Journal of Undergraduate Research

Angela Rosales Challis and Professor Catherine Black, Dance Urkupiña is one the most important religious festivities in Quillacollo, Cochabamba, Bolivia. It is a colorful festival with folkloric dancing, a large religious mass, processions, typical food, and the sale of miniature handicrafts. People of all ages participate in this celebration. The festivity consists of different activities during […]

Jana Burleson Taylor and Professor Shani Robison, Dance Department Experience in choreography is a vital part of the education of a dance major, particularly one like myself who hopes to pursue a career in dance teaching. Unfortunately, as students, the opportunity to create choreography which is exhitibited in an audience-attended performance can be rare, perhaps only […]

Quincy Mark Robinson and Professor Colleen West, Dance Background When Ukrainians migrated to Canada in the early 1900’s, they found themselves in a completely different cultural environment. To help support each other in this foreign environment the Ukrainians participated in many cultural activities, one of which was staged Ukrainian folk dance. In the 1990’s staged Ukrainian […]

Rebecca Laws and Professor Curt Holman, Dance The ability to choreograph is one of the most important skills a dancer can possess, particularly when preparing to be a teacher. This semester, I focused on choreography within the Ballroom Dance Genre to further develop my skills. I choreographed three different styles, the American Smooth Tango, Foxtrot and […]

Dane Laverty and Professor Hadd Patrick Debenham, Dance I interviewed owners of sixteen dance studios in the Provo and Salt Lake areas to examine: 1. the startup and operating expenses of a dance studio; 2. studio advertising techniques; 3. studio, class, and performance arrangement ; 4. in-house merchandising opportunities; 5. cost-profit scenarios; 6. studio integration with […]

Ananda Henricksen and Professor Colleen West, World Dance Division of Dance Department Irish Dance has many styles and forms both in traditional and contemporary dance. It has become a world wide dance form through the spread of the Irish Diaspora and contemporary shows. Although Irish dance in America is still connected to Ireland, it still takes […]

Stephanie Haymore and Professor Shani Robison, Dance Department I was excited to work on my project and create my choreography. I studied out the music and broke it down into counts. I found the different accents of each phrase. I made choices as to where I would follow the music and where I would go against […]

Morgan De La Cruz and Professor Pat Debenham, Dance Department Introduction Born in the rural heart of the Dominican Republic, Dominican folk dance has evolved along a trajectory taking it from its backcountry origins to become integrated as a fundamental part of Dominican culture. In fact, dances such as the merengue and the bachata are not only […]

Erica Burgin I spent three weeks in Ireland this summer studying the culture, history, and especially the dance of that country. I wanted to show that Irish dance has played a pivotal role in preserving Ireland’s cultural identity since before the spread of Christianity. I focused my time on studying the historical climate of Ireland […]

Samuel Yamamoto and Professor David Day, Music and Dance Library The Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition is the second largest piano competition in the United States. Established in 1976 at Brigham Young University by Dr. Paul Pollei, the Gina Bachauer International Piano Competition was given its name in 1977 to honor the world-renowned Greek pianist, […]