special flooring, which makes it easy on the joints. The bottom level consists of strips of foam for spring with air in between. On top of that is a layer of wood followed by Marley, vinyl flooring, as the top layer.
"You don't have to worry about it being incompatible with different types of dance," Grace Gamble, a freshman majoring in international business and marketing who takes dance classes, said.
In addition to a new dance studio, Westphal College is now offering a dance major that will filter students into Drexel's graduate programs. A student can take a threshold review test and if they pass it then they will be saved a spot in either the six-year BS/MA Dance Movement Therapy Program at Hahneman or in the five-year BS/MA dance in education program through the Department of Performing Arts and finish in the School of Education, according to Giguere.
Currently there are seven dance majors, 20 dance minors and 200 students taking dance classes utilizing the new facilities.
By next year the goal is to have 12 dance majors with a goal of 100 dance majors in the next four years, according to Cecilia Fitzgibbon, program director of Arts Administration and department head of Performing Arts at Westphal.
"I'm happy to know that there will be this new program at Drexel," Evan Forman, associate professor in the department of psychology and son of Ellen Forman, explained.
"[Adding a dance major] will add a new dimension to Westphal College and the University [and it] officializes and makes the pursuit of the education of dance take on this scholarly tone," Forman said.
Allen Sabinson, dean of Westphal College, said the dance studio is one of the best accomplishments of AWCoMAD.
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