Senior dance performance major Jesse Kopp dances, rehearses and takes classes from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. at least five days a week.

“We basically live at the dance studio and become a big family,” Kopp said.

The time commitment, discipline and maintenance of physical shape all make being a dance major unique, said Randy Newsom, director of the dance department.

“Many dance majors will be up at 6:30 a.m. to go to the gym, and after attending classes at the university, they will go to dance classes and then have rehearsal from 5 to 10 p.m.,” Newsom said.

Classes for dance majors are largely skill-based, but academic classes including kinesiology, composition and choreography also are offered.

Being involved with dance promotes a healthy life, Newsom said.

“It teaches a very good sense of discipline in the mind and body that carries through to your academic work,” Newsom added.

Newsom’s training has prepared his students for a career in dance, his students said.

“He really breaks everything down and shows people how to do it correctly,” Kopp said. “Since his combinations are so hard, whenever I dance with other companies, it seems like a piece of cake.”

His students also said Newsom has high expectations for his dancers.

“He’s very straightforward and doesn’t hold back when he tells you exactly what you’re doing wrong,” said Jenny Vicars, a dancer with the Georgia Ballet Company and 2002 graduate of the NIU dance program. “He challenges you to push yourself and keep auditioning and trying because he’s the kind of person who you want to impress.”

Like Vicars, many graduates of the dance program continue their professional careers at ballet and modern dance companies.

“We had a graduate in 1989 who danced in Martha Graham’s company, and we’ve had other dancers go to Disney World or Las Vegas to do Cirque du Soleil,” Newsom said.

The NIU dance department is rehearsing for a Best of Broadway show, which includes pieces from “Singing in the Rain,” “Grease,” “Chorus Line,” “42nd Street” and “On Your Toes.”

Preparation for such shows requires hours of training and discipline, said Judy Chitwood, associate professor for the School of Theatre and Dance.

“They do a lot of rehearsing in different styles and big groups, so you can see the big spectacular [image] of the Broadway scene,” Chitwood said. “It will illustrate the historical lineage of musicals and the wide range of scenes, and costumes will really keep it moving.”