Choreographer, composer, and dancer Nawal Assougdam provides a unique student perspective on the new Dance at Illinois curriculum that was implemented in the fall of 2022.
![Dancers in motion](https://web.faa.illinois.edu/app/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/dance-photo-432x304-c-default.jpg)
Urban planning and dance interconnect in this course that investigates the intersections between bodies and spaces.
![Faculty and students posing for picture](https://web.faa.illinois.edu/app/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/city-body1-scaled-432x304-c-default.jpg)
The College of Fine and Applied Arts is so grateful for passionate alumni like Pam and John Rozehnal. It is through their support that Dance at Illinois can recruit the best and most talented dancers regardless of their ability to pay for their education.
![John and Pam Rozehnal](https://web.faa.illinois.edu/app/uploads/sites/9/2023/10/John_Pam-432x304-c-default.jpg)
We sat down with the newly appointed head of the Department of Dance, Sara Hook. As Dance at Illinois launches a bold new curriculum, she leads the department at an important point in its history.
![Sara Hook](https://web.faa.illinois.edu/app/uploads/sites/9/2022/09/Sara-Hook-scaled-e1665692440635-432x304-c-default.jpg)
As part of their 2022 programming, Krannert Art Museum (KAM) hosted two dance residencies that culminated in immersive live performance experiences. Dance in museums, while not unheard of, introduces visitors to an art form not typically represented in these spaces — a living work made of bodies in motion that cannot be confined to a dated plaque on the wall.
![Women dancing in Krannert Art Museum](https://web.faa.illinois.edu/app/uploads/sites/9/2022/10/bonbons_dimension-1745-1-scaled-432x304-c-default.jpg)
A more inclusive media, one that incorporates the ideas and opinions of our nation’s top experts across disciplines and fields, regardless of gender or race, will lead to major change in public policies and the historical record moving forward.
![Jan Erkert, Head of Department of Dance](https://web.faa.illinois.edu/app/uploads/sites/9/2021/10/LeadershipMovement2-432x304-c-default.jpg)
“By diversifying the movement systems that inform what we call dance, we’re diversifying what it means to get a dance degree.”
![Dancers in movement](https://web.faa.illinois.edu/app/uploads/sites/9/2021/10/49072873126_eea9162f79_k-432x304-c-default.jpg)