Located in Haidian District, with the picturesque Zizhu Park （Purple Bamboo Park） just across the street, Beijing Dance Academy is the top institution of higher dance education in China. Established as Beijing Dance School in 1954, it was developed into Beijing Dance Academy with the approval of the Ministry of Culture in 1978. Presently, BDA is the only dance institution of higher education in China. It is also one of the largest dance schools in the world noted for its complete specialty establishment. The faculties and performing companies of BDA include the Department of Chinese Classical Dance, the Department of Chinese Ethnic and Folk Dance, the Ballet Department, the Department of Choreography, the Education and Research Center for Modern Dance, the Department of Dance Studies, the Department of Social Dance, the Department of Musical theatre, the Department of Art Communication, the Department of Art Design, etc.. Together they cover five majors and 18 academic areas including dance performance, choreography, dance history and theory, art design for drama, film and TV and public administration. The Academy has 559 full-time teaching staff working with 1,273 full-time college students, 1,267 students from the affiliated secondary school and more than 600 adult students from School of Continuing Education.
