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Students planning on careers as professional dancers now have a bachelor of fine arts degree available to them at UNLV.

The new BFA in dance was approved by the Board of Regents of the University and Community College System of Nevada last month. The university already offers a bachelor of arts degree in dance.

"Students who choose to pursue the BFA in dance most likely will be those who plan to dance professionally following graduation," said Louis Kavouras, chair of UNLV's dance department. "If you look at the backgrounds of the dancers in professional companies around the country, you'll find that many of them have earned BFAs in dance. Now students in Nevada will have the chance to earn that degree, too."

Often, students who hope to one day become choreographers will choose a BFA degree, he said.

Kavouras said there is a great demand for the new program, both from professional dancers who work in Las Vegas and would like to earn a degree and from students already enrolled at UNLV.

"We have students who are champing at the bit, waiting to transfer into this new program."

Kavouras said UNLV's program provides equal emphasis on ballet, modern dance, and jazz with the goal of producing a well-rounded graduate.

"We know we're on the right track. Earlier this year Dance Spirit magazine named our department as one of the 25 outstanding university and college dance departments in the nation," Kavouras said.

As part of their BFA experience, each student will be able to stage a concert of their own work during their senior year.

Typically, students who choose to pursue a bachelor of arts in dance instead of a BFA are planning to go to graduate school rather than straight into the professional dance world, he explained.

For additional information on the bachelor of fine arts in dance degree, call Kavouras at 895-3827.