College Bulletin 2017-2018

Nov 23, 2024

College Bulletin 2017-2018 [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Music and Dance: Dance

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Faculty

KIM D. ARROW, Associate Professor of Dance
PALLABI CHAKRAVORTY, Associate Professor of Dance, Director of the Dance Program
OLIVIA SABEE, Assistant Professor of Dance
JUMATATU POE, Assistant Professor of Dance (part time)
LADEVA DAVIS, Associate in Dance Performance (part time)
NI LUH KADEK KUSUMA DEWI, Associate in Dance Performance (part time)
CHANDRA MOSS-THORNE, Associate in Dance Performance (part time)
SALEANA PETTAWAY, Associate in Dance Performance (part time)
HANS BOMAN, Dance Accompanist
BERNADETTE DUNNING, Administrative Coordinator
SUSAN GROSSI, Administrative Assistant

At Swarthmore, dance is a global discourse. The dance and music programs share an integrated approach to composition, history, performance, and theory in lecture/discussion and studio practice courses. We believe this is central to the understanding of dance as an artistic, intellectual, and social inquiry within a liberal arts context.

The Academic Program

The mission of the program is to offer students dance experiences that privilege a merging of embodied practice and history/theory in relation to more than one situated perspective (those listed above). Some courses concentrate on one cultural context only (this is true generally in history, repertory, and technique). Others put a variety of perspectives in conversation (choreographic laboratories, improvisation, history, repertory, and theory).The role of dance as an agent of social change is also present in Swarthmore dance offerings. All dance studies courses engage students in an investigation of the relationship of dance to other arts and areas of thought.

Given the program’s emphasis on developing an awareness of the global nature of dance, study abroad opportunities are seen as a very useful aspect of a student’s undergraduate dance experience. Such study is especially encouraged for dance majors and minors. Study abroad dance programs developed by members of the dance faculty are available in France, Ghana, India, Japan, and United Kingdom. Dance components are also available in programs in Spain and Argentina. Social change engagement is available as an aspect of study abroad experiences in Ghana, India, and Northern Ireland. Additional information regarding study abroad experiences is listed below and can also be found on both the Dance Program and Off-Campus Study websites. In order to further enhance student engagement with the field at large, every year the program hosts diverse national and international dance artists and scholars.

Course Major

The goal of the course major in Dance is to expose a student to the broad scope of the field. The distribution of required courses for the major provides students with an introduction to Dance Studies, Choreography, and Performance, and allows them to direct their final credit(s) in the major toward a specific focus: Choreography, Dance Studies or an Individually Created focus. Majors will be required to develop an extended paper or a significant dance performance piece as part of their focus. All dance majors and minors are strongly encouraged to participate in technique and repertory classes each term.

Prerequisites for the Major including all areas of focus:

These prerequisites are strongly recommended for first-year students and must be completed before the junior year. If a student has not completed all of these prerequisites at the time of an application for a major but has done good work in one or more courses in the program, the student may be accepted on a provisional basis.

1. One Dance Studies course
2. DANC 011. Dance Lab I: Making Dance
3. One Dance Technique class (in any style) for academic credit

Prerequisite credits for Majors: 2.5

Requirements for each focus are as follows:

Dance Studies

1. Four Dance Studies courses
2. Two Dance Technique and/or Repertory/Ensemble courses - one Western and one non-Western course
3. *DANC 095 or 096. Senior Thesis

Total credits in focus: 6 - 7

Choreography

1.    DANC 012. Dance Lab II: Making Dance
2.    DANC 045. Dance Technique: Yoga
3.    Two Dance Studies courses
4.    Two Dance Repertory/Ensemble courses- one Western and one non-Western course
5.    Two Technique courses (any style)
6.    *DANC 094. Senior Project

Total credits in focus: 6.5

Note: Majors with a focus in Choreography are also strongly encouraged to enroll in THEA 003 Fundamentals of Design for Theater Performance and THEA 004B. Lighting Design.

Individually created focus

Individually Created focus: see Special Major

Total prerequisites and credits required for Majors: 8.5 - 9.5

*The senior project/thesis is required of all Majors.

The dance faculty encourages students to pursue a senior project/thesis that incorporates a comparison or integration of dance with some other creative or performing art (creative writing, music, theater, or visual art), with a community-based learning component, or with another academic discipline of the student’s interest.

Course Minor

The goal of the course minor in dance is to expose a student to the broad scope of the field. The distribution of required courses for the minor provides students with an introduction to Choreography, Dance Studies, and Performance, and allows them to direct their final credit(s) in the minor toward one of these three areas. Minors will be encouraged, but not required, to develop an extended paper or a significant dance performance piece as part of their program. All dance majors and minors are strongly encouraged to participate in technique and repertory classes each semester.

All minors will design their programs in consultation with a faculty adviser.

Prerequisites for the Minor including all areas of focus:

These prerequisites are strongly recommended for first-year students and must be completed before the junior year. If a student has not completed all of these prerequisites at the time of an application for a minor, but has done good work in one or more courses in the program, the student may be accepted on a provisional basis.

1. One Dance Studies course
2. One Technique or Repertory/ensemble course for academic credit

Prerequisite credits for Minor: 1.5

Course requirements for minor:

Requirements for each focus are as follows:

Choreography

1. DANC 011. Dance Lab I: Making Dance
2. One Dance Studies course
3. Additional courses (totaling 2 credits) proposed by the student and approved on an individual basis by the faculty from a combination of choreography, dance studies, repertory, and technique courses.

Dance Studies

1. Two Dance Studies courses
2. Additional courses (totaling 2 credits) proposed by the student and approved on an individual basis by the faculty from a combination of choreography, dance studies, repertory, and technique courses.

*Performance

1. Two Technique Courses (totaling 1 credit)
2. Two Repertory Courses (totaling 1 credit)
3. Additional courses (totaling 2 credits) proposed by the student and approved on an individual basis by the faculty from a combination of choreography, dance studies, repertory, and technique courses.

*The Performance focus is only offered as a Course Minor.

Performance minor will be offered beginning with the Class of 2020.

Total credits in each focus: 4

Total prerequisites and credits required for Minor: 5.5

Honors Major

Majors in the Honors Program must have received a grade of B+ or better in all dance courses before admission. The choice of focus for a student’s major will be determined in consultation with an adviser from the dance faculty.

The Dance Major in Honors is identical to the Dance Course Major in its prerequisites and focus requirements.

Additional Requirements for the Dance Honors Major:

Requirements for the Honors Major:

All dance majors in the Honors Program must do three preparations of two credits each:

1. Dance Studies: two dance studies courses and a literature review

2. Choreography: Dance Lab II (DANC 012) and one dance studies course

3. Either Senior Project or Senior Thesis:

Senior Project (Choreography):

DANC 092. Independent Study (Fall)
DANC 094. Senior Project (Spring)

Senior Thesis (Dance Studies):

DANC 095. Senior Thesis (Fall)
DANC 096. Senior Thesis (Spring)

Students’ choice of which courses to include in their preparations is subject to faculty approval. Syllabi, papers, and videos of student choreography from these courses will be submitted to external examiners as part of students’ Honors Portfolio.

Students should be prepared to submit their final senior project or thesis proposal at the start of their junior year.

Honors Minor

The Dance Minor in Honors is identical to the Dance Course Minor in its prerequisites and focus requirements.

Students in the Honors Program who are presenting a major in another discipline and a minor in dance must do one two-credit preparation in dance, in either Choreography or Dance Studies. The Honors Minor is not available for students with a focus in Performance.

Honors Minor Requirements

Choreography:

One dance studies course
Dance Lab II (DANC 012) or Senior Project (DANC 094)

Dance Studies:

One dance studies course
Senior Thesis (DANC 095)

Students should be prepared to submit their final senior project or thesis proposal at the start of their junior year.

Special Major

The program for a Special Major comprises a minimum of five credits in dance coursework. The two disciplines in this major may be philosophically linked or may represent separate areas of the student’s interest. The faculty encourages students to consider the philosophical links between the two disciplines. Examples of past special majors include: Dance and Anthropology, Dance and Art, Dance and Biology, Dance and Education, and Dance and Psychology. Special Majors are encouraged to take at least one dance class before applying.

All Special Majors will design their programs in consultation with a faculty adviser.

Dance Studies

1. Four Dance Studies courses
2. DANC 095. Senior Thesis

Choreography

1.    One Dance Studies course
2.    DANC 011. Dance Lab: Making Dance I
3.    DANC 012. Dance Lab: Making Dance II
4.    DANC 045. Dance Technique: Yoga
5.    DANC 092. Independent Study
6.    DANC 094. Senior Project

Additional Information Regarding the Dance Program

Dance Technique Courses

In a typical semester, more than 30 hours of dance technique classes are offered on graded levels presenting a variety of movement styles. Technique courses, numbered 040 through 048, 050 to 053, and 060 or 061, may be taken for academic credit or may be taken to fulfill physical education requirements. Advanced dancers are encouraged to consult with instructors regarding placement in level III technique classes. A total of not more than 8 full credits (16 0.5-credit courses) in performance dance technique classes and in music performance classes may be counted toward the degrees of bachelor of arts and bachelor of science. No retroactive credit is given for performance classes.

Dance Program Performance Opportunities

All interested students are encouraged to enroll in repertory classes (DANC 049, 071 or 078) and/or to audition for student and faculty works. These auditions occur several times each semester; dates are announced in classes and in postings outside the dance studios. Formal concerts take place toward the end of each semester; informal studio concerts are scheduled throughout the year.

The Dance Program regularly sponsors guest artist teaching and performance residencies. In addition, the program regularly hosts guest choreographers who work with student ensembles in technique and repertory classes.

Off-Campus Study

Given the Dance Program’s emphasis on the cross-cultural study of dance, we strongly encourage students to pursue study abroad opportunities. The possibility to study dance in another country gives students the opportunity to hone their technique in a different cultural setting (in many cases in a different language!) as well as to explore dance studies and choreography from new perspectives and styles. In recent years, students from the Dance Program have studied in countries including England, France, Ghana, India, and Japan as well as pursuing intensive dance study through domestic off-campus study programs. Swarthmore has a special affiliation with the University of Ghana, where students have the opportunity to study traditional dances from a wide variety of ethnic groups and regions of Ghana as well as drumming and singing.

Majors and minors interested in off-campus study should contact their faculty advisor for assistance in identifying an appropriate program.

Dance Courses

Introductory Courses

Choreography and Design and Dance Studies Courses

Dance Technique and Repertory/Ensemble Courses

Note: Technique courses (040-048, 050-053, 060, and 061) and Repertory courses (049 [all sections], 071 and 078) may be taken for 0.5 academic credit or may be taken for physical education credit. All dance technique courses numbered 040 to 048 are open to all students without prerequisite. Courses numbered 050 to 058 and 060 to 061 have a prerequisite of either successful completion of the introductory course in that style or permission of the instructor.