The Baylor Dance Company was founded in 2005 by Ashleigh Nolen, Christin Laroche, Diana Seal and Rebecca Klopfenstein as part of the newly created Dance Minor at Baylor. We are a relatively small organization, usually with 20-30 members, and meet Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Maars McLean Dance Room. We have biannual performances, one in the fall and another in the spring in the Jones Theater, consisting of jazz, ballet, hip-hop, lyrical, and modern, with other styles included such as pointe, tap, and partner dances.

We pride ourselves in being a laid back dance company; we choreograph our own dances lead by the members themselves. The members choose their level of involvement in the show by only being required to be in the Opener and Closer and then signing up for whatever extra dances they like or by doing their own solo or small ensemble. Our members’ dance styles vary across the spectrum, ranging from ballerinas to more modern and jazz based to drill-team style dancing. The mix is important to our diversity, and we learn from each other’s dancing strengths.

Our sponsors are also dance instructors who lead technique classes in between performance rehearsals. Joy Burkhart owns Joy’s Dance Studio in Waco, and Meredith Sutton is a dance instructor for HP classes at Baylor, teaching advanced tap, jazz and ballet.