The BTWHSPVA Dance Department is one of the top dance programs in the country! Concentrating on ballet and modern dance techniques, the students also experience jazz, tap, African dance, repertory, folklorico, and international dance, as well as theoretical studies in composition, dance history, kinesiology, and dance production. 

The department is comprised of over two hundred dance students and fourteen dance faculty.  Hosting such guest artists as Donald McKayle, Arthur Mitchell, Gus Giordano, Bella Lewitzky Dance Company, Martha Graham Dance Company, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Donald Byrd-The Group, and Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, the department has become nationally known. The three performing ensembles are as follows:  Repertory Dance Companies I and II, and the World Dance Ensemble.  These ensembles have performed in Sydney, Australia, Toronto, Canada, and throughout the United States.

Since 1980, dance students have received regular recognition from the National YoungArts Foundation and Young Masters Program through the Texas Commission on the Arts. Students have received scholarships to study at Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, School of American Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah, American Dance Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Jacobs Pillow Dance Festival, The Juilliard School, and Interlochen Center for the Arts.  They have received scholarships to colleges, universities, and conservatories such as California Institute of the Arts, The Juilliard School, North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Utah, Ohio State University, SUNY-Purchase, Southern Methodist University, Texas Christian University, University of North Texas, Texas Woman's University, University of Texas, among others. Others choose a professional career in dance with companies such as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Bill T. Jones Dance Company, The Feld Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Mark Morris Dance Company, Twyla Tharp Dance Company, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Amalia Hernandez Ballet Folklorico, Toronto Dance Theatre, Limon Dance Company, and Broadway Musicals such as Chicago, Fosse, Oklahoma, Sweet Charity, Movin’ Out, A Chorus Line, and The Lion King.

Celebrating excellence since 1976, it is no wonder that through a strong curriculum in the arts and academics, master classes from the nation’s prominent artists, an excellent working relationship with the Dallas arts community, and talented and dedicated students and faculty, the Arts Magnet continues to be one of the best in the nation!

"Dance is the song of the body." -Martha Graham

“The arts are the threads that hold together the squares in the quilt of life.”

–Erykah Badu, BTW Graduate