Academic Calendar

A lecture and discussion course introducing the study of dance as technique, spectacle and ritual for today’s audience. Course fee required.

Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area V: Humanities and Fine Arts (NMCCN 1113).

{Fall, Spring}

Fundamental work for the adult beginner in Modern Dance techniques and styles. Course fee required.

{Fall, Spring}

Introduction to the techniques and styles of tap dancing. Course fee required.

{Fall}

Introduces the student to aesthetics of African dance technique and to develop knowledge and appreciation of fundamental movements, music, and culture. Students acquire facility in a movement language that reaches across linguistic and geographic boundaries. Course fee required.

Fundamental work for the adult beginner in technique and styles of jazz dance. Course fee required.

{Fall}

Beginning level Ballet. Basic fundamentals and performance skills of ballet technique; enhancement of flexibility, strength, body alignment, coordination, personal range of motion, and musicality; ballet terminology including steps, head, body and arm positions. Course fee required.

{Fall, Spring}

Fundamental work for the adult beginner in techniques and styles of Flamenco. Course fee required.

{Fall, Spring}

An introduction to Hip Hop, its movement, style and culture. Course fee required.

{Fall, Spring}

Participation in University theatre and dance season through assignment on a production crew. To be completed in one semester.

Offered on a CR/NC basis only.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

Specialized floor work training using principles of the Pilates Methodology and the basic movement concepts of Core Dynamics™. For preparing and maintaining a uniformly developed body for dance and movement. Course fee required.

{Fall, Spring, Summer}

Modern dance techniques and styles at the intermediate level. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall, Spring}

Introduction to improvisational skills in movement and the principles of choreography as applied to dance/theater composition. Investigation of structured improvisation within the fundamental elements of dance: energy, space, and time.

{Fall}

Tap dancing techniques and styles at the intermediate level. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Spring}

Jazz techniques and styles at the intermediate level. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall, Spring}

Overview of fundamental elements of music and historically significant collaborations between choreographers and composers in contemporary dance.

Overview of Flamenco music and history fundamentals, introduction to basic music notation. Primary focus on developing listening skills through a variety of Flamenco song forms. Basic rhythmic notation specifically applied to palmas and footwork patterns.

Intermediate level Ballet. Introduction of more advanced Ballet vocabulary at barre/center work; increase flexibility, strength, body alignment, and coordination for practice of steps/combinations with variations in timing and changes of facing. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Spring}

An introduction to Laban’s theoretical system for observing and describing movement events and their component parts. Guidance in the application of Laban theory to dance, therapy and awareness of the role of movement in the other arts through an understanding of dynamics, space and body function. Course fee required.

{Fall}

Flamenco techniques and styles at the intermediate level. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

Various topics such as: Cante, Cuadro/Improvisation/ Structure, Spanish Form/Castanets, Palmas and Cajon, Brazeo/Marcaje, Footwork and Vueltas and Bata de Cola/Manton/Abanico. Course fee required.

Lecture courses and workshops on various topics in dance. Course fee required.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

Modern dance techniques and styles at the advanced level. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall, Spring}

Creating and exploring movement vocabulary and forms generating choreography; development of ideas and inspirations into short works; space and its importance; giving and receiving critical feedback; exposure to choreography supported by video and reading. 

Prerequisite: 212.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Spring}

Structural analysis of movement. This lecture class provides a basic understanding of the skeletal and neuromuscular systems of the human body in movement. Course fee required.

{Fall}

Advanced level Ballet. Improvement of physical and mental skills necessary for professional level Ballet technique, growth in physical stamina, coordination and phrasing, movement efficiency, faster and more accurate assimilation of new movement and spatial awareness. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall, Spring}

Advanced technique in Flamenco with resident and visiting professors, offering a wide variety of exercises to hone abilities to learn choreography effectively while examining student strengths and weaknesses in personal exploration of the art form. Course fee required. 

Prerequisite: 379.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall, Spring}

Intermediate to advanced study of Hip Hop, its movement, style and culture. Course fee required.

Prerequisite: 170 or permission of instructor.

Study of various elements necessary in an improvisational setting in Flamenco. Using “tangos” and “Bulerias” as a format, students study the compass of each palo, then move to several traditional letras appropriate to these forms.

{Spring}

Further exploration in generating and organizing movement material for performance. Course fee required.

Prerequisite: 311.

{Fall}

Theories of teaching. Principles and techniques of curriculum development in elementary schools, secondary schools, higher education and in private schools. Course fee required.

{Spring, odd numbered years}

Observation and written analysis of dance events with an emphasis on contemporary theories and performances. Course fee required.

{Spring, even numbered years}

A survey of the origins of modern ballet and modern dance from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century. Extensive readings culminating in a research paper will be required. Course fee required.

Study of contemporary choreography from Modernism to the present. Particular emphasis on feminism and post-modernism as these movements have influenced our understanding of dancing and dance-making.

Introduction to Flamenco history, investigation of the controversial history of the art form through study of Gypsy history, Spanish history, and major figures and events that shaped the evolution of Flamenco.

{Spring, odd numbered years}

This course explores a variety of issues in dance history, such as Dance, Society & Politics; African-American Dance; and Dance on Film.

Prerequisite: 105.

Designed for advanced students with knowledge of Flamenco structure and improvisation, cante, palmas, and three levels of Flamenco technique, investigation of choreography in Flamenco movement and rhythms.

Prerequisite: 379.

{Fall}

(Also offered as ARTH, MUS, THEA 487 / 587; MA *487)

Analyzes major instances of interdisciplinary influence and collaboration in the present day. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Spring}

Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Offered upon demand}

Independent project culminating in a formal, informal or video performance. Students must submit a proposal to instructor and program head.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

Independent project culminating in a formal paper. Students must submit a proposal to instructor and program head.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

Students achieving an overall grade point of 3.50 will qualify for departmental honors, which requires a research or creative project with supporting written document.

Restriction: permission of department.

Research methods for performing arts including development of working bibliography, types of documentation, investigation of research materials in theatre and dance. Course fee required.

Required of all entering graduate students. 

{Fall}

Individualized work with Department faculty or professional artists in Dance or Theatre. Internship to be conceived in advance and structured throughout by directed study. Culminates in critical paper.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

An in depth study of the nature of creative investigation and art-making in dance with the prospect of finding alternative ways of constructing dance movement and composing new works. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall}

Further exploration in generating and organizing movement material for performance. A major piece of 20–30 minutes in duration or several smaller works of equivalent total length will be required. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall}

Further in-depth study of the nature of creative investigation and art-making specifically as it pertains to dance composition. Works-in-progress begun during the previous semester will be brought to completion. Course fee required.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall}

Theories and teaching. Principles and techniques of curriculum development in the elementary and secondary schools, higher education and in private studios. Course fee required.

{Spring, odd numbered years}

Observation and written analysis of dance events with an emphasis on contemporary theories and performances. Course fee required.

{Spring, even numbered years}

Regularly-scheduled technique course. Students must enroll in the appropriate section by dance genre and level. Course fee required.

{Fall, Spring}

A study of the history of dance from tribal culture to 19th-century Romantic ballet. Extensive readings culminating in a research paper will be required. Course fee required.

A survey of the origins of modern ballet and modern dance from the late 19th century to the beginning of Modernism. Extensive readings culminating in a formal research paper. Course fee required.

Study of contemporary choreography from Modernism to the present. Particular emphasis on feminism and post-modernism as these movements have influenced our understanding of dancing and dance-making. Course fee required.

Introduction to Flamenco history, investigation of the controversial history of the art form through study of Gypsy history, Spanish history and major figures and events that shaped the evolution of Flamenco. Course fee required.

This course explores a variety of issues in dance history, such as Dance, Society & Politics; African-American Dance; and Dance on Film.

Prerequisite: 105.

Designed for advanced students with knowledge of Flamenco structure and improvisation, cante, palmas, and three levels of Flamenco technique, investigation of choreography in Flamenco movement and rhythms.

Prerequisite: 379.

Restriction: permission of instructor.

{Fall}

(Also offered as ARTH, MUS, THEA 587 / 487; MA *487)

Analyzes major instances of interdisciplinary influence and collaboration in the present day. Course fee required.

Independent project culminating in a formal, informal or video performance.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

Independent project culminating in a final paper. Students must submit a proposal to instructor and Dance Program Head.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

Offered for students who have been advanced to candidacy and who have elected Plan II.

{Summer, Fall, Spring}

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