Seminar in Music and Dance Collaborations

SEMINAR IN MUSIC AND DANCE COLLABORATIONS

Syllabus

DNC/MUS496E/596E
2 Unit Hours

Prerequisites:

MUS/DNC496E Senior standing, juniors with permission
MUS/DNC596E Graduate students

Instructors

Dr. Suzanne Knosp	Patrick Neher	Amy Ernst
Associate Professor of Dance	Associate Professor of Music	Assistant Professor of Dance
Office: Gittings 121F	Office: Music 223	Office: Gittings 121E
Phone: 621-2923	Phone: 621-5822	Phone: 626-4106
email: sknosp@u.arizona.edu	email: neher@u.arizona.edu	email: ame@u.arizona.edu
office hours: by appointment	office hours: by appointment	office hours: by appointment

Course Purpose and Objectives

The purpose of this interdisciplinary course is :

To bring together student dancers, choreographers, composers and performers to explore the collaborative process.
To teach students how to communicate the ideas and needs of each discipline during the collaborative process.

To develop a performance project which will allow the students to utilize concepts and ideas addressed through the seminar topics.

Course Format

This seminar will meet on Tuesday and Thursday in Room 129 in the Ina Gittings Building. Choreographers and dancers will be paired with musicians to develop a mutually agreeable final project. This project must be approved by the instructors.

Class time will be used to explore body percussion, music improvisation, movement inprovisation, and discussion of the relationship between music and dance in the collaborative process. There will be reading and writing assignments.

Seminar topics may include: selecting music for choreography, movement considerations for musicians and composers, musical considerations for dancers and choreographers, rehearsal techniques, musical performance techniques for dance, and composing music for dance.

Grading

Grading will be based on the following:

For those registered for MUS/DNC496E

Critiques	20%
Seminar attendance and participation in the class	25%
Written assignments (journals and project self-evaluation paper)	20%
Final Performance Project	35%

For those registered for MUS/DNC596E

Reaction Papers	20%
Seminar attendance and participation in the class activities	25%
Written assignments (journals and project self-evaluation paper)	20%
Final Performance Project	35%

Seminar attendance and participation in the class activities - Attendance in class is mandatory. Some classes will be designated as opportunities for students to work on group projects. Students are expected to come to class to work during those class periods.

Final Performance Project - The performance project will be collaboration between a musicians and dancers. It can be something from the dance/music repertoire, or a new work. The project must be performed on Last Chance to Dance. Grading will be based on the success of the collaborative process. Guidelines for the Final Project may be found in the Timeline.

Student electronic journals - Each week the students should write a brief summary of their thoughts about how class assignments, activities and readings have (or have not) affected their perceptions regarding the relationships between music and dance and the collaborative process. These submissions should be emailed toProfessors Ernst, Knosp and Neher and are due no later than midnight on each Sunday. Late submissions will result in a lowered grade.

Self-evaluation Paper -The final paper will summarize each student's collaborative experience and discuss issues that arose during the process and how those issues were resolved. Guidelines for the Self-evaluation Paper may be found in the Timeline.

Critique - Students will write four critiques. Guidelines for the critiques will be handed out in class.

Reaction Paper - Students will write four reaction papers. Students will observe four dance performances which have had music written specifically for that choreography. Guidelines for the Reaction Paper appear in the Timeline.

Absences - If you must be absent from class, you will be responsible for the information that you missed.

Timeline

Readings On Reserve

Teck, Katherine. Music for the Dance: Reflections on a Collaborative Art. Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 1989.

Hodgins, Paul, Relationships Between Score and Choreography in Twentieth Century Dance: Music, Movement and Metaphor. Edwin Mellen Press, LTD., New York, 1992.

Karagianis, David, "An Approach Towards the Effective Use of Music for Choreography", Journal of the International Guild of Musicians in Dance, Vol. 3, 1994.

Bourcier, Thomas, "To Splice or Not to Splice", Journal of the International Guild of Musicians in Dance, Vol. 2, 1992.

Banes, Sally, "Dancing[with/to/before/on/in/over/after/against/away/from/without] the music: Vicissitudes of Collaboration in American Postmodern Choreography." Choreography and Dance, Vol. 1, Part 4, pp 3-22, 1992.

Rubidge, Sarah, "The Spink-Gough collaboration", Choreography and Dance, Vol. 1, Part 4, pp 23-28, 1992.

Lyn, Janaea Rose and Scafide, Anthony, "Aspects of the creative process: choreographer and composer a collaborative team", Choreography and Dance, Vol. 1, Part 4, pp 73-77, 1992.