First-Year Studies in Dance

The Dance program encourages first-year students to study aspects of dance in an integrated and vital curriculum of technical movement practices, improvisation, and dance history. In technical practice, attention will be given to sharpening the student‘s awareness of space and time, use of energy, articulation of form through sensation, and understanding of functional anatomy. Improvisation classes provide students of all experience levels with opportunities to explore and generate movement from a variety of specific viewpoints. Vocabulary, strength, and awareness will be expanded through group and individual problem solving. In dance history, students will be introduced to the history of concert dance in he United States from the early 20th century to the present. The First-Year Studies Third differs from the regular Dance Third in that students have an additional weekly forum in which to consider and develop critical perspectives on dance as an art form through reading, writing, discussion, and movement studies, building skills in each of those areas throughout the year. Emphasis is placed on developing the skills necessary for effective communication, independent research, and study.