Samford’s School of the Arts has been growing more and more in recent years, especially in terms of the dance program. Near the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, there was an addition of a dance major in the program. Prior to this, Samford only had a dance minor in terms of education for dancers.
On the other side of the specifically educational opportunities for dancers, there is the Samford University Dance Team (SUDT), Samford Dance Company and the Grace Dance Company (no experience required).
With the expectation of growth for the dance program, Seibert had two 2,400-square-foot dance studios built, a requirement to have a dance major on campus.
Haley Roberts, a senior chemistry major and dance minor, is a member of the Dance Company and talked about the growth that she has seen in the program from a student point of view.
“We’ve seen it become more professional, more competitive. We’re now doing auditions with the theater majors in the fall and spring — so really just kind of growing the theater and dance department as a whole,” said Roberts.
With the building of Seibert came some issues with the studios, however. Unfortunately, there were some concerns with the way that the floor was built and with the material used.
According to Alisa McCool, assistant professor of dance, the material that the floor was made out of was too slippery with shoes on and too sticky without them.
“It was causing a lot of overuse in certain muscle groups for the dancers and a lot of slipping and falling and injuring themselves,” she said.
Roberts talked about her personal experience of being incredibly sore, and feet hurting because of the way her shoes did not work well on the flooring.
Because of these incidents, McCool reached out to Lance Beaumont, dean of the School of the Arts, and asked for help in finding a solution. She said that there were a lot of behind-the-scenes discussions that resulted in the new Marley flooring being put in over the summer.
With the new flooring, McCool says that there is a “night and day” difference. The students are able to wear ballet, jazz and pointe shoes now without the fear of injuring themselves.
Roberts commented on how new teachers have come in and new classes are now being taught because of the program’s growth. Those same new teachers have commented on how incredible the new floors are.
She also talked about the way that the floors were installed. Unlike many studios that required the Marley flooring to be taped down after a while, these floors are custom designed to fit the floor perfectly.
“They have, I guess, custom built this Marley to the floor. It covers the floor entirely. Like they’ve cut it out and they’ve also made it to where it’s like they’ve laid panels of it that seamlessly fits together and don’t have to be taped over,” said Roberts.
These new floors have been beneficial for all the dance majors/minors, companies and the SUDT by providing them with new places to practice, but also to practice safely. With Samford’s quick action to replace the flooring, the dance program now has the resources they need to continue to grow in prestige and size.
Arts & Life Editor
