I was missing the following line in my routeProvider:
.when '/',
templateUrl: '/templates/dashboard.html'
Additionally, the blank route
.when '',
templateUrl: '/templates/dashboard.html'
Needed to be removed
Then the way to rewrite the URL without reloading the page is the following in the controller:
lastRoute = route.current
scope.$on('$locationChangeSuccess', (event)->
route.current = lastRoute
)