A modern dance group was formed in 1937 as a women’s student group. The group gave its first recital in February 1939. In 1968 the group was reorganized from a club with primarily a recreational approach to that of a performing group. The group became the New Repertory Dance Company, with membership being required for dance students, and then became the UT Dance Company. The faculty of the Physical Education Department organized the UT Dance Company as a performance group, with dance students receiving academic credit for their participation. The UT Dance Company won the Southeast Regional American Dance Festival in 1998 and went on to perform at the Kennedy Center as part of the American College Dance Festival.
The last performance of the UT Dance Company, following phaseout of the program, was in 2010. In 2012 the UT Dance Company, renamed as the BOSS Dance Company and functioning as a student club beginning in fall 2010, performed its spring 2012 showcase on campus in the Clarence Brown Theatre. President Caitlin Burke and Vice President Lauren List were credited with keeping alive the dance tradition and the on-campus showcase tradition.