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Courses

Dance

8801. Graduate Dance Repertory   (2 s.h.)

This course provides insight to the choreographic process of a master choreographer through learning and performing a major work.

8802. Dance Technique Field Experience   (1 s.h.)

Individually arranged experiences are designed to extend specific performance competencies. Credit will not be awarded retroactively.

8803. Rhythm: Analysis, Performance and Composition   (3 s.h.)

Specifically for graduate level investigation, this course offers students the opportunity to engage in a comprehensive study of rhythm as a dance-related discipline at the graduate level. It will focus on the basic elements of rhythm and movement, and how these develop the student`s understanding of motion as a sequence of effort and rest. Capacities for analysis and performance of rhythm within dance and musical contexts will be cultivated.

8804. Dance and the Child   (3 s.h.)

This course addresses theories of child development and learning as they relate to the teaching of dance in K-12 education. Content is organized around a series of questions that a dance teacher might have regarding how their students are experiencing dance in a school setting. Topics include developmental milestones and their impact on dance curriculum, integration of dance into the broader school curriculum, and cultural issues in dance education. Students will gain hands-on experience in a peer teaching setting and begin to build concrete resources for teaching dance in K-12 settings. This course satisfies the elementary education course work requirement for the K-12 Dance Teacher Certification through the Bureau of Career and Technical Education.

8805. The Dancer and the Dance Medium   (1 s.h.)

A core course required of all entering graduate students. Participants engage in independent and collaborative inquiry to elucidate individual values and understandings of dance in a social learning context. Class projects include development and performance of personal dance histories and peer presentations based on areas of student expertise or interest. Emphasis is on clarification of personal voice as an important source of goal setting in graduate dance education.

8806. The Creative Process and the Dance Symbol   (3 s.h.)

This core course deals with sources and processes for creative transformation. The class examines the individual as an artist and explores various influences, congruencies, symbols and meanings affecting the art form today. It is a studio course with assignments ranging from reading and writing to choreographing and performing.

 

8808. Corporeal Improvisation   (1-2 s.h.)

This course lays the groundwork for dance improvisation as technique, as inquiry, and as performance. Exercises to develop and deepen an experiential understanding of anatomy and physical laws serve to expand physical range and imagination. Practice of improvisational directives and personal experimentation of movement concepts and the elements of dance increase awareness of individual stylistic and movement preferences and strengths, as well as areas of weakness. 

8812. Performance Environments I: Dance Production   (1 s.h.)

Students will master basic technical theater skills, and encounter design theory and practice, with emphasis on preparing them to serve as stage managers, and expose them to the vocabulary and objectives in costume, lighting, set design, theater make-up, the use of projections, and specifications for creating theater in non-theatrical spaces.

8815. Performance Environments II: Producing Dance   (2 s.h.)

A professional and practical course emphasizing the development of tools and skills necessary for realizing individual goals, vehicles and processes for change in the various fields of dance and related arts within our society.

8821. Modern Dance IIA   (1 s.h.)

This course addresses the development of basic movement skills and concepts as a means toward effective performance.

8822. Modern Dance II   (1 s.h.)

This course addresses the development of basic movement skills and concepts as a means toward effective performance.

8823. Modern Dance III   (1 s.h.)

This course addresses the extension of range, control, and clarity of performance for more complex dance sequences.

8824. Modern Dance III   (2 s.h.)

This course addresses the extension of range, control, and clarity of performance for more complex dance sequences.

8825. Modern Dance IV   (1 s.h.)

This course addresses increased technical accuracy, sensitivity, and versatility of performance. The dance material offered covers a wide range of spatial, dynamic, and rhythmic qualities.

8826. Modern Dance IV   (2 s.h.)

This course addresses increased technical accuracy, sensitivity, and versatility of performance. The dance material offered covers a wide range of spatial, dynamic, and rhythmic qualities.

8832. Classical Ballet II   (1 s.h.)

This course provides further skills in basic classical ballet vocabulary and preparation for professional study at the intermediate level.

8833. Classical Ballet III   (1 s.h.)

This course addresses increased vocabulary and skills for increasing demands of more complex combinations and sequences.

8834. Classical Ballet IV   (1 s.h.)

This course provides movement experience to develop confidence and skill for an authoritative and expressive performance. The full range of classical ballet vocabulary is used.

8835. Dance on Video   (3 s.h.)

A hands-on course exploring the practical and aesthetic considerations in recording dance. Video equipment and recording techniques will be introduced, with a survey of selected dance video works.

8839. Movement Theater Workshop   (3 s.h.)

This course is designed to provide intensive experience exploring the whole body as a medium for theatrical expression, and developing group collaborative processes.

8841. Apprenticeship in Dance   (1-2 s.h.)

Designed to allow the student to practice, challenge and expand artistic skills in a professional environment, and under the guidance of a mentor. Credit will not be awarded retroactively.

8842. Jazz Dance II   (1 s.h.)

This course provides a more sophisticated approach to jazz dance vocabularies and sensitivities used in contemporary dance and theater.

8843. Jazz Dance III   (1 s.h.)

This course provides a complete integration to the approach to jazz dance vocabularies and sensitivities used in contemporary dance and theater.

8845. Sound and Movement Partnerships   (3 s.h.)

With its basis in 20th century or modern performing arts, this course offers both a practical and a philosophical perspective on essential topics of sound and movement partnership in an effort to train the eye and ear to perceive dynamic relationships between sound and movement. Critical to this class are the investigation of performance and composition skills and the critical discussion of choreographic issues. This class in music and dance composition challenges student choreographers to discover inventive sound and movement partnerships for the creation of new work.

8851. Choreographic Projects   (1-3 s.h.)

Graduate students develop original work with the guidance of dance faculty. The course culminates in the performance of the new work developed in the class in a final showing with modest technical elements.

 

8852. Non-Western Dance Traditions   (3 s.h.)

This course is an overview of dance traditions outside North America with the exception of selected Native American traditions. Non-Western Dance Traditions will include movements from Asian, African, South American and Pacific Rim traditions. The goal in this course is to increase the student knowledge of dance traditions, further their understanding of spatial, religious and social restrictions on the dances, and inform their choreographic processes by exposure to different ways of constructing movements. This is primarily a studio course with assignments geared to choreographic inquiries that extend the students aesthetic parameters in terms of movement vocabulary and sturcture.

8865. Dance Science & Somatics   (3 s.h.)

Somatic exploration and conceptual comparison of three systems of movement awareness and transformation/rehabilitation: ideokinetic facilitation (Sweigard), body mobilization in space (Bartenieff), and traditional sports/dance medicine. Six themes are interwoven through the course: physiological bases of dance training; conditioning to address individual needs in dance training; dance injuries-their causes, pathology, care, rehabilitation, and prevention; dancers and wellness; application of motor learning and control to dance pedagogy; and mental imagery to enhance performance.

8869. Dance Teaching Seminar   (2 s.h.)

This course assists graduate students in developing a sound basis for their continued growth and effectiveness as dance educators. Grounded in theories of holistic education, critical pedagogy, and reflective practice, the course integrates studio experiences, observation, theoretical inquiry, andteaching practice to examine key values adhering to the noble profession of 'dance teacher.'

8871. Apprenticeship in Teaching Dance   (1-3 s.h.)

This course provides a supervised internship in teaching dance supported by video assessment, one-to-one mentoring and peer discussion groups.

8874. Foundations of Cultural Studies   (3 s.h.)

This course examines performance structures, social paradigms, and dominant themes. The course will be taught from a comprehensive, comparative perspective of intersecting identities including race, gender, class, and sexuality by examining and discussing major theorists in the field and analyzing performances based on those theorists. This course will also trace the intellectual heritage of cultural studies vis-a-vis scholars, artists, educators, activists, workers, and community members. The lectures, readings, video viewings, discussions, and movement experiences will attempt to examine the diversity and similarities in cultures.

8875. Arts Advocacy   (3 s.h.)

This course provides information, models and practical design experience in advocacy for dance in various settings. Emphasis is on pertinent literature, current trends and practice guided by student professional goals.

8876. Dance as a Mode of Learning   (3 s.h.)

This course integrates philosophical/historical perspectives of dance as a mode of learning with critical analysis of existing curriculum frameworks and a curriculum design project.

8877. Dance Administration   (2 s.h.)

This course studies and analyzes historical, philosophical and practical aspects of arts and dance administration. Emphasis is on practical skills including curricular, administrative and fiscal design and structures.

8878. Graduate Composition   (2 s.h.)

A course designed to confront the elements of dance composition through improvisation, short movement studies and dances that are presented, discussed, and reworked in class. A final composition will demonstrate skills, sensitivities, and understandings acquired.

9801. Problems in Dance Research   (1-4 s.h.)

In a guided seminar setting, each student completes an annotated bibliography, a critical review of the literature, and/or a research study related to a topic of individual interest. Students present their work, at various phases of development, to their peers for critical review.

9803. Research Partnerships   (1-3 s.h.)

Doctoral students work closely with a faculty member in a specific research agenda, identified either by the student or the faculty member. This course is designed as a mentoring experience for the doctoral student.

9851. Black Performance   (3 s.h.)

Using a chronological and geographical approach, this course traces performance trends in dance, music and theater from West Africa to the Caribbean to the U.S. Examples of commonality and continuity are explored in selections from Yoruba, Akan, Vodun and African genres.

9861. Dance and the Gendered Body: Historical Perspectives   (3 s.h.)

Students learn ways of analyzing representations of women, men, people of color, sexualities, and class distinctions in dance performance situated in different historical periods, cultural contexts, and performance venues. Students learn how to write historical narratives by locating primary sources and discovering the different voices/perspectives involved in a particular dance production, genre, ritual, performance practice. The course culminates in an ensemble performance based upon individual research projects and reflexive understanding of how the researcher`s identity intersects with the research. The emphasis is on research as performance and performance as research.

 

9875. Meaning in Dance   (3 s.h.)

This course focuses on methodologies for dance research that start with human experience (phenomenology, autobiography, autoethnography, and humanistic sociology) as the generative ground of meaning making. Students will engage with multiple perspectives and layered practices to illuminate 'lived experience' in dance.

In a guided seminar setting, each student completes an annotated bibliography, a critical review of the literature, and/or a research study related to a topic of individual interest. Students present their work, at various phases of development, to their peers for critical review.

9951. Aesthetic and Philosophical Inquiry   (3 s.h.)

Designed to introduce, analyze, and teach students to employ aesthetic and philosophic methods of inquiry to dance. Selected written and performance texts will demonstrate various pathways a research might travel to unveil the philosophic bases of dance.

9956. Research Structure: Dance Ethnography   (3 s.h.)

This course covers a range of methods, techniques, and ethical concerns in dance research, including ethnographic methods and techniques of oral interview. In a guided seminar setting, each student develops an original research plan of design and presents it to her or his peers for critical evaluation.

9984. Master's Concert in Dance   (6 s.h.)

Limited to those who plan to earn the Master's degree requirements by completing a major choreographic work. Normally not taken before the fifth or sixth semester of study and after the completion of a minimum 42 credits, including all required course work in Choreographic Skills and Resources, the stage managing and comprehensive exam requirements.

9994. Preliminary Examination Preparation   (1-2 s.h.)

The student demonstrates the ability to complete independent academic projects by preparing a course proposal and an article judged to be of sufficient quality to be published in a professional journal.

9995. Master's Project in Dance   (3-6 s.h.)

Limited to those who plan to earn the Master's degree by completing a project. The final project option of Ed.M. candidates who register for 3 s.h. Also available to M.F.A. candidates for a 6 s.h. final project if decided in advisement with major curriculum advisor.

9996. Master`s Thesis in Dance   (6 s.h.)

Limited to those who plan to complete the Master`s degree by writing a thesis. Note: This option is available only to those who have successfully completed Dance 951 Aesthetic and Philosophical Inquiry. Registration is done in advisement with major advisor.

 

9998. Pre-Dissertation Research   (3-6 s.h.)

The student prepares a proposal for dissertation research with guidance from the Primary Advisor. The proposal is formally presented before the Sponsoring Committee and, if approved, passes on to the Graduate School, where it must be approved before the student can be advanced to candidacy. Student must have passed preliminary examinations to enroll in 899.

9999. Dissertation   (3-9 s.h.)

The dissertation is advised by the major advisor and the two additional faculty members of the Sponsoring Committee. At the time of defense, one or two faculty members are added, comprising and examining committee of at least four to five members.