The School of Dance at the Victorian College of the Arts was founded in 1978 following an approach of the Premier of the time, Sir Rupert Hamer, to VCA Director Lenton Parr and the College Council. A proposal was put forward to consider the possibility of establishing a School that would provide excellent vocational training in classical and contemporary dance at secondary and tertiary levels.

The School occupied studios in Fitzroy for two years while the present facility was under construction and in 1979 Anne Woolliams was appointed as the founding Dean of the School of Dance. Her experience, not only as a former Artistic Director of the Australian Ballet but also as Deputy Director of the Stuttgart Ballet and Director of the Stuttgart Ballet School, provided a wonderful foundation, enabling the School of Dance to emerge as one of Australia's foremost training institutions for young dancers.

At secondary level, dancers from Years 7-12 were offered specialist dance training alongside a full academic education, while at tertiary level a three-year diploma course was offered. Students were given the opportunity to major in one of three areas: performance, dance teaching or Benesch dance notation. In 1984, in addition to the Diploma course, a Bachelor of Arts in Dance was offered.

In 1982 the Vic Arts Dance company, a performing group of senior students, was formed to perform in Victorian regional centres and to support the Victorian State Opera, appearing the following year in two of the VSO's major productions, Eugene Onegin and Julius Caesar. Other performance highlights throughout the 1980s included a regional tour of Victoria in 1984 organised by the Victorian Ministry for the Arts as part of the Let's Dance '84 project, and an invitation in 1986 to appear at the International Festival of Dance Academies in Hong Kong and at the Aberdeen Arts Festival.

Following the retirement of Anne Woolliams, Garth Welch held the position of Interim Dean before Jonathan Taylor's appointment in 1988. Jonathan came to the School with a wealth of experience as a dancer, choreographer and former Artistic Director of Australian Dance Company. In 1992 the School offered its first Graduate Diploma in Choreography and now attracts many overseas students to this course.

During 1998 and 1999 Maggie Lorraine held the position of Interim Head of School, preceding Jenny Kinder's appointment to Head of School in 2000. On 1 July, 1991 the VCA became an affiliated college of The University of Melbourne and all its academic programs were accredited by the University and became subject to its quality control. This was followed by full integration with the University on 1 January, 2007, at which time the VCA became formally titled the "Faculty of the Victorian Colllege of the Arts". Following the merging of the Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts 'VCA Music' with the University of Melbourne's 'Faculty of Music' in 2009, the Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts is now known as the Faculty of the VCA and Music. Dance now forms one of three disciplines of the School of Performing Arts within the Faculty of the VCA and Music.