Degree Programs

Spring 2009 Topics Course Descriptions

T D 312T (25331)
Chicano Performance

Instructor: Roen Salinas

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Chicano Performance Studies: Body Rhythm and Dancing Texts
Performance Studies is an interdisciplinary scholarly field that critically examines a wide range of human practice, behavior and endeavor. Through “performance,” as an integral part of our everyday ordinary lives, we generate and negotiate meanings, identities, significance and differences that contribute to the construction of our personal, social and cultural realities. The U.S. Chicano/Mexican-American culture is rich in history, symbolism, icon and imagery. This course will set forth to critically engage embodied, written, spoken and enacted text in a variety of social and cultural frameworks, including dance, theater, ritual, narrative, story-telling, visual and popular media. Our guiding inquiry will center on how Chicano/Mexican-American culture (as embodiment, agency and event) is reflected, represented, and transformed through performative process. Students will be expected to apply conceptual and theoretical research into performance renderings.

T D 312T/352T (25334/25617)
The Language of Tap Dance

Instructor: Acia Gray

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
This course demystifies the technical aspects of tap dance while exposing the student to the history and tradition of this indigenous American art form. Traditional elements of tap dance in musical theatre will be covered as well as the jazz tap improvisational and choreographic structure of today.

T D 351T (25565)
Creative Drama II

Instructor: Bridget Lee

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
This course is an advanced investigation of the use of “creative drama” (or drama-based instructional strategies) in a variety of contexts including classrooms, after school programs, and community centers. Creative Drama I is a required prerequisite. Creative Drama II will build on the approaches to drama-based instruction learned in Creative Drama I and will focus on strengthening the skills needed to implement those approaches and techniques in various settings in the Austin area. The cornerstone of the Creative Drama II experience is fieldwork. Students will observe, co-teach, and teach in one or more practical contexts of choice during the semester as a way to hone the skills needed to successfully plan, implement, and evaluate drama-based lessons. The further development of these skills will be invaluable for future educators, teaching artists, and arts outreach professionals.

T D 351T (25570)
Directing New Work

Instructor: Katherine Pearl

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Contact Instructor

T D 351T (25580)
Vocal Repertoire and Rehearsal Techniques for Musical Theatre

Instructor: Lyn Koenning

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
This course will develop and deepen students' knowledge of musical theatre repertoire, explore musical theatre and rehearsal techniques, and help actor/singers build an audition portfolio. We will learn what types of music are appropriate for an audition and where/how to find them, how to identify the correct key for our voice, how to communicate with an accompanist, and how to prepare and perform a successful audition. We will identify and incorporate successful vocal practice strategies and effective vocal habits and technique. By the end of the semester you will also be able to recognize and interpret basic musical terminology and musical notation. Students will rehearse and perform solo and ensemble numbers from a variety of musicals. The course will culminate in an end-of-semester performance showcase as the last class meeting.

T D 252T (25600)
Theory/Practice of Movement/Physical Conditioning

Instructor: Andrea Beckham

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Utilizes Pilates-evolved techniques and equipment to investigate developing a daily mind/body practice of efficient alignment, core strengthening, movement re-education and execution to enhance movement expressivity. Additional laboratory / practical requirement. Consent of instructor necessary.

T D 352T (25605)
Advanced Theory/Practice of Movement/Physical Conditioning

Instructor: Andee Scott

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Contact Instructor

T D 352T (25611)
Digging into New Performance-W

Instructor: Holly Williams

Substantial Writing Component: Yes

Instructor Consent Required: No

Course Description:
This course will incorporate all class members into collaborative performance-making projects, with research and observational writing (tied to the Cohen New Works Festival) and project development at the core. No previous performance experience is necessary, but an interest in and commitment to physical participation is required. Final projects will result in public performance on campus.

T D 353T (25620)
Movement

Instructor: Andrea Beckham

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Prerequisite: Theatre and Dance 313E (Acting III) with a grade of at least B or consent of the instructor. This course focuses on the development of movement awareness as the basis for training performance skills for pre-professional actors, and development in utilizing the basics of Laban Effort Actions for direction and clarity in movement expression. Consent of instructor recommended.

T D 353T (25625)
Speaking Shakespeare

Instructor: Barney Hammond

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Prerequisite: Theatre and Dance 313E (Acting III) with a grade of at least B or consent of the instructor.

T D 354T (25645)
Costume Design for Film and TV

Instructor: Susan Mickey

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Prerequisite: Theatre and Dance 314C, 324, or consent of instructor.
Exploration of advanced costume design as it pertains to film and video. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with laboratory hours as required.

T D 354T (25650)
Design Skills: Digital Rendering

Instructor: Robert Schmidt.

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Foundational class in the understanding and the development of principles of digital rendering for live performance. PhotoShop required. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with laboratory hours as required. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: 314C and Consent of instructor.

T D 354T (25660)
Draping II

Instructor: James Glavan

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Advanced clothing construction techniques for theatrical productions. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with laboratory hours as required. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

T D 354T (25665)
Mask Making II

Instructor: James Glavan

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Advanced mask theory, design, and construction for theatre and live performance. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with laboratory hours as required. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

T D 354T (25670)
Portfolio for Designers

Instructor: Susan Mickey

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Advanced career planning and execution of a professional portfolio. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with laboratory hours as required. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

T D 354T (25680)
Rigging for the Theatre

Instructor: Rusty Cloyes

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: No

Course Description:
Fundamental exploration of historical and modern practices of theatrical rigging systems. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with laboratory hours as required. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary.

T D 354T (25685)
Wig Making and Styling

Instructor: Allison Lowery-Fuller

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Fundamentals of wig making for live performance. Three lecture hours a week for one semester, with laboratory hours as required. May be repeated for credit when the topics vary. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

T D 357T (25697)
Gender and Sexuality in Physical Performance-W

Instructor: Rebecca Rossen

Substantial Writing Component: Yes

Instructor Consent Required: No

Course Description:
This course posits that physical performance, and dance in particular, is an especially rich site for the examination of gender, sexuality, and embodiment in relation to evolving social and historical contexts. Moving from the late nineteenth century to the present day and encompassing a wide range of genres including ballet, modern dance, musical films, physical theater, contemporary dance-theater, animation, roller derby, and drag, the course juxtaposes readings from gender studies and dance studies with the viewing of videos and live performance. How does performance reinforce or undermine normative ideas about masculinity and femininity, heterosexuality and homosexuality? How does physical training construct gendered or docile bodies? Can particular modes of movement empower bodies and counter societal norms? How do particular artists challenge the status quo? How does the staging of gender and sexuality intersect with race, ethnicity, nationality, and class? Students have the opportunity to see live performance in Austin and at UT (particularly the New Works Festival), and attend “Warriors and Queens: Radical Stagings of Gender and Sexuality in Dance,” a special event that will feature feminist and queer choreographers. This seminar is geared towards students who find “the body” and “identity” potent topics. No previous knowledge of dance, performance, or gender studies is required.

T D 357T (25698)
Critical Theory for Performance-W

Instructor: Paul Bonin-Rodriguez

Substantial Writing Component: Yes

Instructor Consent Required: No

Course Description:
As a broad, diverse, and complex field of study bridging humanities and the social sciences, critical theory has had a mixed reception in the fine arts academy. To many the field may seem esoteric: a vast system of words and works dedicated to examining life (and performance) in the most minute detail. To others, critical theory, as a vast system of words and works dedicated to examining life (and performance) in the most minute detail, the field provides new insights and languages for theater practitioners and critics. Critical theory is born from two schools of thought, the literary theories embodied in the New Criticism and the social theories advanced in the U.S. by the Frankfurt School, a Marxian enclave in New York dedicated to examining the effects of capital on society. Both schools reached their peak in the 1960s, yet their work was rooted in the study of history and continues to inform and articulate how society is viewed. Similarly, theory continues to inform how we imagine the role of “theory” in relationship to our many practices. This course will examine the many schools of critical theory and ask what is has to offer performance creators and critics today. The ideal class will bring together scholars and artists in the department (and the university) and will empower scholar-artists. Readings will be dense, difficult, and fun. This course meets with the graduate TD 387D course. Expect to spend 9 hours per week in reading and writing preparation.

T D 357T (25699)
Memory in Performance-W

Instructor: Elizabeth Bonjean

Substantial Writing Component: Yes

Instructor Consent Required: No

Course Description:
From William Shakespeare's King Lear to Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie to Sarah Ruhl's recent Eurydice, the theatrical use of memory has a long and rich history. In this course we will explore how memory operates as a subject of drama, how it works to shape play structure, and the ways in which remembering and forgetting manifest in themes, images, characters and relationships in order to create meaning in the world of the play and for the audience. Of particular importance to us throughout the semester is what memory in text and performance can teach us about the past, the present, and the human condition.

T D 357T (25700)
Performance of Theatre for Dialogue

Instructor: Lynn Hoare

Substantial Writing Component: No

Instructor Consent Required: Yes

Course Description:
Focuses on devising and performing interactive theatre scenarios based on the content learned in the Fall. Performances take place both on campus and off.

T D 357T (25701)
Political Theatre in the Twentieth Century-W

Instructor: Elizabeth Bonjean

Substantial Writing Component: Yes

Instructor Consent Required: No

Course Description:
Does theatre have the power to change society? Where has theatre situated itself during crucial moments in history? How do governments, theatre artists, and citizens utilize theatre to assert or contest power? Who is the target audience for these socially-relevant performances and what is being asked of them? These are some of the questions guiding this course which examines twentieth-century political theatre in a global arena including South Africa, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States, and Argentina.

Spring 2009 Topics Course Descriptions