CHICAGO — Olympic College students Xavier Euzarraga of Bremerton and Evelina Svensson of Indianola have been selected for the inaugural class of a new undergraduate musical theater program that emphasizes dance, at Roosevelt University in Chicago.

Euzarraga, winner of the 2011 Dancing with the Tacoma Stars Ballroom Competition’s Amateur Division, and Svensson, a frequent performer with Bainbridge Performing Arts, are among 17 students selected for the new bachelor of fine arts in musical theater program, with a concentration in dance, that starts in the fall at Roosevelt.

Euzarraga and Svensson were selected from a competitive pool of 60 applicants who performed at auditions earlier this year in New York, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and at Roosevelt University. They will start the program in August with classmates who hail from 11 states and Canada.

“We are creating a new kind of program that will provide the most comprehensive and well-rounded musical theater education available to actors, singers and dancers,” said Sean Kelley, director of the Theatre Conservatory at Roosevelt University.

“It will give us a reach like never before, putting us in a category to become the premier musical theater program in the country.”

Program amenities include a new 13,000-square-foot studio facility located in the heart of Chicago’s Loop, and accomplished faculty members — including Jane Lanier, a Tony-nominated Broadway performer, dancer and choreographer; and a cadre of instructors from the theater and dance scene in Chicago.