Dance Courses

Thesis—Year | 12 credits

DNCE 7400

Note: Restricted to Second Years.

The master’s thesis project, consisting of choreographic, written, and oral presentation components, must be completed in the second year. A 20-30 minute performance is realized in the Live Time-Based Art (DNCE 7124) component course, while the written thesis is supported by the Graduate Seminar (DNCE 7001). Finally, students will prepare an oral presentation of their thesis work in a lecture for the faculty and the Sarah Lawrence community.

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Program—Year | 12 credits

DNCE 4999

Note: Restricted to Second Years.

This credit-bearing program of study will consist of a combination of various individual component courses that together constitute a Dance Program—Second Year. In the second year, students build on their first-year foundation in movement practice, choreographic research, and analytic and theoretical studies in dance. Required courses in the second year include Advanced Movement Studio (DNCE 5505), Graduate Seminar (DNCE 7001), and Live Time-Based Art (DNCE 7124), as well as coursework related to choreographic practice such as Guest Artist Lab (DNCE 7125) and Choreographic Lab (DNCE 7140) and select dance pedagogy laboratories. In addition, students select two-to-four class sessions per week of elective component coursework each semester in dance, theatre, and music, completing six credits per semester of coursework for a total of 12 credits for the year. Second-year students will also participate in Thesis Project (DNCE 7400). The second-year program completes the Master of Fine Arts in Dance degree program and prepares students to play active roles as vibrant artistic citizens in the 21st century.

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Program—Year | 24 credits

DNCE 4998

Note: Restricted to First Years.

This credit-bearing program of study will consist of a combination of various individual component courses that together constitute a Dance Program—First Year. In the first year, students build a foundation in movement practice, choreographic research, and analytic and theoretical studies in dance. Required courses in the first year include Advanced Movement Studio (DNCE 5505), Anatomy (DNCE 5576), Graduate Seminar (DNCE 7001), Lighting and Dance (DNCE 5564), and Live Time-Based Art (DNCE 7124), as well as coursework related to choreographic practice such as Guest Artist Lab (DNCE 7125) and Choreographic Lab (DNCE 7140) and dance pedagogy laboratories. In addition, students will select two-to-four class sessions per week of elective component coursework each semester in dance, theatre, and music, completing 12 credits per semester for a total of 24 credits for the year. 

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Component—Fall

DNCE 5573

All dance is political, simply because it is created by human beings who are of a particular place and time. Thus, the work is inherently commenting on that particular place and time. Using this framework, we will take a deep dive into American dance history from Reconstruction to today, with an eye on tackling the questions: How did this thing we refer to as “American dance” come to be? Who or what is missing from the canon? Why? How do we place ourselves inside this lineage? With a keen understanding of the state of the world at the point of creation, students will develop a critical eye through which to view performance—the how and the why of creation having equal footing with the physical forms. Further, students will begin to develop an understanding of how contemporary American dance is in constant conversation with dance of the past.

Faculty

• Rakia Seaborn

Component—Fall

DNCE 7001

Note: Required for first- and second-year Master of Fine Arts candidates.

This course will serve as a research tutorial, providing a space for students to engage in and share individualized research into lineages of study and artmaking, as well as research on specific texts and works of performance and art that contextualize, influence, and sit in conversation with their creative research and practice in the Master of Fine Arts in Dance program. As a class, we will encounter shared readings and works of art situated within dance studies, performance studies, phenomenology, gender and sexuality studies, critical race theory, disability studies, authotheory, and autohistoria, as well as other experimental forms that do not claim or fit into a singular discipline or field. These core sources will provide a frame of discourse for students to extend, deepen, push against, trouble, and complicate, as they develop and follow their own lines of creative and scholarly inquiry that map the particular ecosystems of thought and work that their dance and movement practices exist within and in relationship to. In Lauren Fournier’s Autotheory as Feminist Practice in Art, Writing, and Criticism, she asks, “What kinds of knowledge are understood as legitimately critical or rigorous, and by whom?” This question, echoed by many others within and beyond academia at large as well as dance and “body-based forms”, will serve as an underbelly for our group discussions. As artists working within dance and embodiment, how do we bring all of our sensory knowledge and intelligence to our scholarship? How can we honor nonverbal communication as it exists in a kaleidoscopic relationship with verbal communication? How do we produce, transmit, and archive the multiplicity of knowledge channels that exist within dance, performance, and time-based art? For whom do we do this? This course will also serve as preparation for the submission of the written thesis in students’ second year of the program. First-year and second-year graduate students will build an annotated bibliography of sources relevant to their performance practice, creative research, and scholarship. Written assignments for second-year graduate students will include a thesis proposal and outline, while first-year graduate students will submit writing that reflects their engagement with course readings and sources from their individualized research. All students in the course will deliver a final presentation on their work over the course of the semester that may weave elements of formal and/or experimental delivery of research, taking the shape of a performance, a reading, or other form as discussed in consultation with the instructor.

Faculty

• EmmaGrace Skove-Epes

Component—Fall

DNCE 7114

Note: Formerly DNCE 5508.

In this course, we will explore varied entry points toward the creation and practice of a personal dance teaching philosophy and pedagogy. We will interrogate our varied and unique histories, values, patterns, cultures, and aesthetic desires, observing how they illuminate or limit our teaching goals. Our experience and assumptions around teaching and being taught will help us amplify and name integral skills and tools that support our work in dance/body/movement-based classrooms. How do we build a class architecture that nurtures growth? How do we create a safe and equitable space for reciprocal learning? How do we find a balance between planning and improvising? How do we clarify and hone our intentions while using clear language and communication? These questions and many more will ignite us to observe, support, and inspire one another, as we imagine new and engaged approaches to our teaching practices.

Faculty

• Megan Williams

Component—Year

DNCE 5564

Light informs how we see the world around us. Light sculpts, defines, and obscures. In this course, we will explore the power of light to move, shape, and highlight dance performance. Students will get a hands-on look at how lighting instruments work and how to utilize them in their design work. We will discuss theoretical and practical concepts that will strengthen students’ vocabulary and understanding of how to most effectively use light in their work. 

Faculty

• Benjamin Demarest

Component—Year

DNCE 5576

Prerequisite: prior experience in dance and/or athletics

Note: Students who wish to join this yearlong class in the second semester may do so with permission of the instructor.

How is it possible for us to move in the countless ways that we do? In this course, students will learn to develop their X-ray vision of human beings in motion through functional anatomical study that combines movement practice, drawing, lecture, and problem solving. Movement is a powerful vehicle for experiencing in detail our profoundly adaptable musculoskeletal anatomy. We will learn Irene Dowd’s Spirals, a comprehensive warmup/cooldown for dancing that coordinates all joints and muscles through their fullest range of motion, facilitating study of the entire musculoskeletal system. In addition to movement practice, drawings will be made as part of each week’s lecture (drawing materials provided), and three short assignments will be submitted each semester. Insights and skills developed in this course can provide tremendous inspiration in the process of movement invention and composition.

Faculty

• Peggy Gould

Component—Year

DNCE 5575

This course is an opportunity for students who have completed a full year of anatomy study in the dance program to pursue functional anatomy studies in greater depth. In open consultation with the instructor during class meetings, each student will engage in independent research, developing one or more lines of inquiry that utilize functional anatomy perspectives and texts as an organizing framework. Research topics in recent years have included aging and longevity in dance, discussion of functional anatomy in relation to linguistics, pedagogy, choreography and performance, investigation of micropolitics in established dance training techniques, examining connections between movement and emotion, development of a unique warm-up sequence to address specific individual technical issues, and study of kinematics and rehabilitation in knee injury. The class meetings will discuss progress, questions, and methods for reporting, writing, and presenting research, alternating with weekly studio/practice sessions for individual and/or group research consultations.

Faculty

• Peggy Gould

Component—Year

DNCE 5527

Note: Students will be responsible for a $15 materials fee in addition to purchasing their own 2”-wide loose-leaf binder.

This course will be an introduction to designing costumes for dance/time-based art. The course will emphasize collaborations with a choreographer and include topics such as: The Creative Process of Design, Where to Begin When Designing for Dance, The Language of Clothes, The Elements of Design, Color Theory, Movement and the Functionality of Dance Costumes, Figure Drawing/Rendering Costumes, and Fabric Dictionary/Fabric Terminology. The course will also involve learning numerous hand and machine stitches, as well as various design-room techniques, such as taking measurements, fitting and altering costumes, and wardrobe maintenance. Each costume-design student will eventually be paired with a student choreographer, with whom they will collaborate to realize costumes for the choreographer’s work that will be presented during the fall or spring departmental dance productions. Students will also be creating their own resource book throughout the year, which will include all handouts, in-class exercises, and notes in a loose-leaf binder. The resource book will be a useful reference tool as students work on various class assignments and/or departmental productions. This course is designed to give students a basic knowledge of the many intricate creative and technical steps involved in the design process when creating costumes. A deeper understanding of the various aspects of costume design for dance is an enormous tool that will not only enhance one’s overall design skills but also allow the student to communicate more fully during the creative process with fellow designers or as a choreographer or director collaborating with the production team. The resource book will also serve as a helpful guide in the future, as students embark on their own productions at Sarah Lawrence and beyond.

Faculty

• Liz Prince

Component—Spring

DNCE 7001

This course, required for first- and second-year Master of Fine Arts in Dance candidates, provides opportunities to explore foundational texts in dance and performance in order to refine skills for developing new insights, questions, and knowledge of our subject matter. In the context of the Master of Fine Arts in Dance program, with curricular focus centered on the practices of performance and choreography, there are nevertheless important writings and discussions in the area of dance studies and beyond, which will be essential for students to engage as they prepare for a career in the performing arts. Emphasis will be on developing a line or lines of inquiry, devising strategies with which to effectively and meaningfully follow learning pathways to connect with both reading and writing, and to extend knowledge in support of individual interests. Careful consideration of all sources, consistent participation in class discussions, and periodic presentations of the research and writing in progress are the tools employed for this research tutorial course. In the fourth and final semester, the focus will be on the culmination of research and preparation for oral presentation.

Faculty

• Peggy Gould

Component—Fall

DNCE 5590

Prerequisite: permission of the program director

In this component, a visiting artist or company is invited to create a work with students or to set an existing piece of choreography. The works will be performed for the College community at the end of the semester.

Faculty

• Wendell Gray II

Component—Fall

DNCE 7124

Note: Formerly DNCE 5524.

In this course, graduates and upper-class undergraduates with a special interest and experience in the creation of time-based artworks that include live performance will design and direct individual projects. Students and faculty will meet weekly to view works-in-progress and discuss relevant artistic and practical problems, both in class and in conferences. Attributes of the work across multiple disciplines of artistic endeavor will be discussed as integral and interdependent elements in the work. Participation in mentored, critical-response feedback sessions with peers will be a key aspect of the course. The engagement with the medium of time in live performance, the constraints of presentation of the works both in works-in-progress and in a shared program of events, and the need to respect the classroom and presentation space of the dance studio will be the constraints imposed on the students’ artistic proposals. Students working within any number of live-performance traditions are as welcome in this course as those seeking to transgress orthodox conventions. While all the works will engage in some way with embodied action, student proposals need not neatly fall into a traditional notion of what constitutes dance. The cultivation of open discourse across traditional disciplinary artistic boundaries, both in the process of developing the works and in the context of presentation to the public, is a central goal of the course. The faculty leading this course have roots in dance practice but have also practiced expansive definitions of dance within their own creative work. This course will culminate in performances of the works toward the end of the semester in a shared program with all enrolled students. Performances of the works will take place on campus.

Faculty

• John Jasperse
• Jonathan González

Component—Fall

DNCE 7140

Note: Formerly DNCE 5640.

This course is designed as an imaginative laboratory in choreographic practice. It is time and space for rigorous play, where we will engage critically with our own respective creative processes. All class sessions will be devoted to choreographic practice in a mentored laboratory setting. Students will be charged with bringing in choreographic proposals or ideas on which to work with their peers during these sessions. Throughout the course, specific compositional and/or artistic concerns will be highlighted that will frame our investigations. Those concerns will be used to focus our critical analysis on an aspect of our choice rather than as a score that defines the choreographic proposal itself. Much of our work will focus on refining the process of choreographic practice in order to better understand how the processes with which we engage to make work shapes what we make.

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Component—Fall

DNCE 5531

Whenever we make something, we are improvising—making it up as we go. But imagination and creativity are not random. Artists of all disciplines, indeed, have eureka moments and epiphanies; but those “aha” moments are born of practices that engage experimentation, strategies, observation, and decision-making—supported by states of concentration. Similarly, the notions of “perfect forms” and “free improvisation” are theoretical impossibilities. Nothing is ever totally fixed nor is it ever completely open. No matter what creative endeavor in which we are engaged, we are always in the real world, in a space between the two extremes. In this course, we will make dances in real time with varying degrees and types of determinacy. We will be guided by various concerns and ways of focusing our choices but will be consistently aware that we are composing dance in real time. That will require honing our perceptual skills, as well as our skills of articulation and communication, with our collaborators. Throughout the semester, we will develop our abilities both to build coherent structures that will guide our choice-making and to notice and use the serendipity that chance brings. This component is open to students with prior experience in improvisation and dancemaking, as well as to those new to the form.

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Component—Spring

DNCE 5551

This component will provide students with the opportunity to play a full array of percussion instruments from around the globe: African djembes, Brazilian zurdos, Argentinian bombo, Peruvian cajon and quijada, Indian tabla, traditional traps, and more. Students will also be able to program and execute electronic drums, such as the Wavedrum and Handsonic. The focus will be prevalent toward enhancing a dancer’s full knowledge of music but will expand the vocabulary for choreographers, actors, and composers as well. The component will grant students the tools needed to fully immerse themselves in the understanding of the relation of music, dance, and the performing arts. Students will expand their knowledge of terminology and execution and be able to learn the basic rudiments of notation. We will analyze the interaction of music from intellectual and cultural points of view. We will learn how to scan musical scores with various degrees of complexity and explore the diverse rhythmic styles that have developed through time and through different geographical and social conditions. Classes will consist of group playing. All instruments will be provided and available for practice.

Faculty

• William Catanzaro

Component—Spring

DNCE 7124

Note: Formerly DNCE 5524.

In this course, graduates and upper-class undergraduates with a special interest and experience in the creation of time-based artworks that include live performance will design and direct individual projects. Students and faculty will meet weekly to view works-in-progress and discuss relevant artistic and practical problems, both in class and in conferences. Attributes of the work across multiple disciplines of artistic endeavor will be discussed as integral and interdependent elements in the work. Participation in mentored, critical-response feedback sessions with peers will be a key aspect of the course. The engagement with the medium of time in live performance, the constraints of presentation of the works, both in works-in-progress and in a shared program of events, and the need to respect the classroom and presentation space of the dance studio will be the constraints imposed on the students’ artistic proposals. Students working within any number of live-performance traditions are as welcome in this course as those seeking to transgress orthodox conventions. While all the works will engage in some way with embodied action, student proposals need not neatly fall into a traditional notion of what constitutes dance. The cultivation of open discourse across traditional disciplinary artistic boundaries, both in the process of developing the works and in the context of presentation to the public, is a central goal of the course. The faculty leading this course have roots in dance practice but have also practiced expansive definitions of dance within their own creative work. This course will culminate in performances of the works toward the end of the semester in a shared program with all enrolled students. Performances of the works will take place on campus.

Faculty

• Beth Gill
• John Jasperse

Component—Spring

DNCE 7125

Note: Pass/Fail. Formerly DNCE 5625. Taught by a selection of rotating faculty.

This course will be an experimental lab that aims to expose students to a diverse set of current voices and approaches to contemporary dancemaking. Each guest artist will lead a module of three-to-seven class sessions. These mini-workshops will introduce students to that artist and their creative process. Guests will present emergent, as well as established, voices and a wide range of approaches to contemporary artistic practice.

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Component—Spring

DNCE 5517

In this course, each student will be charged with creating a short choreography using their classmates as a cast. We will think of choreographing or composing these dances as “the action of combining” or “a putting together, connecting, and arranging.”  The course will treat “set” choreography and improvisation as a continuum. We will be dealing with both but will focus on the former—treating improvisation as one of many means of developing choreography, as well as potentially using highly scored improvisation in performance as compositional choice-making in real time.  The course aims to develop tools that can be of use in this endeavor and to develop skills of analysis and articulation in relation to our artistic work. Throughout the semester, students will be asked to think and work critically and analytically about the act of composition and the act of perception. A key component of this course will be discussions about what we experience in the work of our colleagues, as well as what our intentions are within our own choice-making. Classes will be structured around in-class choreographic/improvisational exercises and analysis and discussion in response to choreographic assignments. There will be some homework in creating short choreographic sketches, short readings and viewing of works of art on video and online, and critique and discussion in relationship to those works. The course will strongly embrace interdisciplinary practices. The goal of the class will be to offer a forum through which students can deeply engage with creation, develop their own artistic voices, and investigate new ways of thinking about form through the lens of choreographic inquiry.

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Component—Spring

DNCE 5590

Prerequisite: permission of the program director

In this component, a visiting artist or company is invited to create a work with students or to set an existing piece of choreography. The works will be performed for the College community at the end of the semester.

Faculty

• Christopher Williams

Component—Fall

DNCE 5513

Students will be introduced to the Afro-Brazilian art of capoeira, which blends aspects of martial arts, dance, and music. The course will aim to provide the basics of capoeira movements and music while also advancing students’ understanding of their own bodies through conditioning and partner work. Elements of philosophy will also be incorporated to assess what it means to be a martial artist and a capoeirista. Students with or without previous martial-arts experience are encouraged to take this course.

Faculty

• Dylan Combs

Component—Fall

DNCE 5565

Prerequisite: Jazz I (DNCE 5525) or permission of the instructor

Note: This is an open-level technique class designed for students (of all levels) with prior dance experience from beginning to advanced. Jazz II (DNCE 5565) may be repeated multiple times to maintain technique. For students unfamiliar with Dunham technique or with little to no formal dance training, it is highly recommended to take Jazz I (DNCE 5525) concurrently, in the same semester, to embody a well-rounded understanding of Dunham’s theories and concepts in class.

Elevate your jazz dance technique with power and passion! From cabaret performances to concert stages, Broadway productions, and Hollywood films, Katherine Dunham had a brilliant career shaping the look, style, and formal training of jazz dance. This high-energy course builds upon the Dunham fundamentals introduced in Jazz I (DNCE 5525), refining movement quality and versatility while integrating classical jazz studio technique progressions. Utilizing Dunham’s dynamic expression of dance, theories, and teaching with grace, students will be empowered to find the joy in every step, “tell the story,” and take more risks while developing technical confidence and growth as an artist. That being said, students will find that this class will not only strengthen and train the body but also equip them with resilience and the performance skills needed to captivate audiences with power and passion. Each session will include a classic Dunham warmup, isolations, center and/or barre work, formal studio jazz dance exercises, and vibrant Dunham and Dunham-inspired jazz progressions, culminating in a choreographed combination. Choreography combinations will be inspired by styles that Dunham explored in her shows or influenced through her work, including vernacular jazz/swing, theatre, commercial, and studio jazz styles in addition to Dunham’s signature technique that fuses modern, ballet, and African Caribbean folkloric dance. Come join us!

Faculty

• Candice Franklin

Component—Fall

DNCE 5525

Note: For dancers looking both to explore Jazz dance experientially and to refine their technique, taking Jazz I (DNCE 5525) and Jazz II (DNCE 5565) concurrently, in the same semester, is strongly recommended.

Inspired by the groundbreaking work of scholar, activist, and dance pioneer Katherine Dunham, this high-energy, informative course will take students on an immersive journey through notable moments of her life, theories, and signature movements to ultimately draw connections to social, theatrical, commercial, and concert jazz dance styles found today. Through experiential units integrating technique with her research, life story, and the history of American dance and culture, students will explore Dunham’s lasting contributions to film, cabaret, and theatrical concert dance while also cultivating the students’ own performance quality and artistic expression. This joyful course will encourage freedom of expression through musicality, power, and passion regardless of ability, making this course an excellent choice for students who love to dance, as well as for non-dancers who love to move and are interested in theatre, film, and culture. This course will include practice in vernacular jazz/swing, theatre, commercial, and studio jazz styles, alongside Dunham’s classic technique that fuses modern, ballet, and African Caribbean folkloric dance. Each session will include a classic Dunham warmup, a brief lecture, and vibrant Dunham and Dunham-inspired jazz progressions, culminating in a choreographed combination. Come join us!

Faculty

• Candice Franklin

Component—Fall

DNCE 5505

This course will emphasize the steady development of movement skills, energy use, strength, and articulation relevant to each teacher’s technical and aesthetic orientations. Instructors will change at either the end of each semester or midway through the semester, allowing students to experience present-day dance practice across diverse styles and cultural lineages. At all levels, attention will be given to sharpening each student’s awareness of time and energy and training rhythmically, precisely, and according to sound anatomical principles. Degrees of complexity in movement patterns will vary within the leveled class structure. All students will investigate sensory experience and the various demands of performance. 

Faculty

• Catie Leasca

Component—Fall

DNCE 5505

This course will emphasize the steady development of movement skills, energy use, strength, and articulation relevant to each teacher’s technical and aesthetic orientations. Instructors will change at either the end of each semester or midway through the semester, allowing students to experience present-day dance practice across diverse styles and cultural lineages. At all levels, attention will be given to sharpening each student’s awareness of time and energy and training rhythmically, precisely, and according to sound anatomical principles. Degrees of complexity in movement patterns will vary within the leveled class structure. All students will investigate sensory experience and the various demands of performance.

Faculty

• Maya Lee-Parritz

Component—Fall

DNCE 5587

This course will introduce students to strength, mobility, and physical organization techniques that develop awareness and skill in the moving body. Drawing from Pilates, yoga, and other dance-adjacent practices, students will build a dependable foundation to support their dance and movement practice. Each week, the class will focus on conditioning a specific region of the body, incorporating basic anatomy and joint biomechanics through guided movement investigations. While collective goals will be emphasized, attention is also given to individual body structures and personal movement objectives. Recognizing that every body is unique, students will learn how to work with their own anatomy to create strategies that support their personal movement journeys. Students will be expected to maintain a dedicated method for recording their practice—this might be a journal, sketchbook, or digital log. These records will support the development of personalized movement routines to be used outside of class. Full participation in both the physical and reflective aspects of the course is required. Students should demonstrate a clear understanding and integration of course material throughout the semester. This course is open to all interested movers. As students deepen their understanding of how their bodies move, they expand their potential for creativity, exploration, and play.

Faculty

• Cara Reeser

Component—Fall

DNCE 5512

Ballet students at all levels will be guided toward creative and expressive freedom in their dancing, enhancing the qualities of ease, grace, musicality, and symmetry that define this form. We will explore alignment, emphasizing anatomical principles; we will cultivate awareness of how to enlist the appropriate neuromuscular effort for efficient movement; and we will coordinate all aspects of body, mind, and spirit, integrating them harmoniously.

Faculty

• Megan Williams

Component—Fall

DNCE 5510

Ballet students will be guided toward creative and expressive freedom in their dancing, enhancing the qualities of ease, grace, musicality, and symmetry that define this form. We will explore alignment, emphasizing anatomical principles; we will cultivate awareness of how to enlist the appropriate neuromuscular effort for efficient movement; and we will coordinate all aspects of body, mind, and spirit, integrating them harmoniously.

Faculty

• Megan Williams

Open, Component—Spring

DNCE 5574

This course will use physical embodiment as a mode of learning about and understanding various West African cultures. In addition to physical practice, supplementary study materials will be used to explore the breadth, diversity, history, and technique of dances found in West Africa. Traditional and social/contemporary dances from countries such as Guinea, Senegal, Mali, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast will be explored. Participation in end-of-semester or year-end showings will provide students with the opportunity to apply studies in a performative context.

Faculty

• N’tifafa Tete-Rosenthal

Component—Spring

DNCE 5505

This course will emphasize the steady development of movement skills, energy use, strength, and articulation relevant to each teacher’s technical and aesthetic orientations. Instructors will change at either the end of each semester or midway through the semester, allowing students to experience present-day dance practice across diverse styles and cultural lineages. At all levels, attention will be given to sharpening each student’s awareness of time and energy and training rhythmically, precisely, and according to sound anatomical principles. Degrees of complexity in movement patterns will vary within the leveled class structure. All students will investigate sensory experience and the various demands of performance.

Faculty

• Janet Charleston

Component—Spring

DNCE 5542

This studio practice course will introduce students to hip-hop culture through the classic hip-hop styles of dance. Cumulative technical dance training brings to light the ethos of the street dance culture and how it counteracts and sometimes adopts mainstream media misconceptions. Through the study of classic hip-hop dance styles, students will expand their awareness of connections between various dance forms that pre-date hip-hop while also exploring the dilemma of belonging yet standing apart. Through dialogue, students will begin learning about the history of the original dance styles in their communities and then discuss mainstream factors that helped or harmed the evolution of the community. Occasional guest teachers will offer a class in a club or street style that will help students get a feel for the New York City dance scene of the ’80s, which influenced today’s trends. Students will watch internet footage to aid in understanding the similarities and differences between previous trends and today’s social exchanges in dance. Students will receive dance training at a beginner level done to hip-hop music from past to present. If there are intermediate-level dancers, they will be taught at respective levels in order to make advancements in their grasp of vocabulary.

Faculty

• Ana Garcia

Component—Spring

DNCE 5509

The Alexander Technique is a system of neuromuscular re-education that enables the student to identify and change poor and inefficient habits that may be causing stress and fatigue. With gentle, hands-on guidance and verbal instruction, the student learns to replace faulty habits with improved coordination by locating and releasing undue muscular tensions. This includes easing of the breath, introducing greater freedom, and optimizing performance in all activities. It is a technique that has proven to be profoundly useful for dancers, musicians, and actors and has been widely acclaimed by leading figures in the performing arts, education, and medicine.

Faculty

• Peggy Gould

Component—Spring

DNCE 5505

This course will emphasize the steady development of movement skills, energy use, strength, and articulation relevant to each teacher’s technical and aesthetic orientations. Instructors will change at either the end of each semester or midway through the semester, allowing students to experience present-day dance practice across diverse styles and cultural lineages. At all levels, attention will be given to sharpening each student’s awareness of time and energy and training rhythmically, precisely, and according to sound anatomical principles. Degrees of complexity in movement patterns will vary within the leveled class structure. All students will investigate sensory experience and the various demands of performance.

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Component—Spring

DNCE 5512

Ballet students at all levels will be guided toward creative and expressive freedom in their dancing, enhancing the qualities of ease, grace, musicality, and symmetry that define this form. We will explore alignment, emphasizing anatomical principles; we will cultivate awareness of how to enlist the appropriate neuromuscular effort for efficient movement; and we will coordinate all aspects of body, mind, and spirit, integrating them harmoniously.

Faculty

• Susan Caitlin Scranton
• Mary Lyn Graves

Component—Spring

DNCE 5510

Ballet students will be guided toward creative and expressive freedom in their dancing, enhancing the qualities of ease, grace, musicality, and symmetry that define this form. We will explore alignment, emphasizing anatomical principles; we will cultivate awareness of how to enlist the appropriate neuromuscular effort for efficient movement; and we will coordinate all aspects of body, mind, and spirit, integrating them harmoniously.

Faculty

• Susan Caitlin Scranton
• Mary Lyn Graves

Component—Year

DNCE 5507

Note: This component course is Pass/Fail and does include a brief written evaluation; successful completion of this component course will have an effect on your grade within your program of study.

Each student enrolled in a three-credit Dance Study (DNCE 4400), five-credit Dance Third (DNCE 4400), or Master of Fine Arts in Dance program of study is REQUIRED to complete one tech/production job each semester in order to receive full credit for dance courses. In completing Dance Tech/Production (DNCE 5507), students are exposed to “behind-the-scenes” operations required to put on a dance performance. All students do this work, so each student may be performing on stage in one concert and working a crew position in the next. The production process is much the same here at Sarah Lawrence as in the professional world. For each concert, the technical crew works during the performances and during the “tech week” before the show. Each student will receive instruction for every tech job, so students should not worry if they are assigned to do something that they have never done before. 

Faculty

• John Jasperse

Component—Year

DNCE 5506

Note: This component course is Pass/Fail and does not include written evaluations; successful completion of this component course will have an effect on your grade within your program of study.

Dance Meeting convenes all undergraduate students enrolled in a five-credit Dance Program/Third (DNCE 4499), a three-credit Dance Study (DNCE 4400), or a one-credit Dance Study (DNCE 4400), along with all Master of Fine Arts in Dance graduate students, in meetings that occur roughly once a month. We gather for a variety of activities that enrich and inform the dance curriculum. In addition to sharing department news and information, Dance Meeting features master classes by guest artists from New York City and beyond, workshops with practitioners in dance-related health fields, panels and presentations by distinguished guests, Sarah Lawrence dance faculty and alumni/alumnae, and casting sessions for departmental performances created by the Live Time-Based Art class. 

Faculty

• John Jasperse