Dance at Illinois is historic…
Years and milestones
| 1898 | May Day festivities at the University of Illinois included dance. |
| 1929 | Ione Johnson began teaching modern dance in Physical Education and formed the first student performance group. |
| 1948 | Margaret Erlanger was hired and created the first dance degrees. |
| 1959 | Merce Cunningham and John Cage became the first dancer-in-residence in an academic/university program. |
| 1968 | Dance became a department within the College of Fine & Applied Arts and found a new home at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts! |
| 1968 | Bachelor of Fine Arts degree was implemented. |
| 1981 | A Masters of Fine Arts degree was implemented. |
| 1985 | Alwin Nikolais awarded an honorary doctorate degree. |
| 1994 | Katherine Dunham awarded an honorary doctorate degree. |
| 2016 | Bachelor of Arts as an inter-disciplinary degree was implemented. |
| 2018 | Yoga Certification was implemented. |
| 2021 | Bachelor of Arts in Dance + Bachelors of Science in Kinesiology was implemented. |
It is June 2006. I open the door to my new office. Enter. A board of photographs hangs on one wall…
The long and luminous history of Dance at Illinois dates back to 1898, with the beginning of the annual May Day festivities…
I was hired as an instructor in dance in 1961; this was following my graduation from the University of Wisconsin and three years in New York…
