Dancers may be "acrobats of God," as poet Ben Belitt dubbed them, but they have worked under the most hellish of circumstances to further their art.

There are still studios and performance spaces around the country that are too small, too low and too hard. That translates into problems with spacing and movement, impediments to high lifts and jumps and an unending series of injuries resulting from concrete surfaces. Many studios still have columns smack in the middle of the floor, which can pose challenges of another sort when a dancer is spinning through a phrase.

Slowly the times are changing.

In recent years, there has been a dance construction boom. In New York City alone, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Mark Morris Company, American Ballet Theatre and superstar Mikhail Baryshnikov have built new spaces that are more conducive to maintaining a healthy dancer.

Point Park University dance students are benefiting from all of the new technology that has become available from these new spaces. They moved into their new building adjacent to Lawrence Hall on the Boulevard of the Allies at the start of the school term, and the reaction has been nothing short of sensational.

Although the building is not yet finished, the faculty and students are relishing the three spacious, light-filled studios at their disposal, with a black box theater/rehearsal hall, dressing-room facilities and a tap studio to come in January. It's also a "green" building -- erected according to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.

Point Park president Dr. Paul Hennigan had the foresight to leave room for expansion. The building is constructed with a foundation that allows the department to add three more studios at the top when funding becomes available.

"I was not prepared for how I felt when I stood in the doorway and saw the first class of dancers in there," says David Nash, building consultant and adjunct professor of dance at Point Park. Some of the faculty cried, according to dance department head Susan Stowe.

Point Park's dance program had been bursting at the seams with 150 dance majors and another 150 from the musical theater program. They used 10 studios at Lawrence Hall, only one of which had the dimensions for large-scale classes and rehearsals.

Because the dance department already had a reputation as one of the top three programs of its kind in the nation, the administration decided to address the needs of the program.

But it has taken 10 years to realize that dream.

Now it has come true. The studios are two stories tall, taking advantage of the large curved windows that allow plenty of natural light as well as a lingering look at the distinctive urban landscape.

Another mandate for Nash was that "no dancer should lie on the floor and look directly at a light, so there are no light bulbs." The hallways and the classrooms are equipped with occupancy sensors, so that lights are activated automatically. The ventilation system does the same to adjust each room so that there won't be an ever-present locker-room smell.

The giant ventilation system operates at high volume, low velocity and eventually will provide heating and cooling for the dance building and Lawrence Hall. Both architectural teams meet regularly, something essential to the success of the project.

"They share ideas and expenses," Nash says. But he also explains that faculty, staff and students all offered suggestions. Then the architects found "a common ground" and worked from there.

Right now there is a Yamaha grand piano in each room, but students will have to wait a little longer for the radiant heat to keep them warm at the barre and the 60-inch flat-screen television sets to view performance footage.

They will also look forward to the black box theater -- a large classroom that in only two hours can transform into a stage the size of the Byham Theater's, with auditorium seating for 200 that rolls out of the walls. It will also hold classes for lighting design majors -- the lighting board will be the best in the city -- and dance majors will learn the basics as well.

Stowe says there are no plans to increase enrollment. "We will continue to raise the standards and caliber of the students. The training that they receive will be better because of the studio."

Right now the most advanced classes, the most heavily enrolled classes and classes that involve a great deal of movement get first preference for studio time. The larger space will increase stamina and build strength because the dancers have to travel farther and dance longer. Nash jokes with the students that the "columns were cut from the budget."

With the students' upcoming "Student Choreography Project" at The Playhouse in Oakland, current rehearsals are fast and furious.

Junior Rob Priore, a native of Buffalo, is choreographing "Positive," which "deals with race and sexuality and the HIV virus." He noted that the studios "are absolutely perfect for turning. And you never have to worry about kicking someone."

Senior Aubrey Klinger, who "was born into this business" at the family-run Nan Klinger Studio and Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet in Akron, Ohio, is working on a duet for the performance. The new studios "took me to a whole other world. Nothing feels rushed -- we can do a combination two or three times. You travel so much more than you thought you ever could, but you have to take advantage of it."

As if the sky's the limit.