Queensland uni freezes dance intake amid performing arts audit

The only university in Queensland to offer a degree in dance is conducting a broad-ranging review of all its performing arts courses, and has halted its dance student intake.

The Queensland University of Technology decided to pause its 2025 undergraduate dance intake around the end of second semester last year, but existing students are continuing their studies, sources familiar with the process said.

An initial review of its dance course was rapidly expanded to encompass its offerings across drama, acting, and music, they said.

QUT was the only university to offer dance as a degree.Credit: Glenn Hunt

Dance is taught at a $60 million facility at QUT’s Kelvin Grove Campus, which has specialised dance and concert halls and recording studios.

Students impacted by the pause in enrolments have been contacted with offers of other creative arts degrees that include dance elective subjects.

The review is expected to be completed in the first half of 2025, and its results will affect courses from 2026.

“Following an ongoing decline in enrolments, QUT is reviewing its performing arts courses to ensure the program offering is sustainable and continues to prepare students for work in the sector now and into the future,” a university spokesperson said.

The review’s terms of reference were released in December, a time when many academic staff are on holidays, with responses due in the first half of January.

Dance industry representatives have been given 45 minutes to make their case to a review panel meeting on Friday, according to the executive director of peak body Ausdance Queensland, Julie Englefield.

She is concerned for the future of performing arts at the university, and dance in particular.

“If you remove one of the performing arts, there is always a concern that the rest of the performing arts will follow, and it doesn’t bode well for Australia,” she said.

It’s understood almost 100 submissions to the review have been received from across Australia’s dance industry.

Queensland is home to some of the nation’s leading companies, such as Dancenorth in Townsville, The Farm on the Gold Coast, Queensland Ballet and the Australasian Dance Collective in Brisbane, as well as dozens of First Nations dance companies.

They find fresh talent through a pipeline of performing arts courses.

University degrees, with fees paid through long-term government loans, are by far the most accessible training option.

About 400 dancers featured in the Paris Olympics opening and closing ceremonies, and even more may be needed for Brisbane 2032.

But these dancers, teachers and choreographers may have to come from interstate, says Englefield.

The university course also trains many of Queensland’s dance teachers.

Dance is a popular pastime, with roughly 100,000 children across Queensland taking classes each week, according to the Australian Sports Commission’s annual State of Play report.

QUT’s dance course had previously been offered in two streams, with a specialist stream devoted to performance axed in 2021.

Englefield believes QUT is concerned about enrolment levels, student retention, and the effectiveness of the course structure.

To broaden career options for graduates, there were plans to offer the qualification as a double degree with psychology, business, and law, according to sources familiar with the course.

Ausdance QLD conducted a wide-ranging industry survey in response to the review, and found QUT was seen as providing strong practical training and graduates were well regarded in the industry.

But it also found the quality of training had declined, and there was limited exposure to diverse dance styles.

AAP