Dance Performance Practicum

Designed for students participating as performers in Senior Dance Minor capstone projects and/or other Dance Program performance projects. 2 credits. Pass/Fail option only. Prerequisites: Approval of Instructor. DNC 0062 Dance Repertory & Performance. Development of a performance work through faculty direction or ensemble collaboration led by a faculty member. Creation, performance, video documentation, and analysis of form and content in aesthetic context. May be repeated. Recommendations: Studio Dance experience. DNC 0071 Dance Movement And Creative Process. Explore the basic principles of movement: level, direction, speed, quality, rhythm, initiation. Learn to use unexpected sources to inspire movement. Safely experience close physical contact and learn how to take and give weight, how to lift and be lifted. Explore individual and group creative improvisational process. Includes diverse video viewings, readings, discussion and short written assignments on ideas as diverse as geography, cultural history, aesthetics, anthropology. DNC 0075 Dance Composition. Completion of varied composition assignments and writing representing twentieth-century methods. Includes aesthetic context, weekly lab work, and analysis. Culminates in performance. Recommendations: Dance course with creative elements or permission of instructor. DNC 0077 Dance on Camera. (Cross-listed w/FMS 27 & DNC 177) Inter-disciplinary course designed for any dancer, artist or student interested in film & video production with dance or movement as a medium. Participants will take dance and movement concepts outside of studio walls and into the community through site-specific collaborative video projects. Through storyboarding, shooting, editing, and choreographing/directing, students will learn basic video production techniques and advanced camera work in this hands-on course. Development of movement ideas as well as non-linear editing skills will be explored. Work culminates in end of semester public screening and online video sharing. Open to all. No dance or film/video experience necessary. DNC 0081 Origins of 20th Century American Dance. A survey of historical and aesthetic trends found in the American Ballet, Modern and Musical Theater genres, including comparative analysis across generations and forms. Reading and viewing of primary source material including student research projects focusing on individual choreographers. Inclusion of European and non-western forms as they influence the evolution of American forms. 3 credits. Fulfills arts distribution. DNC 0085 Dance and the Hollywood Musical. (Cross-listed with FMS 26) The role of dance in the film musical genre over the past century. Explores how bodies, movement vocabulary, and choreography can reinforce, oppose, and/or comment on contemporary society and our “collective” cultural identity. How do parallel developments in cinema and art impact the way we view dance? How are race, gender, and nationality portrayed? How do we define and view this genre today? Viewings, readings, movement experiences, discussions, and independent projects. Focus on developing literacy and critical research skills in dance. No previous dance or film background required. Recommendation: Art History and/or critical studies course in the arts. DNC 0089 Creative Dance for Children. (Cross-listed with CSHD 178) Experiential class offering students expanded understanding of the body/mind connection and its creative potential in education. Classroom activities provide skills and strategies for teaching of dance in pre-K through grade 12 settings, with an emphasis on creating age-appropriate lesson models. Includes classroom observation of Pre-K through 2nd grade lessons and guest sessions with dance therapists and educators in the Boston area.