Location: Bowdoin / Theater & Dance / Courses / Fall 2006 Courses

Theater and Dance

Courses

Fall 2006 Courses

Dance

101. Cultural Choreographies: An Introduction to Dance: June Vail T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25; Dancing is a fundamental human activity, a mode of communication, and a basic force in social life. Investigates dance and movement in the studio and classroom, as aesthetic and cultural phenomena. Explores how dance and movement activities reveal information about cultural norms and values and affect perspectives in our own and other societies. Using ethnographic methods, focuses on how dancing maintains and creates conceptions of one's own body, gender relationships, and personal and community identities. Experiments with dance and movement forms from different cultures and epochs—for example, the hula, New England contradance, classical Indian dance, Balkan kolos, ballet, contact improvisation, and African American dance forms from swing to hiphop—through readings, performances, workshops in the studio, and field work.
104. Stagecraft: Michael F Schiff-Verre T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25; Introduction to the language and practice of technical theater. Hands-on experience in lighting, sound, costuming, and scenic and property construction. Considers the demands and limits of different theatrical spaces, as well as job roles and management for theater and dance productions. Includes forty hours of laboratory work. May be taken as Credit/Fail only.
LAB: Deborah Puhl TBA; Introduction to the language and practice of technical theater. Hands-on experience in lighting, sound, costuming, and scenic and property construction. Considers the demands and limits of different theatrical spaces, as well as job roles and management for theater and dance productions. Includes forty hours of laboratory work. May be taken as Credit/Fail only.
111. Introductory Dance Technique: Gwyneth Jones T 2:30 - 3:55, TH 2:30 - 3:55; Classes in modern dance technique include basic exercises to develop dance skills such as balance and musicality. More challenging movement combinations and longer dance sequences build on these exercises. While focusing on the craft of dancing, students develop an appreciation of their own styles and an understanding of the role of craft in the creative process. During the semester, a historical overview of twentieth-century American dance on video is presented. Attendance at all classes is required. One-half credit.
112. Introductory Repertory and Performance: Gwyneth Jones T 4:00 - 5:25, TH 4:00 - 5:25; Repertory students are required to take Dance 111 concurrently. Repertory classes provide the chance to learn faculty-choreographed works or reconstructions of historical dances. Class meetings are conducted as rehearsals for performances at the end of the semester: the December Studio Show, the annual Spring Performance in Pickard Theater, or Museum Pieces at the Walker Art Building in May. Additional rehearsals are scheduled before performances. Attendance at all classes and rehearsals is required. One-half credit.
130. Principles of Design: Judy Gailen M 9:30 - 11:25, W 9:30 - 11:25; Studio course that stimulates students to consider the world of a play, dance, or performance piece from a designer�s perpective. Through projects, readings, discussion, and critiques, students explore the fundamental principles of visual design, text analysis for the designer, and the process of collaboration. Strong emphasis on perceptual, analytical, and communication skills.
211. Intermediate Dance Technique: Paul Sarvis M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55; A continuation of the processes introduced in Dance 111. One-half credit.
212. Intermediate Repertory and Performance: Paul Sarvis M 4:00 - 5:25, W 4:00 - 5:25; Intermediate repertory students are required to take Dance 211 concurrently. A continuation of the principles and requirement introduced in Dance 112. One-half credit.
311. Advanced/Intermediate Dance Technique: Gwyneth Jones M 2:30 - 3:55, W 2:30 - 3:55; A continuation of the processes introduced in Dance 211. One-half credit.
312. Advanced/Intermediate Repertory and Performance: Gwyneth Jones M 4:00 - 5:25, W 4:00 - 5:25; Intermediate/advanced repertory students are required to take Dance 311 concurrently. A continuation of the principles and requirement introduced in Dance 212. One-half credit.

Theater

101. Making Theater: Gretchen Berg T 9:30 - 11:25, TH 9:30 - 11:25; An active introductory exploration of the nature of theater: how to think about it, how to look at it, how to make it. Students examine a range of theatrical ideas and conventions, see and reflect on live performance, and experience different approaches to making work. Designers, directors, performers, and scholars visit the class to broaden perspective and instigate experiments. Students work collaboratively throughout the semester to develop and perform original work.
104. Stagecraft: Michael F Schiff-Verre T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25; Introduction to the language and practice of technical theater. Hands-on experience in lighting, sound, costuming, and scenic and property construction. Considers the demands and limits of different theatrical spaces, as well as job roles and management for theater and dance productions. Includes forty hours of laboratory work. May be taken as Credit/Fail only.
LAB: Deborah Puhl TBA; Introduction to the language and practice of technical theater. Hands-on experience in lighting, sound, costuming, and scenic and property construction. Considers the demands and limits of different theatrical spaces, as well as job roles and management for theater and dance productions. Includes forty hours of laboratory work. May be taken as Credit/Fail only.
120. Acting I: Davis R. Robinson M 1:30 - 3:25, W 1:30 - 3:25; Introduces students to the physical, emotional, and intellectual challenge of the acting process. Voice and movement work, analysis of dramatic texts from an actor�s point of view, and improvisational exercises are used to provide students with a variety of methods for acting truthfully on stage.
130. Principles of Design: Judy Gailen M 9:30 - 11:25, W 9:30 - 11:25; Studio course that stimulates students to consider the world of a play, dance, or performance piece from a designer�s perpective. Through projects, readings, discussion, and critiques, students explore the fundamental principles of visual design, text analysis for the designer, and the process of collaboration. Strong emphasis on perceptual, analytical, and communication skills.
212. Shakespeare's History Plays: William Watterson T 8:30 - 9:55, TH 8:30 - 9:55; Explores the relationship of Richard III, 2 Henry VI, and the second tetralogy (Richard II, the two parts of Henry IV and Henry V) to the genre of English chronicle play that flourished in the 1580s and 1590s. Readings in primary sources (More, Hall, and Holinshed) are supplemented by readings of critics (Tillyard, Kelly, Siegel, Greenblatt, Goldberg, etc.) concerned with locating Shakespeare�s own orientation toward questions of history and historical meaning. Regular screenings of BBC productions.
223. English Renaissance Drama: Aaron W Kitch T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25; Traces the explosion of popular drama in England between the construction of the first permanent London theater in 1576 and parliamentary closure of English theater in 1642. Pays special attention to the plots that audiences liked best�revenge, war, the accumulation of wealth, marriage, and adultery�and the monarchs, citizens, merchants, and clowns who enacted them on the stage. Explores how popular genres like revenge tragedy, domestic tragedy, and city comedy fulfilled political and cultural desires of the age. Also examines questions of staging and the professional rivalry between some of the most memorable playwrights in English drama, including Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Elizabeth Cary, and Thomas Middleton. Note: This course fulfills the pre-1800 literature requirement for English majors.
225. Acting II: Physical Theater: Davis R. Robinson M 9:30 - 11:25, W 9:30 - 11:25; Extends the principles of Acting I through a full semester of rigorous physical acting work focused on presence, energy, relaxation, alignment, and emotional freedom. Develops and brings the entire body to the act of being on stage through highly structured individual exercises and ensemble oriented improvisational work. Movement and text are explored using a major movement-based acting discipline such as Lecoq, Suzuki, Meyerhold, or Viewpoints. Contemporary physical theater makers SITI company, Theatre de Complicite and Theatre de Soliel are discussed. Part of a two semester sequence with Acting II/ Voice and Text that can be taken individually or in any order. Prerequisite: a 100-level course in the Theater department.
260. Playwriting: Gretchen Berg T 11:30 - 12:55, TH 11:30 - 12:55; A workshop in writing for contemporary theater. Includes introductory exercises in writing monologues, dialogue, and scenes, then moves to the writing and revising of a short play, a solo performance piece, or a staged adaptation of existing material. Students read plays and performance texts, considering how writers use speech, silence, and action; how they structure plays and performance pieces; and how they approach character and plot.
270. Directing: Sonja G Moser T 1:30 - 3:25, TH 1:30 - 3:25; Introduces students to the major principles of play direction, including conceiving a production, script analysis, staging, casting, and rehearsing with actors. Attention is also paid to collaborating with designers. Students actively engage directing theories and techniques through collaborative class projects, and complete the course by conceiving, casting, rehearsing, and presenting short plays of their choosing. A final research and rehearsal portfolio is required.