Courses in Dance
Note: This page contains all of the regular courses taught by this department. Not all courses are offered every year. Check the searchable schedule to see which courses are being offered in the upcoming semester.
DANC 104 Yoga
Credit: 0.25
This is a Hatha Yoga course that will help the participants improve alignment, balance, strength, and flexibility through the mindful practice of yoga postures. Integration through motion, breath, and healthy attentiveness will be emphasized. The required reading for the course, Yoga, Mind, Body and Spirit, by Donna Farhi, will provide a deeper understanding of what yoga has to offer. This course is generally offered every other year.
DANC 105 Introduction to the Dance
Credit: 0.5
Introduction to the Dance is a one-semester survey course designed to introduce dance as a performing art form, historically as well as in practice, and to explore how dance as a cultural phenomenon helps shape and is shaped by cultural values. The course will track the development of dance as a performing art in Europe and in the U.S. from the Renaissance to the 1950s, by identifying important stylistic trends and the works of major contributors to the field, such as the Ballets Russes, Martha Graham, and Katherine Dunham. While we will focus on Western concert dance as a performing art, we will also study some dance phenomena cross-culturally in order to broaden our understanding of the function dance serves and its relationship to cultural beliefs and to the history of ideas. The study of dance history provides a lens for exploring the world, its people, and their cultures. Assignments include written work and short movement studies composed by students to explore various aspects of the choreographic process and to embody significant trends in the evolution of dancemaking. This course is offered every year.
DANC 107 Beginning Dance Fundamentals
Credit: 0.25
This course introduces movement concepts for the beginning-level student in one particular form of dance. The style being offered will vary each semester, depending on adjunct faculty availability, but may include jazz dance, world dance, or tap dance. The specific classes will be determined at the beginning of each academic year. The course involves intensive movement participation; however, there is no stress placed on public performance. No prior experience is necessary. No prerequisite. This course is offered every year.
DANC 108 Beginning Modern Dance
Credit: 0.25
This course's focus is on modern dance technique for the beginning-level student. During the semester, self-expression through movement will be explored through exercises emphasizing the basic concepts of breath, mobilizing weight, and improvisation. The course involves intensive movement participation; however, there is no stress placed on public performance. No prior experience is necessary. No prerequisite.
DANC 109 Beginning Ballet Dance
Credit: 0.25
The ballet style and movement vocabulary are presented in this technique course for the beginning-level student. During the semester, students will be introduced to the fundamental components of ballet technique, including line, position, and artistry, with a focus on correct body mechanics. The course involves intensive movement participation; however, there is no stress placed on public performance. No prior experience is necessary. No prerequisite. This course is generally offered every other year.
DANC 110 The Dance: Production and Performance
Credit: 0
The Fall and Spring Dance Concerts give dancers, choreographers, and designers an opportunity to present their work in concert. Advised and directed by dance faculty members and guest artists, these concerts are the culmination of one or two semesters of preparation, rehearsals, and regularly scheduled showings of work-in-progress. The Fall Dance Concert: In order for students to choreograph for the Fall Dance Concert, students must be enrolled in or have successfully completed DANC 227 or 228. (Please note: DANC 110 audit will be awarded to those dancers, choreographers, and production personnel whose work exhibited high standards.) Choreography proposals must be submitted to the dance faculty by the date announced early each fall semester. Each choreographer then shows the work-in-progress for final selection by the dance faculty. The Spring Dance Concert: In order for students to choreograph for the Spring Dance Concert, they must be enrolled in or have successfully completed DANC 227 or 228. Students who have choreographed for the Fall Dance Concert will be given priority. Dance faculty will announce the selected student choreographers early in the spring semester. The same selection process is followed for both Fall and Spring Dance Concerts.Auditions to dance in either concert are held at the beginning of each semester. All dancers who perform in either concert are required to participate in a dance technique course (DANC 107, 108, 109, 208, 209, or 308). Designers are recommended by the design faculty of the Department of Dance and Drama.
DANC 208 Intermediate Modern Technique
Credit: 0.25
Intermediate Modern Technique furthers the work of the beginning-level course with increased application of movement principles established by creative artists and teachers from the American and European contemporary dance tradition. Movement fundamentals from other broad-based techniques and body therapies are also included. No prerequisite; however, permission of the instructor may be necessary if the student has no prior experience. This course is offered every semester.
DANC 209 Intermediate Ballet Technique
Credit: 0.25
Intermediate Ballet Technique furthers the work of the beginning-level course with a more in-depth application of the ballet vocabulary and style.
DANC 214D Union of Music and Dance
Credit: 0.5
The Union of Music and Dance will explore the historical intersections of music and dance in the collaborative creative process. Music and dance are inexorably linked. At times music composition and choreography happen simultaneously, as is the case with Aaron Copland and Martha Grahams Appalachian Spring. At other times the dance comes after the music has been composed. Learning about the vital intersections between music and dance will provide students with a more deeply understood and nuanced approach to how the work of composers and choreographers intersect and dialogue with each other in works ranging historically from Lully and Petipa, to Philip Glass and Mark Morris. This is an interdisciplinary class co-taught by a professor in Dance and a professor in Music. No prerequisites. This class is offered approximately every other year.
DANC 215 Contemporary Dance History
Credit: 0.5
This course investigates the development of dance as a performing art in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The course examines major trends that influence dancemaking--which include technology, globalization, and collaboration--by observing the work of principal artists. This course investigates aesthetic points of view, beliefs, and assumptions inherent in dance practice, dance criticism, and history writing. Prerequisite: DANC 105. This course is generally offered every other year.
DANC 220 Dance Labanotation
Credit: 0.5
This course covers the basic concepts and skills necessary for reading and writing Labanotation, a system for recording movement in symbolic form. Studio work will emphasize re-creating and performing dances from written scores in addition to the theoretical analysis of movement. Class requirements may fulfill Dance Notation Bureau standards for certification in Beginning Labanotation. This course is generally offered every other year.
DANC 227 The Choreographer I
Credit: 0.5
The theory and practice of making dances is the focus of the choreographer. The fundamentals of composing both solo and group works are presented through the exploration of dance dynamics, improvisation, and movement problem-solving. Work will include movement studies, presentations, readings, and discussions. Group preparation time outside of class for movement studies is required.
DANC 228 The Choreographer II
Credit: 0.5
Special topics in dance composition are the focus of this course. Students will be presented with advanced choreographic theories and challenges. The choreographic assignments vary each semester and may include studies that emphasize partnering, the use of technology, collaboration, or site-specific work. Course requirements include readings, discussions, and the development and presentation of movement studies. Significant preparation time outside of class is expected.
DANC 308 Advanced Modern Dance Technique
Credit: 0.25
Advanced technique work in contemporary dance builds upon principles of movement established at the beginning and intermediate levels. In-depth exploration of floor work, improvisation, somatic practices, and a variety of postmodern styles promotes artistry, efficiency of movement, and integrated strength. Prerequisite: DANC 208 or permission of instructor. This course is offered every semester.
Instructor: Staff
DANC 322 Dance Kinesiology
Credit: 0.5
This course studies the science of movement as it relates to dance. Basic anatomy and physiology, the physics of dance, and the mind-body connection responsible for producing and controlling movement are explored to provide students with a deeper understanding of the structure and function of the human body. Lectures, discussions, and movement labs focus on practical analysis and application of material in order to increase movement efficiency, with the ultimate goal of enhancing performance and preventing injury.
DANC 397 Junior Honors
Credit: 0.5
Junior honors in the Department of Dance and Drama is the first step towards departmental honors. It is required of all students wishing to pursue senior honors.
DANC 398 Junior Honors
Credit: 0.5
Junior honors in the Department of Dance and Drama is the first step towards departmental honors. It is required of all students wishing to pursue senior honors.
DANC 493 Individual Study
Credit: 0.25-0.5
Individual study in dance and drama is reserved for students exploring a topic not regularly offered in the department's curriculum. Typically, the course will carry .5 unit of credit. To enroll in an individual study, a student must identify a member of the department willing to direct the project and, in consultation with him or her, write a proposal. The department chair must approve the proposal. The one- to two-page proposal should include a preliminary bibliography and/or set of specific problems, goals, and tasks for the course, outline a schedule of reading and/or writing assignments or creative undertakings, and describe the methods of assessment (e.g. a journal to be submitted for evaluation weekly; a one-act play due at semester's end, with drafts due at given intervals, etc.). The student should also briefly describe prior coursework which qualifies him or her for this independent project. At a minimum, the department expects the student to meet regularly with the instructor one hour per week, and to submit an amount of work equivalent to that required in 300-level dance and drama courses. Students are urged to begin discussion of their proposed individual study the semester before they hope to enroll, so that they can devise a proposal and seek departmental approval before the registrar's deadline.