Theater and Dance

Theater is a global revolutionary force with roots buried deeper than our recorded history. This class will expose students to the many diverse modes in which performance takes place around the world and examine them in the historic context of Theater and the evolving ideas of art and human experience. We will explore how the directors, actors, designers, and technicians who work in this medium generate their work. Students will create their own live performance projects. Using the Harper Joy Theater production season as a laboratory, students will see the plays from backstage and front, and critically evaluate the work. Open to all students.

What rhetorics, possibilities, and complexities are produced through the spectacles of dancing bodies on film and in popular media? This course will be taught from the perspective of dance studies to examine the mass appeal of dance in film and popular media and the questions these media elicit about authorship and ownership, circulations and communities, embodiment, gaze, appropriation, and the capacities of choreography. Content includes early Hollywood Backstage Musicals, contemporary American blockbuster movies, Bollywood movies, music videos, viral videos, and more. May be taken for credit toward the Film and Media Studies major or minor.

Designed to help the student to realize his/her potential as an actor and to help him/her find a systematic way of approaching a role. Emphasis on concentration, imagination, movement, working in terms of objectives and responding to others. Students engage in acting exercises, scene work and assigned reading. Open only to first-year students and sophomores.

A continuation of Theater 125. Students build on the acting fundamentals they learned in Beginning Acting I. Includes additional scene work, acting exercises, and assigned reading.

This course will focus on dance as an art form whose primary medium, and source, is the human body. Generally, class will begin with a warm-up to stretch, strengthen, and engage one’s center and progress to longer combinations that emphasize relationships to gravity, falling, and movement of the spine. Open to all students.

In this dance course, students will develop basic ballet skills, with emphasis on dynamic postural alignment, anatomical functionality, and building movement vocabulary. Open to all students.

This course explores the rich diversity of performative traditions found throughout the non-western world.  It examines a wide range of theatrical experiences within distinct cultural and geographical contexts and connects those performances to specific social and historical aspects of each society.  Students will gain a much broader understanding of Theater and how it can be used to enhance the cultural narrative of different cultures.

This course will introduce students to the basics of lighting and sound technology in the world of performance. It will cover: basic lighting and sound equipment for stage, electrical theory, common terminology, electrical safety and wiring, dimming, patching, hanging & focus of lights instrument, sound system setup for performance; including speaker and microphone placement, board programing & operation, and reading technical paperwork.  May be taken for credit toward the Film and Media Studies major.

This course will introduce students to the basic skills of a stage manager. These include communication, organization, collaboration, and Theater & personnel management. Most importantly, students will learn the responsibilities that a stage manager takes on when guiding a show through all of the various phases of production. Students will learn skills relating to the creation of paperwork for all phases of a production, how to build and maintain a prompt book, how to read technical drawings, proper audition and rehearsal processes, proper show calling techniques, and how to manage schedules and production communication. They will learn to effectively aid in communication within the production team, organize the production process from auditions through closing, and archive the show.

Somatics are methods for being in the world with enhanced bodily awareness. For artists and performers alike, knowing oneself from the inside out fosters the imagination and one’s ability to be spontaneous and self-reflective. Through guided movement, writing, drawing, and performance exercises, this class surveys practices of embodiment and their relationship to the creative process. Lessons are tailored toward students of dance, Theater, and visual arts, but open to students across campus. Outside reading and writing assignments are included. No dance experience is necessary.

How do we prepare and perform roles from plays set outside of our own time? Embracing research as a central tenant of our work, we will become familiar with acting in plays from different historical periods. By employing a variety of approaches to acting aimed at unlocking the meaning and power in verse and prose, we will become increasingly adept at memorizing and preparing on our own before entering the rehearsal room.

This course builds on foundational experiences in modern dance technique using an eclectic approach. Classes will begin with a warm-up using verbal and visual imagery, as well as anatomical directives. Students will then move developmentally to strengthen and explore the architecture of their bodies. Students will apply anatomical clarity, varying energies, and varying ways of inhabiting their bodies in combinations that move through space while investigating performance presence and expressiveness.

This course builds on foundational experiences in ballet technique. The course focuses on improving anatomical clarity and kinesthetic precision as well as developing presence and expressiveness for performance. May be repeated for credit.

This companion lecture course for modern dance practicums engages modern dance's complex history which embraces resistance and diasporic form yet draws heavily from orientalist practices and has been complicit in state propaganda. The course will engage modern dance as a radical solo practice, including tensions between narrative and abstraction throughout the twentieth century. Artists covered may include Ruth St. Denis, Mary Wigman, Martha Graham, Katherine Dunham, José Limón, Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham, and Judson Dance Theater, as well as current contemporary concert dance artists. This course is taken concurrently with a two-credit modern dance practicum.

This one-credit companion lecture course for ballet practicums approaches ballet history with particular attention to the ways national, class, race, gender, and sexuality politics have informed theatrical representations and aesthetics over time. We will view and examine Romantic and Classical story-ballets such as Giselle and Swan Lake, the radical modernism of Ballet Russes, the neo-classical Americanism of George Balanchine, and Cold War diplomacy via ballet. We will then consider the ways that ballet ideologies and institutional practices have been reinforced and challenged. This course meets for 50 minutes, one time a week. This course is taken concurrently with a two-credit ballet practicum.  

With the assistance of a variety of choreographic perspectives, methods, and strategies, students will investigate their creative process as it pertains to live dance/performance. Each class session will be comprised of a basic movement warm-up followed by in-class explorations, weekly showings of student works, and discussions. Students will develop one of their projects to a performance-ready state through feedback and rehearsal. Students are expected to complete readings, viewings, and assignments each week. No dance experience is necessary, as student works will build on their own expressions, interests, and body’s capabilities. Standard grading. May be repeated for credit if instructed by a different professor.

This course is a survey of the literature and history of the theater of Medieval and Renaissance England and Early Modern Europe. Students will become aware of social, political, and religious attitudes and their influence on playwriting and play-going, as well as technological and scientific advancements and their impact on theater architecture, design, and technical practice. Students will work toward imagining play scripts coming to life in production, and they will seek connections and comparisons between texts from this period and contemporary playwriting, performance, and production trends with which we may be familiar. Dramatists to be studied may include Hrotsvit of Gandersheim, the Wakefield Master, Marlowe, Shakespeare, Jonson, Calderón, Molière, Racine, Aphra Behn, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, Catharine Trotter, and George Farquhar. Students who received credit for Theater and Dance 371 cannot receive credit for this course.

This course will introduce students to the basic principles, theories, and skills used in technical Theater production. Students will gain an understanding of the technical process in the fields of Theater design and organization, technical design, and budgeting.  They will develop skills in these areas through research and hands-on projects exploring construction methods, technical scenery design, theatrical rigging and materials and labor budgeting. By the end of this class, students will have a basic understanding of the skills involved in technical Theater production and the ability to analyze and budget basic technical needs of a Theater production.

This course will introduce students to the basic principles, theories, and skills of the theatrical designer.   Students will gain an understanding of the artistic process in the fields of scenic, costume, lighting, and sound design. They will develop skills in these areas through projects involving basic artistic considerations such as color, balance, and texture as well as Theater specific projects in each of the design disciplines. By the end of this class the students will have a basic understanding of the skills involved in theatrical design, the ability analyze a design with a critical and artistic eye, and an understanding of the collaborative process which occurs during a theatrical production.

Practical application of Theater production including, but not limited to, activities related to scenery, lighting, costumes, props and sound. Graded credit/no credit. Open to all students. May be repeated for credit. Credits in this course are classified as Activity credits, which are excluded from the enrollment limit of 18 Academic credits per semester; however, other limits on Activity credits may apply.

This project-based course will explore the processes a Properties Master goes through when researching and acquiring properties for use in theatrical production.  The course will also explore methods for creating stage properties including sculpting, carving and casting techniques.  When appropriate, the course will include practical assignments related to the semester’s production(s).

Hip Hop Culture is taught from a dance perspective, and includes the context of West Coast street styles and their concomitant sub-cultures, including Popping, Animation, Krump, C-walk, and others.  The course covers some basics of U.S. History/African American U.S. History, focusing on sharecropping and the Great Migration, as well as on conditions which contributed to the formation of “ghettos” in The South Bronx of New York City, and the Watts and Compton neighborhoods of Los Angeles.  The course traces Hip Hop culture to African-diasporic traditions, practices, and forms which persisted throughout that history.  Students will engage with the contemporary expression of those traditions and practices in the contrasting landscapes of Hip Hop culture and Hip Hop cultural production. 

This course builds on foundational experiences in Hip Hop Culture. 

A physical approach to acting, focusing on the kinesthetic and vocal development of the actor. Through performance techniques including Viewpoints, and Michael Chekhov technique, this course is designed to increase the students’ access to their physical instruments, and their ability to articulate themselves on stage. Students create original work devised through the acting process.

This course focuses on the practical application of performance techniques from Theater 259, honing skills toward creating actor-generated material. Through composition, improvisation, and character study, the class will develop a physical approach to the craft of acting, and work as an ensemble to create an original performance.

An introduction to Theater costume construction through hands-on projects tailored to the student’s skill level. Emphasis is placed on the techniques necessary for creating costumes and includes hand sewing and machine sewing from commercial patterns with an introduction to costume design principles.

This course explores the evolution of Western fashion from the Greco-Roman era to present day, through the lens of costume for the European and/or American stage. Students will explore the relationship between historical fashion and the practical needs of a theatrical costume. Special projects will ask the students to research, in depth, the historical and traditional clothing and fashions of a region of the world outside of Europe or America.

The course will develop the technical skills and the imaginative and intellectual facility required for in depth scene study. The focus of the course will be on issues of characterization, textual analysis, emotional depth, thorough preparation, and creative collaboration. Improvisation and other exercises will be employed in conjunction with scene work. The dramatic texts explored in the course will be drawn from the early 20th century to the present. Students will be expected to have had previous acting or performance experience. 

This course explores the preparation and application of the Director’s role in the Theater as both interpreter of dramatic text and generator/devisor of original performance material. This is a practice-based course in which students will work with performers to stage dramatic texts and create devised performance projects. Performance work will be supplemented with readings and discussion on relevant theorists and practitioners.

This dance course uses an eclectic approach to emphasize individual artistry and performance technique. Through destabilizing hierarchies within dance training and investigating aesthetic values of different forms, we will increase the subtlety, generosity, and expansiveness in each individual’s range in regards to phrasing, dynamic shifts, intention, and focus. Students will integrate their skills from various physical practices to find their own ways of inhabiting and elaborating technically challenging contemporary material.

This course follows a workshop format, exploring writing for the stage through practice, analysis, and discussion. Students will be introduced to the fundamentals of playwrighting, including action, character, structure, and dialogue, as well as the four engines of storytelling, and will put these lessons into immediate use with weekly playwrighting assignments. Over the course of the semester, students will generate a portfolio of new works, including short plays and audio dramas, culminating in the creation of a one-act play. In parallel, students will learn best practices in giving and receiving constructive dramaturgical feedback in a supportive, creative environment. Note: enrollment in Playwrighting is required for any student wishing to submit a play for consideration in the Spring Student One-Act Festival.

Rehearsal and performance by students in major productions. Credits in this course are classified as Activity credits, which are excluded from the enrollment limit of 18 Academic credits per semester; however, other limits on Activity credits may apply. May be repeated for not more than two credits per semester. Graded credit/no credit.

Advanced Technical Production is a rotating topics course that will continue to explore the principles, theories and skills used in technical Theater productions introduced in Theater and Dance 245 and/or Theater and Dance 277.  Students will develop their technical design abilities and study advanced construction techniques. May be repeated for credit. See course schedule for any current offerings.

Lighting designers speak with electricity and luminescence. The ability to see performers is merely the beginning. This class will allow students to work with the latest lighting equipment to explore vocabularies of color, angle, intensity, and time. We will investigate how conceptual ideas drawn from the scripted page translate into practical equipment choices, design of lighting rigs, and computer control systems. Working on productions in the Harper Joy Theater, students will gain practical professional level experience. Through projects, they will learn graphic standards and formal methods for communicating technical information to professional crews.

This course is designed for students who are engaged on Theater productions that require an advanced level of knowledge, responsibility, and self-direction.  These may include, but are not limited to, stage management, theatrical design, wardrobe supervision, props master, master electrician, scenic charge painter, or other positions as designated by the faculty. May be repeated for credit.

What theories have inspired contemporary avant-garde Theater, installation and performance art, tanz-Theater, experimental video/film, and new media? In this interdisciplinary course, we will chart the evolution of performance theory from the writings of Bertolt Brecht to the present day. We will explore how artists have embraced and challenged these emerging forms, and examine seminal works from each genre in their historical, political, and social contexts. Designed to bring students from a variety of disciplines (art, art history, Theater, dance, film, and video, etc.) into a collaborative forum; coursework will include outside readings, in-class screenings, class discussions, and short essays, as well as group and individual projects. May be elected as Art History 237.

The use of digital media technologies has grown exponentially in modern theatrical design in the past decades as have the availability, accessibility, and affordability of these technologies.  This course will cover aspects of both sound and projection design used in live performance.  It will connect the conceptual, collaborative nature of theatrical design, with the skills of content creation, and the technical knowledge necessary to use these systems. It will introduce students to a variety of hardware and software tools, including emerging technologies, that allow designers to create striking imagery and aural effects which support live performance storytelling in immersive environments. May be taken for credit toward the Film and Media Studies major or minor. 

Theater scenic designers create sophisticated worlds on their studio table that are enlarged into full-scale environments by armies of carpenters, painters, and fabricators. This class explores how designers formulate ideas based on scripted words and evolve them into three-dimensional landscapes. Students will learn basic drawing techniques and build scale models to express ideas drawn from their own imagination. Offered every third semester.

This course focuses on developing the basic skills of theatrical rendering and scenic painting including drawing, painting, layout techniques and interpreting scale renderings into full scale scenic art.  Previous drawing and painting experience is not required. Offered every sixth semester.  

This course is a survey of the literature and history of the theater of Modern Europe. Students primarily examine plays through the lens of the following movements: Naturalism, Realism, the Historical Avant-Garde, Modernism, and Postmodernism. Students will become aware of changes in social, political, and religious attitudes and the influence of these changes on the form and content of plays. Students will become aware of technological advances and their effects on theater design and technical practice. We will consider trends in acting, directing, audiences, and theory. We will seek to identify the influence of these movements and developments on contemporary theater practice. Dramatists and theorists to be studied may include Büchner, Zola, Ibsen, Jarry, Strindberg, Chekhov, Stanislavsky, Pirandello, Brecht, Genet, Artaud, Beckett, Esslin, Pinter, Müller, Churchill, Jameson, and Lehmann.

This is a survey course of the literature and history of the theater of the United States. Students will become aware of social, political, and cultural attitudes and contexts, and the expression of these attitudes in the form and content of plays and play production. Students will become aware of a variety of impulses that have animated American theater in areas of playwriting, performance, and production. Students will seek to imagine the plays in their historical moment as well as in contemporary iterations. Writers may include Boucicault, Glaspell, O'Neill, Treadwell, Williams, Miller, Baraka/Jones, Valdez, Wilson, Hwang, Kushner, Fornés, Deavere Smith, Parks, Brustein.

The origin and development of ancient Theater, especially of Greek tragedy, through a close reading of ancient plays in English translation. In addition to ancient plays, we will read modern critical responses to those plays. May be elected as Classics 377. Open to all students. Offered in alternate years.

Through the use of the elements of design, Costume Designers support the production concept and assist the actor in communicating with the audience.  We will examine costume design through the process of designing costumes for several scripts, as well as through in class discussions. The course will include an introduction to script analysis, period research, and rendering techniques for the costume designer.

Designed to permit close study of particular areas of Theater and Dance not covered in the regular curriculum. See course schedule for any current offerings.

Based on an apprenticeship model, this course serves as a continuing exploration of the directing process. The requirements include acting as assistant director for a faculty-directed season production from research through performance and completing an independent directing project. The latter might be for Lunchbox Theater, the Student One-Act Play Contest, a high school or community Theater, or another venue approved by the instructor.

Readings or a project in Theater or Dance not covered in regular courses. The student must submit a detailed proposal to the instructor in the semester preceding the anticipated study. The student is responsible for any expenses incurred in completing the project.

Involves the development and execution of a project reflecting the student’s primary area of Theater study. The student works closely with a faculty project advisor during the process. The final project is evaluated by that advisor and two other faculty members. This course is limited to and required of all senior Theater majors. May be taken during the first or second semester of the senior year.

Preparation of undergraduate thesis. Required of and open only to senior honors candidates in Theater.