When I was a student at Stanford in the early 1970s, you could take some dance classes, but these were purely recreational and non-academic. There was a wonderful modern dance teacher – Inge Weiss, a former Wigman dancer. There was no dance major, however. When I got serious about studying dance, I took a leave of absence, earning degrees through my PhD elsewhere.
Fast forward to 2005, when Stanford alumni who had published were invited to display their books during reunion activities. I was there, with three books on display. I think maybe two people stopped at my table. The rest of the alumni milling around evidenced no interest whatever in the topics of dance and movement.
So I was really excited when the cover of the May 2019 alumni magazine featured a photo of a jumping dancer with the title “Why Dance Matters.” The feature article addressed the growing role of dance at Stanford, from extremely popular social dance classes, to choreography in robotic research, to the study of dance as treatment in a purpose-built studio at the neuroscience center.