White Mountain Summer Dance Festival is three weeks of intensive dance training on the Sarah Lawrence College campus. Now celebrating its 29th year, and its first year at Sarah Lawrence, WMSDF is an exploration of movement and creativity for students, educators, and anyone looking to enrich and deepen their understanding of the moving body and the creative process.

WMSDF's innovative and comprehensive approach combines specialized training, personal attention and hands-on instruction. Nine faculty members work together to present a cohesive curriculum with more than 12 hours of instruction daily. Each of the nine classes during a festival day reinforces a single movement or kinesthetic concept, often drawing from Laban and Bartenieff material. This unified approach is made possible by our faculty, gifted educators committed to ensuring participants find their maximum potential for dance and movement artistry. It is a program that supports breakthroughs in technique, creativity, and life. Enrollment is limited to 40 resident participants to ensure a four to one student to faculty ratio.

The Festival curriculum is designed to adapt to the interests of participants, and are scheduled so that students may participate in all classes. Morning classes are devoted to the physical practice of dance technique; afternoon classes are theoretical and experiential, and include anatomy/kinesiology, Laban principles, yoga and performance; and weekend seminars more deeply investigate a single topic. Sarah Lawrence is a coeducational liberal arts college, with a long history of dance excellence. The dance program at SLC features an integrated approach to the creative process, following in the tradition of previous directors Viola Farber and Bessie Shoenberg. Acclaimed dancers and choreographers Meredith Monk, Lucinda Childs, and John Jasperse, among others, studied at SLC. The SLC campus occupies 41 wooded acres with outstanding library, performing arts, music, visual arts, science, computing, and sports facilities.

Our faculty are dance or movement education professionals, who teach at highly respected dance insitutions including The Juilliard School, NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, the Five Colleges in Northampton, Princeton University, and SUNY Purchase and who are devoted to WMSDF. Participants have the opportunity to perform in repertory and premiere performances, as well as producing their own work. In addition, they will get to see performances by WORKS/Laura Glenn Dance, the company in residence, and by guest artists. We have an exciting workshop series this year, featuring a symposium on college dance education, and masterclasses by our guest faculty. Learn about this year's fees for attending the festival, including housing and food.