The Dance Program at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp is designed to challenge young dancers, enhancing their current level of training through a diverse curriculum. Dance Majors receive five hours of daily instruction that includes courses in ballet technique, contemporary/modern technique, pointe or pre-pointe, partnering, and exploration of a range of dance styles and genres. The program also provides opportunities to learn original repertoire that challenges a dancer’s movement vocabulary and ability to quickly learn choreography. Workshops in injury prevention, conditioning, choreography, improvisation, and dance history help to provide a well-rounded summer dance experience.
Students can complete their instructional day by choosing a Minor, allowing them to experience another area of interest while at camp. Students also have the opportunity to attend Summer Arts Festival performances, as well as participate in recreation, camp activities, and attend arts-focused educational events in the evening.
A list of previous Blue Lake Dance Faculty can be found here.
Guest Artists 2025
Kia Smith, South Chicago Dance Theatre Company Founder and Director, along with several company members, will be in residence in the Blue Lake Dance Department from July 10 – 14 (during Session 2)! As a master educator and performer, Ms. Smith will choreograph a piece with a select cast of Session 2 dancers to perform twice during the session, along with providing instruction, support, and inspiration for all dance majors. Welcome back South Chicago Dance Theatre! Read more about Kia Smith and the Company here: Press.
Scholarships and Placements
All abilities are welcome in Blue Lake’s dance program. Students wishing to audition for a scholarship to aid with camp tuition may complete the Merit Scholarship Application and attend a master class at a Dance Scholarship Audition location, or submit a video audition.
During the camp session, faculty members place dancers in ensembles and classes in order to accommodate each student’s level of training and proficiency. Evaluation takes place on opening day. While all dancers work together for morning conditioning classes, workshop classes, and final performances, students remain within their assigned class levels throughout the instructional day.
Patricia Villanueva
Dance Department, Co-Director
Patricia Villanueva grew up in West Michigan and graduated from Hope College with a B.A. in Dance. She has been a highly sought-after Lansing area teacher for many years, and is currently on faculty at Happendance-Okemos, Lake Michigan Dance Academy-Allendale, and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp Dance Department. Past teaching posts have included: The Dance Conservatory-Charlotte, Glenn Douglas Packard INstitute of Dancers, Nerve Dance Company-Lansing, Adjunct faculty at MSU Department of Theater and Dance, Children’s Ballet Theater-Lansing, Greater Lansing Academy of Dance, Black River School-Holland. As a choreographer her work has been shown in venues across the state of Michigan, as well as festivals in Chicago and Martha’s Vineyard; and in 2014 Patricia was a finalist for the Maggie Allesee Choreography Award. Villanueva has served as Repetiteur and Ballet Mistress for the Children’s Ballet Theater of Michigan, the Junior Division of Greater Lansing Ballet Company, and the Junior Division of Holland Area Youth Ballet. As a performer, she has danced with Happendance Professional Company, Happendance Education Exchange, Greater Lansing Ballet Company, and Aerial Dance Theater. Patricia has also held the positions of Artistic Director for Velocity Concert Dance Company, the Education Exchange Outreach Company, and Impulse Student Dance Company-Happendance. In 2019, Villanueva founded the Conservatory Ballet Company to serve students who desired a more varied repertoire experience. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Villanueva has served as Artistic Director of Happendance School and currently Co-Director of the Dance Department on the campus of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp.
Rachel Miller
Dance Department, Co-Director
Rachel Miller (she/her) has been teaching at Blue Lake since 2016. She danced professionally for over 20 years in modern/contemporary companies in New York, South Bend, and Kalamazoo until retiring from performing in 2019. Miller attended The Ohio State University as a Dance Major, holds a BA in Creative Writing through Western Michigan University, and an MFA in Dance through Hollins University in partnership with the former Forsythe Company of Frankfurt, Germany. She teaches in the Grand Valley State University Dance Department, is the curator for the internationally recognized Midwest Region Alternative Dance Festival (RAD Fest), and is the CEO of Happendance, INC. She has performed all over the country, and her live choreography and screendance works have been presented in the Midwest RAD Fest in Kalamazoo, Big River Dance Festival in Huntington, South Bend, Las Vegas, New Orleans, New York, Fringe Festival Praha (Prague), Indianapolis, Germany, and she has had a piece of choreography commissioned as a work of study for the Lincoln Center Institute for Aesthetic Education. She has also sat on the adjudication panels for Screen. Dance. Now, the Maggie Allesee New Choreography Award, Big River Dance Festival, and the American Screendance curatorial panel for JOMBA! Contemporary Dance Festival in South Africa. She currently sits on the adjudication panel for Screendance International.