by Catherine L. Tully
This project has been no small undertaking. Over 200K Roman bricks. 39 different types of light fixtures. High definition video projectors. Retractable seating for 140. State-of-the-art floors and subfloors. There’s nothing quite like a space that is built specifically for dance…
Standing 70 feet tall and offering over 54,000 square feet of space, the USC Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center is a brand new building on campus, and the first new school to be built at the University of Southern California in nearly 40 years. Founded in 2012 by a gift from dance philanthropist Glorya Kaufman, this building took more than 1,000 workers approximately 238,650 hours to construct. It features a Performance Studio along with five other dance studios, a collaborative space, and a training and fitness zone for students. There are also dressing rooms, classrooms and offices for faculty and administrators in the building.
A great deal of thought was put into the use of this building as a dance space, besides the standard attention to items such as dance-specific flooring and quality sound systems. For example, the main hallway was actually designed as the outline of a dancer’s leg, and the courtyard that is adjacent to the main entrance will also double as an outdoor performance space. Over a year of research went into the planning and design of this building, which will now serve as a “palace for dance,” as Dean Cutietta refers to it.
In addition to its role in the USC curriculum, the Kaufman Dance Center will host master classes and visiting companies that will offer programming to both students and the area dance community. The Center will also serve as the home of a new initiative, the USC Choreographic Institute. With a focus on choroegraphic research, practice and mentorship, it will be advised by the well-known choreographer William Forsythe.
For additional information on the Glorya Kaufman International Dance center, please visit their website.
