Dance

Mission:

The dance program's desire is to train students to be technically proficient, while also allowing them autonomous creative voice in the classroom. Students will be challenged to develop their technique and artistry with equal effort. Within this dance program, artistry is not only physical, but intellectual. Graduates of this program will be prepared to take on roles as performers, choreographers, artistic directors, interdisciplinary collaborators, and more. 

 

Student Learning Objectives:

Students who complete a BA in Dance will:

  1. Understand terminology across multiple genres of dance technique.
  2. Learn how to approach auditions, interviews, and collaborative processes professionally. 
  3. Demonstrate critical thinking in written work, as well as creatively. 
  4. Demonstrate general understanding of dance history and our place within it. 

Degrees and Certificates

Courses

DAN 120: DANCE PROFESSIONALISM

Credits 3

Students must understand the professional dance world and its intricacies that they will be stepping in to following graduation. In this course, students will establish their professional portfolio that they will continually update and edit throughout their four years in school and throughout their professional career. 

The following are important landmarks of the course: Resume/CV, Artist Statement, Bio, and Dance/Choreography Reel.

DAN 125: IMPROVISATION

Credits 2

This course is an introduction to dance improvisation. Methods of accessing authentic movement as well as an understanding of how to develop and perform an improvisation score will be addressed. There will be an emphasis on helping the student to find their individual creative voice through movement. 

This course should be taken as a freshman and completed before a student can take DAN 350 or DAN 430.

DAN 126: TAP DANCE

Credits 2

This course is an exploration of different tap dance styles from Broadway tap to rhythm tap, and practices used in the dance world today. Students will ultimately combine all of these skills into dances. Course culminates in an informal dance performance.

DAN 128: JAZZ I

Credits 2

Focus on establishing basic entry level knowledge of jazz technique, fundamentals of vernacular jazz, and practice performance skills. By the end of this course, students should show improvement in their use of terminology and understand its application.

DAN 140: DANCE TECHNIQUE 1

Credits 1
This course is repeatable for credit as many times as deemed necessary by the dance instructor. Since dance technique does not follow a perfectly linear pedagogical format and the instructor can fit an exercise to a variety of levels, repeating a course in this technique is not equivalent to technical deficiencies.

DAN 141: DANCE TECHNIQUE I

Credits 1
Dance Technique 1-4 1 These courses provide instruction in the ballet, jazz, and tap genres of dance. Level 1* provides basic instruction on terminology and execution of steps, and the training progresses in difficulty through level six. Students will be required to take only four levels of instruction, and placement in an initial level will be determined by past experience and skill level at the audition. *Only Level 1 includes the essentials of long-term fitness and conditioning.

DAN 144: BALLET I

Credits 2

Focus on establishing basic, entry level knowledge of ballet technique, terminology, and performance. By the end of this course, students should show improvement in their use of ballet terminology and understand its application.

DAN 228: JAZZ II

Credits 2

Focus on advancing existing knowledge of classical Jazz technique, vernacular jazz and practice performance skills. By the end of this course, students should show improvement in their use of terminology and understand its application. Course culminates in an informal dance performance. 

DAN 240: DANCE TECHNIQUE 2

Credits 1
This course is repeatable for credit as many times as deemed necessary by the dance instructor. Since dance technique does not follow a perfectly linear pedagogical format and the instructor can fit an exercise to a variety of levels, repeating a course in this technique is not equivalent to technical deficiencies.

DAN 241: DANCE TECHNIQUE 2

Credits 1
Dance Technique 1-4 1 These courses provide instruction in the ballet, jazz, and tap genres of dance. Level 1* provides basic instruction on terminology and execution of steps, and the training progresses in difficulty through level six. Students will be required to take only four levels of instruction, and placement in an initial level will be determined by past experience and skill level at the audition. *Only Level 1 includes the essentials of long-term fitness and conditioning.

DAN 244: BALLET II

Credits 2

Focus on advancing existing knowledge of ballet technique, terminology, and performance. By the end of this course, students should show improvement in their use of ballet terminology and understand its application. Course culminates in an informal dance performance.

DAN 245: DANCE FITNESS AND CONDITIONING 2

Credits 1
This course, to be taken during the sophomore year of study, provides instruction on improving and maintaining physical fitness as a state performer. It incorporates a variety of exercise methods tailored to the dancer, helping students make improvements in strength, flexibility, agility, and endurance. In addition, it explores how nutritional choices affect overall physical health for the stage performer.

DAN 249: DANCE PERFORMANCE LAB

Credits 2

This course includes individually designated performance assignments in support of public performances for the dance program. Students rehearse and take class weekly, in addition to responsibilities of contributing to tech week. This course is repeatable up to 4 times for credit. 

Audition or Professor Invitation Required

DAN 250: DANCE AUDITION TECHNIQUE

Credits 3
Offered once every other year, this course focuses on guiding students interested in a performance career in how to learn dances quickly and move through a dance audition with confidence. During this course they will also create a dance reel which will be able to be used in their professional careers post graduation.

DAN 260: DANCE PRODUCTION

Credits 2

This course includes individually designated technical design assignments in support of public performances for the dance program. Student design lighting and other technical elements for specific performances in collaboration with the choreographer in addition to responsibilities of contributing to tech week and running technical elements during performances. This course is repeatable up to 4 times for credit. Professor Invitation required.

DAN 270: CONTEMPORARY

Credits 2

This course is an exploration of different contemporary movement styles and practices used in the dance world today. Students will explore different types of weight sharing, floor work, traveling phrases, and ultimately combining all of these skills into dances. Course culminates in an informal dance performance.

DAN 322: DANCE HISTORY II

Credits 3

In this course, students will examine dance through the ages, from the Stone Age participatory dances to the spectator dances of the Orient, the classical period in Greece and Rome, and the early Middle Ages, including works from the Western canon.

DAN 340: DANCE TECHNIQUE 3

Credits 1
This course is repeatable for credit as many times as deemed necessary by the dance instructor. Since dance technique does not follow a perfectly linear pedagogical format and the instructor can fit an exercise to a variety of levels, repeating a course in this technique is not equivalent to technical deficiencies.

DAN 341: DANCE TECHNIQUE 3

Credits 1
Dance Technique 1-4 1 These courses provide instruction in the ballet, jazz, and tap genres of dance. Level 1* provides basic instruction on terminology and execution of steps, and the training progresses in difficulty through level six. Students will be required to take only four levels of instruction, and placement in an initial level will be determined by past experience and skill level at the audition. *Only Level 1 includes the essentials of long-term fitness and conditioning.

DAN 344: BALLET III (POINTE)

Credits 2

Students will acquire complex motor skills, intermediate, and advanced classical ballet techniques and knowledge appropriate for successful participation in classical ballet performance. Multiple turns and beats are explored, as well as petite allegro and grand allegro combinations. This course may be taken 2 times for credit.

DAN 345: DANCE FITNESS AND CONDITIONING

Credits 1
These courses, to be taken during the sophomore, junior, and senior years of study, provide instruction on improving and maintaining physical fitness as a stage performer. They incorporate a variety of exercise methods tailored to the dancer, helping students make improvements in strength, flexibility, agility, and endurance. In addition, they explore how nutritional choices affect overall physical health for the stage performer.

DAN 350: CHOREOGRAPHY & COMPOSITION

Credits 3
Students in this course will explore the basic techniques of choreographing dance and put into practice teaching movement to their peers. Students will have opportunities to compose a variety of different movement styles. This course primarily used experiential learning to help students see the ways in which choreography fits into their personal career.

DAN 352: CHOREOGRAPHY II

Credits 3

This course builds upon the elementary principles of dance making as explored in Dance Choreography and Composition 1. Course content focuses upon a deeper investigation of movement invention, weight qualities/gravity, and the development of movement content and structure in relation to context. This course will address the solo, duet, and trio choreographic forms as well as the use of music and other methods for delineating context. Additionally, this course will explore collaborative artistic practices and the introduction of film into a choreographic process.

DAN 370: DANCE PEDAGOGY II

Credits 3

This course develops communicative, leadership, and creative skills while preparing the student for their role as a dance educator. Movement is developed as a kinesthetic tool for learning. Content includes the history of dance education, educational theories, development of original lesson plans, and practical teaching experiences in the Atlanta community.

DAN 420: DANCE KINESIOLOGY

Credits 3

This course provides dancers with a comprehensive understanding of the human anatomy, biomechanics, and injury prevention strategies tailored to the physical demands of performance. Students will learn to apply anatomical knowledge to performance practice, identify and address common injuries in performers, and develop sustainable physical habits for a lifelong career.

DAN 430: DANCE PEDAGOGY

Credits 3
Students in this course will learn important tools and methods for teaching dance and choreography. As many of our students have interest in teaching/directing, the skills learned in this course are very important and practical to their future careers.

DAN 440: DANCE TECHNIQUE 4

Credits 1
This course is repeatable for credit as many times as deemed necessary by the dance instructor. Since dance technique does not follow a perfectly linear pedagogical format and the instructor can fit an exercise to a variety of levels, repeating a course in this technique is not equivalent to technical deficiencies.

DAN 441: DANCE TECHNIQUE 4

Credits 1
Dance Technique 1-4 1 These courses provide instruction in the ballet, jazz, and tap genres of dance. Level 1* provides basic instruction on terminology and execution of steps, and the training progresses in difficulty through level six. Students will be required to take only four levels of instruction, and placement in an initial level will be determined by past experience and skill level at the audition. *Only Level 1 includes the essentials of long-term fitness and conditioning.

DAN 450: DANCE IN SOCIETY

Credits 3
This course explores dance as a reflection of culture and as an art form from the earliest societies to the present. Concert and Global dances will be observed closely as communication, art forms and commercial entertainment. Throughout the course students will analyze dance forms from both video and written material. Cultural influence and the contributions of individual artists will be investigated.

DAN 500: GRADUATE SEMINAR

Credits 3
Through guest lectures, class discussions, workshop experiences and written assignments the student will build a practice of writing, to establish knowledge of various modalities for creating dance. Emphasis will be placed on advancing each?student’s individual perspective on what is surfacing in their choreographic practice. This course creates various stimuli to which the candidate responds through studio-based inquiry, and a range of reflective and critical skills including writing and documentation strategies.

DAN 510: SITE SPECIFIC WORK

Credits 3
This course exposes students to environmental mediation in art-making by exploring site-sensitive instillation, performance, writing, etc. The application of technology to exhibition/performance is encouraged.

DAN 521: STUDIO PRACTICE & RESEARCH

Credits 3
This course creates space for graduate students to workshop ideas, movement, and/or production elements in studio. Embodied research helps students examine their artwork in the context of human ecology. Students explore the combined role of the body-mind in art-making practices. The goal of this course is to generate questions about how recent research, reading, and writing might inform their creative, in-studio practice.

DAN 522: STUDIO PRACTICE AND RESEARCH II

Credits 3
Students explore the combined role of the body-mind in art making practices. Embodied research helps students examine their artwork in the context of human ecology. Students establish a strong home-based studio practice during non-resident periods to produce a semester portfolio, which includes individual and collaborative assignments, and self-designed projects. Online Critical Response Process included. Reinhardt provides a research mentor.

DAN 523: STUDIO PRACTICE AND RESEARCH III

Credits 3
Students explore the combined role of the body-mind in art making practices. Embodied research helps students examine their artwork in the context of human ecology. Students establish a strong home-based studio practice during non-resident periods to produce a semester portfolio, which includes individual and collaborative assignments, and self-designed projects. Online Critical Response Process included. Reinhardt provides a research mentor.

DAN 524: STUDIO PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IV

Credits 3
Students explore the combined role of the body-mind in art making practices. Embodied research helps students examine their artwork in the context of human ecology. The course involves Intense creative practice with close mentoring. Students explore content, form, and materials in individual and collaborative assignments, and self-designed projects. Students demonstrate a cohesive conceptual and technical approach to art-making. Critical Response Process is included.

DAN 529: DANCE PEDAGOGY: TEACHING RESIDENCY

Credits 3
In this course, students will participate in a teaching residency, either on campus at Reinhardt University, or through an alternate campus location, proposed and approved in advance by the professor. Students will complete self-assessments, collect anonymous student assessments, and be assessed by the professor on their quality of teaching and proficiency in communicating dance in class.

DAN 530: DANCE AND MEDIA

Credits 3
This course explores the many interactions between dance/movement, and digital or media-based representations of it. The class will focus on application of skills and techniques, case studying specific real-world examples of digital dance or dance in the media. Students will pay close attention to both experiential “sides” of digital dance and dance in the media - the audience/consumer, and the creator/artist. Semester-long course — offered in the fall semester.

DAN 535: DANCE ON FILM

Credits 3
This course offers explorations of choreography and media where the media takes action directly with the body. It is a multimedia class that combines training and experimentation in various types of technology to devise choreography that pushes the limits of disciplines with bodies in mediated spaces. This course explores the many interactions between dance/movement, and digital or media-based representations of it. The class will focus on application of skills and techniques, case studying specific real-world examples of digital dance or dance in the media. Students will pay close attention to both experiential “sides” of digital dance and dance in the media - the audience/consumer, and the creator/artist. The final for this course is the submission of a researched and produced dance film.

DAN 540: CHOREOGRAPHER STUDIES

Credits 3
This class explores dance as a reflection of culture and as an art form from the earliest societies to the present. Concert and Global dances will be observed closely as communication, art forms and commercial entertainment. Throughout the course students will analyze dance forms from both video and written material. Cultural influence and the contributions of individual artists will be investigated. This course specifically will concentrate on historically relevant choreographers and their processes, allowing the graduate level choreographers in the class to learn from, and possibly borrow concepts and practices of choreographers who came before them.

DAN 555: CREATIVE INTERDISCIPLINARY COLLAB

Credits 3
This course emphasizes the essentially collaborative nature of performance practice. It offers the opportunity to experiment with new kinds of collaborative relationships and to observe, create, and discuss the choreographer's role in the transformation of ideas into performance works. Through collaborative projects, students engage with other artists and artistic practices and/or with various practitioners from other disciplines, such as: designers, scientists, actors, musicians, writers, mathematicians, etc. as a means of realizing their artistic vision.

DAN 560: GRANT WRITING & ARTS ADMINISTRATION

Credits 3
This course will cover the practical skills required for the successful management and funding of arts organizations. Areas covered will include budgeting, fundraising, analysis of financial statements, contracts, marketing/publicity, audience development, board governance, and issues associated with the founding of a nonprofit organization. Throughout the course, students will engage in practical exercises, case studies, and hands-on projects that mirror real-world scenarios in arts administration and grant writing. By the end of the course, students will have developed a comprehensive arts administration toolkit, enabling them to pursue successful careers in leadership roles throughout the arts.

DAN 570: KINESIOLOGY & SUSTAINABLE BODY

Credits 3
Understanding the body’s structures, functions, and subtleties in movement through a holistic lens is a life-long endeavor. This is the study of Kinesiology. Generally gross anatomy and physiology would precede a kinesiology course; however, in Dance Kinesiology we will approach the learning collectively with regard for the demands of dance and the dancer’s body in multiple contexts and forms. This class approaches the learning process as kinesthetic, tactile and cognitive to support a lasting relationship to the material. Additionally, this course aims to educate the student in ways to move, create, teach, and lead in a way which is sustainable for years of continued movement.

DAN 580: PRODUCTION AND DIRECTION

Credits 3
This course helps students develop skills necessary to produce and/or direct productions involving dance and multimedia art works. Multiple elements, beyond the creative are included in this course, enabling students to consider the financial, and collaborative efforts involved in production. Students will develop aesthetic expression and produce or analyze creative works within traditions of visual and performing arts.

DAN 585: SOMATIC RESEARCH I

Credits 3
Somatic Study is an inquiry into our “lived body” by observing and exploring ourselves through sensing and moving. It is simply, and most profoundly, the study of how the human embodied experience unfolds. This course guides the student through academic research study and ties it into their somatic practice, guided by an ISSC representative.

DAN 595: SOMATIC RESEARCH II

Credits 3
Somatic Study is an inquiry into our “lived body” by observing and exploring ourselves through sensing and moving. It is simply, and most profoundly, the study of how the human embodied experience unfolds. This course guides the student through academic research study and ties it into their somatic practice, guided by an ISSC representative.

DAN 600: THESIS PRODUCTION I

Credits 3
Students pursue a sophisticated thesis question via rigorous practice-led and academic research, and begin documenting their process in a context statement. Frequent interaction with both the onsite and Reinhardt faculty mentors is required.

DAN 650: THESIS PRODUCTION II

Credits 6
The student will complete and present the thesis exhibition/performance with appropriate docu-mentation, as well as an assessment portfolio. All materials must demonstrate mastery of conception, intention and production. An oral defense of the thesis exhibition/performance is required.