Beijing Dance Academy is the only institution of higher education in dance in China, which lies near the picturesque Zi Zhu Park (Purple Bamboo Park) in Haidian District, Beijing. The Academy has 480 teachers and administrative staff, among whom, 275 are full-time teachers. Of the 275 teachers, 116 are professors, associate professors and senior lecturers. At present, more than two thousand students are studying in the Academy.
Three specialties have been established in the Academy, namely, performance, choreography and dance studies. Performance Specialty consists of such disciplines as Chinese Classical Dance, Chinese Folk Dance, Ballet, Modern Dance, Musical Theatre, International Ballroom Dance, Fashion Show and so on. The Academy was approved by the State Academic Degree Commission to be an authorized unit to grant the MA degree in 1999.
The teaching departments include the Department of Chinese Classical Dance, Department of Chinese Folk Dance, Department of Ballet, Department of Choreography, Department of Dance Studies, Department of Social Dance, Department of Musical Theatre, Department of Art Communication, Department of Art Design, Department of Social Sciences, Music Department, College of Continuing Education, and Chinese Dance Grading Examination Center. The Academy has some other sections, such as the Dance Research Institute, Library & Dance information Center, Audio & Visual Center, the Youth Dance Company as well as the attached Secondary Dance School honored as one of the key specialized secondary schools in China.
The Academy is proud of its talented faculty, a great variety of dance forms as well as abundant teaching materials and rigorous approaches to academic research. Every year, the Academy invites foreign guest artists to teach and teachers of the Academy are invited to teach abroad as well. The Academy has made remarkable achievements in teaching, scientific research and artistic practice over the past decades. The Academy has cultivated a great number of dancers, dance teachers, choreographers as well as researchers in dance history and theory. Thanks to the worldwide cultural exchanges and outstanding achievements in different kinds of international dance competitions, the Academy is ranked among the best institutions in China and the prestigious dance academies in the world.