Courses

Courses

Spring 2008 Courses

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Dance

010. Understanding Theater and Dance: Critical Perspectives on the Performing Arts
June Vail T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25
Investigates various analytical perspectives on dance, drama, and other theatrical events. Develops viewing and writing skills: description, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and organization. Live performances, on and off campus; film; and videos provide the basis for four extended essays and other modes of critical response – written, oral, or visual. Individual conferences and visits by professionals in the field.

102. Making Dances
Paul Sarvis M 9:30 - 11:25, W 9:30 - 11:25
Explores ways of choreographing dances and multimedia performance works, primarily solos, duets, trios. A strong video component introduces students—regardless of previous experience in dance—to a wide range of compositional methods that correspond to creative process in other arts: writing, drawing, composing. Includes some reading, writing, and discussion, as well as work with visiting professional dance companies and attendance at live performances.

104. Stagecraft
Michael Schiff-Verre T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25
Introduction to the language, theory, and practice of technical theater. Hands-on experience in lighting, scenic and property construction, costuming, and stage management. Considers the possibilities, demands, and limits inherent in different forms of performance and performance spaces, and explores the job roles integral to theater and dance production. Includes forty hours of laboratory work. Grading is Credit/D/Fail.

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. May be repeated for credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. 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. May be repeated for credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. One-half credit.

113. African Dance and Music
Jordan Benissan M 4:00 - 5:25, W 4:00 - 5:25
A studio course introducing integral and defining aspects of African cultures: dance, music and song. Includes dance from the Ewe tradition (Togo/Ghana); Ashanti (Ghana); Ga (Ghana); and Yoruba (Nigeria). Hands on experience with musical improvisations -- drumming, rattles, bells -- and singing. Films and recordings trace the dances' origins and histories. Culminates in a class performance.

115. Bodywork for Performers
Craig L. Williamson F 8:30 - 11:25
In a studio environment, applies principles of somatic awareness drawn from the insights and techniques of Mabel Ellsworth Todd, FM Alexander, Moshe Feldenkrais and others, with the goal of increasing awareness of habitual patterns of use; deepening understanding of posture, movement, breathing, speaking and singing; and developing the quality of presence in performance. Helps actors, dancers, musicians, and movers of all kinds increase the range and depth of kinesthetic, spatial, and dynamic awareness for enhanced vocal and physical expression. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. One-half credit

140. Performance Art
Gretchen Berg T 9:30 - 11:25, TH 9:30 - 11:25
Performance art is live art performed by artists. It includes, but is not limited by, elements of both theater and dance. Students study the history and theory of performance art through readings and the creation of original work. Students consider the social context of different movements in performance art, and the creation of performance art in contemporary culture. The class creates and performs pieces in both traditional and “found” spaces.

195. Production and Performance
Davis Robinson
Engagement in the presentation of a full-length work for public performance with a faculty director or choreographer. Areas of concentration within the production may include design, including set, light, sound, or costume; rehearsal and performance of roles; service as assistant director or stage manager. In addition to fulfilling specific production responsibilities, students meet weekly to synthesize work. May be repeated for credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. One-half credit. (See special provisions governing Dance 195 in the introduction to this section.)

211. Intermediate Dance Technique
Paul Sarvis T 2:30 - 3:55, TH 2:30 - 3:55
A continuation of the processes introduced in Dance 111. May be repeated for credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. One-half credit.

212. Intermediate Repertory and Performance
Paul Sarvis T 4:00 - 5:25, TH 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. May be repeated for credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. 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. May be repeated for credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. 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. May be repeated for credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. One-half credit.

Theater

010. Understanding Theater and Dance: Critical Perspectives on the Performing Arts
June Vail T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25
Investigates various analytical perspectives on dance, drama, and other theatrical events. Develops viewing and writing skills: description, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and organization. Live performances, on and off campus; film; and videos provide the basis for four extended essays and other modes of critical response – written, oral, or visual. Individual conferences and visits by professionals in the field.

101. Making Theater
Sonja Moser M 9:30 - 11:25, W 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 Schiff-Verre T 10:00 - 11:25, TH 10:00 - 11:25
Introduction to the language, theory, and practice of technical theater. Hands-on experience in lighting, scenic and property construction, costuming, and stage management. Considers the possibilities, demands, and limits inherent in different forms of performance and performance spaces, and explores the job roles integral to theater and dance production. Includes forty hours of laboratory work. Grading is Credit/D/Fail.

106. Introduction to Drama
Aaron Kitch T 11:30 - 12:55, TH 11:30 - 12:55
Traces the development of dramatic form, character, and style from classical Greece through the Renaissance and Enlightenment to contemporary America and Africa. Explores the evolution of plot design, with special attention to the politics of playing, the shifting strategies of representing human agency, and contemporary relationships between the theater and a variety of forms of mass media. Authors may include Sophocles, Aristophanes, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Dryden, Ibsen, Wilde, Beckett, Mamet, and Churchill.

115. Bodywork for Performers
None None F 8:30 - 11:25
In a studio environment, applies principles of somatic awareness drawn from the insights and techniques of Mabel Ellsworth Todd, FM Alexander, Moshe Feldenkrais and others, with the goal of increasing awareness of habitual patterns of use; deepening understanding of posture, movement, breathing, speaking and singing; and developing the quality of presence in performance. Helps actors, dancers, musicians, and movers of all kinds increase the range and depth of kinesthetic, spatial, and dynamic awareness for enhanced vocal and physical expression. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. One-half credit

120. Acting I
Sonja Moser 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.

140. Performance Art
Gretchen Berg T 9:30 - 11:25, TH 9:30 - 11:25
Performance art is live art performed by artists. It includes, but is not limited by, elements of both theater and dance. Students study the history and theory of performance art through readings and the creation of original work. Students consider the social context of different movements in performance art, and the creation of performance art in contemporary culture. The class creates and performs pieces in both traditional and “found” spaces.

195. Production and Performance
Davis Robinson
Engagement in the presentation of a full-length work for public performance with a faculty director or choreographer. Areas of concentration within the production may include design, including set, light, sound, or costume; rehearsal and performance of roles; service as assistant director or stage manager. In addition to fulfilling specific production responsibilities, students meet weekly to synthesize work. May be repeated for credit. Grading is Credit/D/Fail. One-half credit. (See special provisions governing Dance 195 in the introduction to this section.)

211. Shakespeare's Tragedies and Roman Plays
William Watterson M 11:30 - 12:55, W 11:30 - 12:55
Examines Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, King Lear, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus in light of recent critical thought. Special attention is given to psychoanalysis, new historicism, and genre theory. Note: This course fulfills the pre-1800 literature requirement for English majors.

225. Acting II: Physical Theater
Davis Robinson T 1:30 - 3:25, TH 1:30 - 3:25
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. Scene work is explored through the movement-based acting disciplines of Lecoq, Grotowski, Meyerhold, or Viewpoints. Contemporary physical theater makers Théâtre de Complicité, Mabou Mines, SITI company, and Théâtre de Soleil are discussed. This course, along with Theater 220, Acting II: Voice and Text, is part of a two-semester course series. Theater 220 and 225 may be taken individually or in any order.

317. The Arts of Power
Aaron Kitch T 2:30 - 3:55, TH 2:30 - 3:55
Examines the intersection of aesthetics and politics in the English Renaissance, as the Tudor court utilized literary, dramatic, and visual arts in new ways to express its magnificence. Explores the development of spectacular masques by Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones for the court of King James, as well as the enabling system of royal patronage that made them possible. Topics include royal mythology, fashion at court, portraiture, and the arts of perspective in the context of court-specific styles of literature. Authors may include Wyatt, Sidney, Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, Spenser, Lanyer, and Jonson, with secondary readings on the structure of the English monarchy, the history of theatrical design, and the function of spectacle. Students have the opportunity to develop their own research projects during the semester. Note: This course fulfills the pre-1800 literature requirement for English majors.

323. Acting Shakespeare: Tragedies and Comedies
Nina Pleasants M 11:30 - 1:25, W 11:30 - 1:25
An acting course with emphasis on the theatrical use of verse and heightened language in Shakespeare’s tragedies and comedies. Examines Elizabethan culture and its impact on Shakespeare’s writing. Issues of scansion, rhetorical devices, antithesis, punctuation, and First Folio work are addressed through vigorous voice and movement work. Culminates in a final outdoor performance at the end of the semester.