What do theatre and dance students learn? Part 1

Students in theatre and dance learn what it means to be a professional artist. They gain knowledge about the history, the profession and the practice of theatre and dance. But in the process they learn the skills that are the foundation for working as a highly skilled professional in whatever field or fields they work in over the course of their likely varied careers.

We know that most students on any college campus will change career paths several times over the course of their lives. The USC Student Affairs office notes: “In a job market where recent graduates indicate they are changing jobs four times within five years of graduation, it is important to articulate the skills you have developed as they relate to new opportunities.”  The skills that employers seek are often referred to as transferable skills—the skills that a student can take with them wherever they go.

What are the transferable skills that theatre and dance students learn? We researched the transferable skills that most employers are looking for in potential employees. We weren’t surprised to find that more than one “top ten list” of skills include those that are integral to theatre and dance education:

Communication Skills

Problem Solving/Analytical Skills

Teamwork

Initiative/Self-Starting

Leadership

Flexibility

Creativity

Willingness to Learn

Attention to Detail

How many of these are theatre skills? All of them.

And how do theatre students learn these transferable skills? Stay tuned for “What do theatre and dance students learn? Part 2”…

Top Ten List from USC Student Services