Adjunct- Dance for the Actor

Grand View University in Des Moines, IA is hiring an Adjunct instructor to teach Dance for the Actor within its Theatre Arts Department. This role sits at the intersection of movement training and stage performance, delivering a foundational dance course that builds the physical vocabulary undergraduate theatre students need for musical theatre production and audition work. It is a strong fit for a working dance artist or theatre educator who has hands-on experience bringing beginner-level performers up to speed in a studio setting.

About the Role

The Theatre Arts Department at Grand View University uses this course as a core part of its musical theatre training pipeline, giving students their first structured exposure to dance technique in a performance context. The instructor works directly with undergraduate students who arrive with varying movement backgrounds, shaping lessons around coordination, musicality, rhythm, and the foundational styles that show up most in musical theatre performance. A typical class session moves between technical exercises, style-specific movement vocabulary, and applied choreography that connects directly to what students encounter in theatrical auditions and productions.

Key Responsibilities

• Teach an introductory Dance for the Actor course structured for undergraduate theatre students with little or no prior formal dance training.
• Introduce foundational dance vocabulary, terminology, and technique drawn from styles commonly used in musical theatre performance.
• Design and deliver lesson plans, movement exercises, and choreography appropriate to beginning-level performers across varied experience levels.
• Build students’ physical awareness, musicality, flexibility, and movement confidence within a theatrical performance framework.
• Evaluate student progress through observation and constructive feedback that supports growth toward stage-ready movement skills.
• Maintain a supportive and inclusive studio environment aligned with university course policies on grading and attendance.

What You Bring

• A bachelor’s degree in dance, theatre, musical theatre, or a closely related performing arts discipline is required.
• Demonstrated dance training and performance experience, with previous instructional work in dance, musical theatre, or theatre education.
• Comfort teaching beginning-level students in a way that meets them where they are technically and builds confidence over a semester.
• An MFA, MA, or graduate-level credential in dance or musical theatre is preferred, as is college-level teaching experience.
• Professional credits in musical theatre performance or choreography, and working knowledge of multiple dance styles used in stage production, are a plus.

Why This Role

Grand View University’s Theatre Arts Department offers adjunct faculty a direct line into shaping the next generation of musical theatre performers in a program that takes undergraduate training seriously. This Dance for the Actor position carries real curriculum weight, connecting movement education to production work students will pursue throughout their degree. For a dance artist or educator based in or near Des Moines, it is a consistent instructional credit at an accredited four-year institution.

Apply now for the Adjunct Dance for the Actor position at Grand View University and bring your performance and teaching background into a theatre training program that puts movement at the center of the work.