The building is scheduled to open in fall 2007.
The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified complex was designed after an extensive benchmarking process that involved some of the world's most prestigious dance companies and schools, including Julliard and the North Carolina School of the Arts.
Its four spacious studios and innovative green design will create the best of all possible environments for the University's dance students. University officials said the facility will enable Point Park to serve as host to national dance competitions and other performances, making it an asset to the City as well as to the University. It's yet another addition to a City that already boasts a rich cultural life, officials said.
Point Park's dance program falls under the umbrella of the University's highly respected Conservatory of Performing Arts (COPA). The University currently enrolls 242 dance majors. Only 10 percent of the more than 800 students who applied to the program were accepted for the 2006-07 academic year.
Our graduates have gone on to careers on Broadway and with many prestigious dance companies, including David Parsons, New York; Hubbard Street, Illinois; Nashville Ballet, Tennessee; and Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal.
The American-made steel, which forms the skeleton of the dance complex, was fabricated in Erie. Those involved with the building's design and construction are primarily Pittsburgh based.
