What better way to ring in the new academic year than to get down with your fellow Barnard Bears? If you didn’t know already, Barnard is a great place to be if you love to dance (even our mascot is named “Millie The Dancing Bear”). There are a ton of ways to dance at Barnard, whether it be through a class or a club. Between the Barnard and Columbia campuses, there are a variety of styles and levels of dance, so you will find your group. Here’s how and where to get involved in dance around campus!
Classes
Barnard is known for their excellent dance department. You can enroll in classes in ballet, modern, tap, African dancing, etc. It even fulfills the PE requirement. Score! Just look at the listing in the directory, and join a class!
Clubs
There are also plenty of dance organizations across both campuses in all different styles of dance. Here are a few:
Columbia Ballet Collaborative (CBC) is a selective ballet ensemble that puts on biannual performances. CBC also offers free classes to Columbia and Barnard students in Studio 1 at Barnard. Auditions are held at the start of every semester.
Onyx is a pre-professional hip-hop group that performs both on and off campus. Auditions are held in the fall.
Raw Elementz is the largest hip-hop group on campus, and they perform at a variety of venues on and off campus. Auditions are held twice a year, in the beginning of each semester.
Taal is South Asian dance group dedicated to dance fusion. Auditions are in late September.
Columbia University Bhangra is a competitive Bhangra dance team who celebrates Punjab dance and culture. They have several performances throughout the country.
Sabor is a Latino Dance Troupe. Sabor holds auditions twice a year, and also offers monthly workshops.
These opportunities are just a sampling of the several dance clubs and classes Columbia University has to offer. If you’re hesitant to try one out, go for it anyway. You’ll break a sweat and have a lot of fun doing it!