Graduate Courses

07:206:110g Rotation Workshop (.5) Rotation Workshop is a required face-to-face studio course introducing B.F.A./M.F.A. dance majors to diverse dance techniques and somatic practices through studio-based experiences including, but not limited to world dance forms, somatic practices, early modern and contemporary dance techniques, contact improvisation, and social dance styles, amongst others. Course content will be presented to students over 12 weeks, in two six-week sessions. Taught fall and spring semesters. Repeatable for credit. Corequisites: 08:206:505 and 08:206:510, spring semesters, academic years 1 and 2. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty.

07:206:344g Video for Dance (2) Video for Dance is an elective face-to-face studio course investigating communication through dance as a video art emphasizing video shooting and editing techniques, environmental controls, and improvisational dance movement structures used in the creation of video dance projects. Taught spring semesters only. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty. Corequisite: 08:206:529A. 

08:206:500 Graduate Technique (2) Graduate Technique is a required face-to-face studio course framing physical practice with leadership and pedagogy skills developed through opportunities for curricular development and implementation, under supervision. Taught fall and spring semesters. Student course fee required. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty. Prerequisites: By audition and permission of graduate director, upon petition based on identification of individual graduate student learning goals. Corequisite: 08:206:510.

08:206:505 Graduate Rotation Workshop (.5) Graduate Rotation Workshop is a required face-to-face studio course focusing on reflective and critical writing, and oral/kinesthetic presentations synthesizing the pedagogical value of equity and inclusion represented by diverse movement training in higher education. Taught fall and spring semesters. Repeatable for credit. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty. Corequisite: 07:206:110g and 08:206:510, spring semesters, academic years 1 and 2.

08:206:510 Faculty/Guest Artist Repertory (2) Faculty/Guest Artist Repertory is a required face-to-face studio course employing intensive rehearsals and performance opportunities. Practical experience is gained in physical skills, artistic expression, and professional management and regulation of the rehearsal and performance environment. Pedagogical and leaderships skills in aesthetic, historical, and cultural contextualization are developed through postperformance "Informances," providing a foundation for future community engagement and higher education instruction. Taught spring semester only. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty. Prerequisite: By audition. Corequisites: 08:206:500 or Ballet 4, 5, or 6; and 08:207:557.

08:206:521 Creative Process I: Improvisation Strategies (2) Creative Process I is a required face-to-face studio course, corequisite with dance studies course Dance Philosophy and Aesthetics (08:206:561) as a Praxis of Dance (POD) course required for completion of the M.F.A. creative course sequence. Creative Process I: Improvisation Strategies focuses on the development and practice of improvisational movement scores and skills as research inquiry toward performance and as performance. The strategic use of improvisation within research and performance, toward interdisciplinary inquiry is also explored, including Commedia del'Arte, African improvisation styles, Contact Improvisation, and William Forsythe's Improvisation Technologies, among others. Taught spring semester only. Taught by graduate dance faculty only. Prerequisite: Letter grade of B or better in undergraduate Intermediate/Advanced Improvisation. Corequisite: 08:206:561.  

08:206:529 Special Topics: Dance Practice (1-2) Special Topics: Dance Practice is an elective multiformat face-to-face course engaging students in a variety of topics that explore both creative and training movement practices. Topics include A.) Movement Practice, B.) Immersive and Devised Performance, C.) Site-Specific/Alternative Space, and D.) Installation Design and Performance, among others. The course provides a range of opportunities to develop alternative movement and creative practices. Course supervision by dance and associated faculty. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty. Prerequisite: By petition to the graduate director.    

08:206:529A Special Topics: Dance Practice/Movement Technique (1-2) Special Topics: Dance Practice/Movement Technique is an elective alternative to Graduate Technique (08:206:500) studio course for students pursuing specialized topics in dance practice/movement technique that are practical and/or theoretical in nature, provide greater depth of study, and expand practical and pedagogical skills and intellectual insights. On- or off-campus supervision provided by dance, associated, and guest faculty; documentation required. Prerequisite: By petition to the graduate director.

08:206:549 Special Topics: Dance Technology (1-2) Special Topics: Dance Technology is an elective multiformat course engaging students in a variety of topics that explore art-based technology theories, methods, and practices. Topics include A.) Video for Dance, B.) Advanced Screendance, C.) Lighting Design for Dance, and D.) Stage Management for Dance, among others. The course provides a range of theoretical textual materials and/or hands-on practical projects. Course supervision by dance and associated faculty. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty.

08:206:549A Special Topics: Dance Technology/Advanced Screendance (1) Advanced Screendance is an elective online academic seminar course for students who may pursue careers in independent and/or commercial art practice, documentary of dance and movement, professional dance companies, choreography, and in academia. The course focuses on artistic challenges in academic context and will expose students to a range of contemporary and historically significant screen dance works concerning dance and technology. Through reviewing film and video works, readings, writing and discussion, students will learn about various historical and contemporary issues and approaches in fusing dance and the moving image. Taught by graduate dance, associated and guest faculty. Corequisite: 07:206:344g.

08:206:549B Special Topics: Dance Technology/Lighting Design for Dance (1-2) Special Topics: Dance Technology/Lighting Design for Dance is an elective face-to-face studio course offering guidance toward integrating lighting design as a creative inquiry integrated with choreographic production. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty.

08:206:549C Special Topics:  Dance Technology/Stage Management (1-2) Special Topics: Dance Technology/Stage Management is an elective face-to-face studio course offering guidance toward competence in stage management for dance. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty.

08:206:559 Special Topics: Dance Studies (1-2) Special Topics: Dance Studies is an elective multiformat course investigating multi- and interdisciplinary cultural, historical, theoretical, and methodological aspects of dance practices including A.) Oral History and Performance, B.) Dance Documentation and Reconstruction, and C.) Dance Dramaturgy, among others, as available. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty.

08:206:559A Special Topics: Dance Studies/Oral History and Performance (2) Oral History and Performance is an elective integrated studio/academic seminar introducing students to the theory, method, and practice of documentary theater, focusing on oral history-based choreography. Theoretical texts on orality and kinesthetic performance culture frame this practice; additional methodological texts support the production of qualitative interviews. Studio-based practical projects apply oral history materials to support interdisciplinary creative inquiry. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty.

08:206:559B Special Topics: Dance Studies/Dance Documentation and Reconstruction  (2) Dance Documentation and Reconstruction is an elective integrated studio/academic seminar face-to-face course tracing historical and theoretical developments of multiple documentation methods, including graphic notation and score-making, photography, and videography. Theories of restaging, reconstruction, and reenactment are supported by readings and practical projects that address current critical discourse. Resources include archival documents held at Zimmerli Art Museum's Special Collections specializing in the works of Diaghilev. Reconstruction, reenactment, and restaging practical projects follow. The course is specifically designed to support a praxis orientation integrating theory and method with practical process and research. Taught by graduate dance, associated, and guest faculty.

08:206:561 Dance Philosophy and Aesthetics (2) Dance Philosophy and Aesthetics is a required face-to-face academic seminar, corequisite with dance studio course Creative Process I: Improvisation Strategies (08:206:521) as a Praxis of Dance (POD) course required for completion of the M.F.A. creative course sequence. Dance Philosophy and Aesthetics traces schools of thought regarding embodied practices, including pre- and early modern writers such as Rabelais and Norbert Elias on pre-modern embodiment; early 19th- and 20th-century phenomenologists including Merleau-Ponty; comparative African philosophy; and more recent explorations in the areas of nonarboreal knowledge formation such as Deleuze. Taught spring semester only. Taught by graduate dance faculty. Prerequisite: Undergraduate course in dance history: 1900-present. Corequisite: 08:206:521.

08:206:571 Dance in Higher Education (2) Dance in Higher Education is a required hybrid face-to-face/online academic seminar investigating higher education dance teaching within a context of reflective practice and professional development. Philosophical perspectives, learning theories, historical trends, and significant influences on dance in higher education will be considered. Practical concepts of teaching will be introduced through readings, case studies, and discussions to develop a foundation for teaching college dance students. The course prepares students for adjunct teaching appointments within the Mason Gross School of the Arts Department of Dance and beyond. Taught in Winter Session only. Taught by graduate dance, education, and guest faculty.

08:206:572 Pedagogy for Online Dance Education (2) Pedagogy for Online Dance Education is a required online academic seminar that provides instruction in theory, method, and practice in dance education pedagogy related to teaching online. Foundational theories, methods, and concepts; course design strategies; assessment and grading practices; and best practices in student communication, engagement, and support for online learning, are covered. Students will be prepared to teach online coursework as adjunct appointed instructors. Taught spring semester only. Taught by graduate dance, education, and guest faculty. Prerequisite: 08:206:571. Corequisite: 08:206:890.

08:206:890 Graduate Colloquium I: Pedagogy (1) Graduate Colloquium I: Pedagogy is a required hybrid face-to-face/online academic seminar course where first-year M.F.A. students explore pedagogy practice. Graduate dance faculty mentor first-year students through their first adjunct teaching positions and introduce requirements for thesis proposal and paperwork. Taught spring semester only. Taught by graduate dance faculty, with guest faculty lectures on a variety of topics. Corequisite: 08:206:571.