University of North Carolina-Greensboro

Department of Dance

DCE 312/412 Lecturer: Shawn Bowman-Hicks, MFA

Contemporary Dance Theory & Technique Office: 220 F

Spring 2008 Office phone: 334-4064

MWF 10:00-12:00 Office Hours: MWF

After class and by appointment

email: shawnbh@triad.twcbc.com Home: 336.721.999

Course description: This course is designed for the advance dancer to hone their skills as an artist. My design for the course is to provide stimulating combinations in a variety of forms, strengthen technical and improvisational skills, develop ease in movement, and provide some core and strength training. This course will include some improvisation, performance enhancement and conditioning skills, as well as individual showings of phrases, and brief discourse. My goal for you in this class is to encourage excellence in dancing as we work as a community together. You are part of a community in this class and beyond. Working as a class ‘in community’ we can strive toward honoring, assisting, encouraging, and evaluating each other.

Topical Outline:

Warm-up exercises and combinations designed to enable your achievement specifically of learning goals 1-4 will remain fairly consistent over the course of the semester. Other exercises and combinations will develop over the course of the semester in length, speed, and in rhythmic and qualitative complexity so as to enable the achievement specifically of learning goals 5-12 and to provide opportunity to practice the integration of skills inherent to the achievement of learning goals 1-10.

Student Learning Goals:

To the degree appropriate for the level of modern training, students in this course will learn to:

1. Maintain basic alignment while standing;

2. Maintain basic alignment while in motion;

3. Increase and apply strength and stamina;

4. Increase and apply flexibility/range of joint motion;

5. Grasp and retain the sequence of exercises and combinations;

6. Grasp and retain the nuances of rhythm/phrasing of exercises and combinations;

7. Grasp and retain the qualitative dimensions of exercises/combinations;

8. Maintain whole-body and body part clarity of spatial orientation in movement;

9. Move quickly from learning to performing; apply technique w/ sense of “self”

10. Implement technical/artistic corrections consistently & in all applicable contexts;

11. Maintain a commitment to instruction and correction by observing carefully, listening actively, practicing on the side, and assessing your own and others’ progress and improvement as assigned.

12. Maintain a sense of personal responsibility for learning by completing written assignments on time and with thoroughness and clarity, and learning and using correct terminology.

Learning goals 1-10 mark distinct areas of skill in dance technique. Excellence in dance artistry is a matter of developing a high degree of skill in each area and integrating these skills during the performance of movement.

Learning goals 11 and 12 describe efforts/attitudes necessary for progress toward excellence in dance and indicate specific behaviors that demonstrate them.

Course Content*:

1. Challenging exercises to reinforce an awareness of alignment and increase flexibility and strength;
2. Swing-like movements and locomotion to promote continuity of movement;
3. Focus on use of qualities/Effort in movement;
4. Traveling patterns such as triplets, hops, leaps, etc. with use of focus and directional changes;
5. Use of rhythmic variety;
6. Improvisation to explore the elements of dance (space, body, dynamics, time);
7. Mini-autobiography

Teaching Strategies:

To enable student achievement of the learning goals, I will

1. Demonstrate, explain, analyze, and lead explorations of movement exercises and combinations designed specifically to develop the skills required for achievement of learning goals 1-10. *Some improvisation will be used to explore movement concepts as well as generate movement phrases.
2. Observe your daily work in class and (a) orally assess your achievement of learning goals 1-12, and (b) make recommendations for improvement in achieving learning goals 1-12;
3. Provide a written assessment on the Dance Technique Feedback sheet of your achievement at mid-term and again near the end of the semester;
4. Provide opportunities for individual appointments in which we may discuss your learning efforts;
5. Provide opportunities for you to assess your own and others’ progress toward the actual achievement of the learning goals.

Not every student will receive individual feedback during each class, but all students will receive individual feedback regularly throughout the course of the semester.

*If you feel you are not receiving enough feedback from me please let me know. Each individual in this class has different needs, and although I make every effort to accommodate them, I need to be made aware of areas I may have overlooked.

Evaluation Methods and Guidelines for Assignments:

The fundamental and ongoing assignments in this class are to:

1. Attend to movement material presented, as well as to explanations and analyses of its specific components;
2. Listen carefully to and apply all corrections and recommendations for improvement that I provide in class;
3. Learn the movement material as quickly as you can through observation and practice;
4. Perform the movement material as accurately as possible each time you are called upon to do so;
5. Reflect in writing as assigned on your progress toward and actual achievement of the learning goals;
6. Observe other dancers and assess their performance as assigned.

I will assess your progress toward and your actual achievement of the learning goals through:

1. Daily oral feedback to you and/or others on work done in class;
2. Mid-term and final evaluations of your achievement using the Dance Technique Feedback sheet;
3. Oral and/or written feedback of the accuracies and inaccuracies I perceive in your written self-assessments. (I may video tape)

*Quality of mini-autobiography

SCORING and GRADING:

Enter cumulative score from PART A (items 1-4)

needs minimum of 16

Enter cumulative score from PART B (items 5-12)

needs minimum of 70

TOTAL (total number of points possible: 100)

93-100=A 90-92=A- 87-89=B+ 83-86=B 80-82=B- 77-79=C+

73-76=C 70-72=C- 67-69=D+ 63-66=D 60-62=D- Below 60=F

Note: the following competencies determine the “preparedness” of the student for dance technique at the advanced level. In the advanced class, the student will explore these skills at a professional level, demonstrating readiness for different styles in dance technique. In order to move up to the advanced level and to pass the

course, the student needs a minimum score of 16 in PART A and a minimum score of 70 in PART B for two semesters. The total score needs to be a minimum of 86, a high B.

Attendance/ Scheduling:

*More than 3 absences will affect your grade (excused or unexcused). 1/3 of a letter grade will be deducted from your final grade for each absence thereafter. Make-up classes can be arranged with prior notice. If you arrive after the opening exercise is finished, please sit out and watch. Excessive tardiness will result in a lower grade. After a third tardy your grade will be lowered by 1/3. (An A becomes an A-, etc.) If this seems petty it is because issues of attendance have become issues in grading. Alas, there is some grace worked into these policies. If you think you are over the 3 class limit, you need to be in touch with me. There will be a scheduled technical evaluation(s) to help determine progress in the class. These are required and cannot be rearranged. We will decide as a class what day(s) are best based upon major events etc.

*Safety and Emergency Procedures*:

Participation in any movement activity involves some risks. Therefore, when dancing, please be aware of others in the space and listen to your body! If you are hurting or not feeling well in class, please let me know. Also, if you have any known physical limitations, current injury, or learning disability, let that also be known. Do not render care to an injured student without the consent of the instructor.

Other important information and various disclaimers*:

***Office hours: MWF after class and by appointment. Please do not call the dance office to leave me a message unless it is a true emergency (serious illness, you are in the hospital/death in your family, etc). The office staff cannot handle all the non-emergency calls during the semester. Therefore, if you have a problem and need to make me aware of calling try during office hours, via email, after class, upon your return, or call me at home at 336.721.9995

***It is the responsibility of each individual to inquire of the instructor or other students concerning any missed assignments, handouts, deadlines, or other information missed while absent. Also, I am here to help you. If you are not clear about something in class or just need to work out some problem…come and discuss it with me.

***I generally use touch to make corrections on the body. If that makes you uncomfortable, let me know.

***I think I have covered everything…welcome. We may have an ‘alternative class day’. These classes to not fall under the rigors of traditional technique, but can be helpful in growing as dancers together. You are welcome to suggest an idea for such a class. Due to the length of the class we will explore indulging in the warmup, finding more moments to increase flexibility, ripping out and performing combinations, and watching my favorite dance movie (there is a rational for that one). All my best…Shawn

Alignment

Alignment is not a static concept. In fact, alignment is in constant flux. It is not a “correct” way of lining up body parts but a way of embodying how we live in our bodies. Additionally, effective alignment does not look alike on all bodies. Different techniques, styles, and dance forms often require different bodily alignments.

Often, alignment is fluid and changes overtime. There are many influences on one’s alignment including culture, society, previous dance training, prior physical and emotional experiences, as well as structure.

Nevertheless, there are some guidelines that can be used to identify effective alignment in western modern dance; these guidelines may not apply to other movement forms. For example, a plumb line may be dropped directly through the center of the three body weights (head, thorax, and pelvis) to establish effective working alignment. The plumb line should be center in each of the body weights. Additionally, a straight plumb line may be dropped through the following bodily landmarks: outer malleolus (outer ankle), outside of knee, greater trochanter (at outside of femur), glenoid fossa (shoulder joint) and inner ear. These guidelines for alignment allow the bones to carry much of the weight of the body, resulting in safe and effective movement and body mechanics. When the weight is not carried through the bones, the muscles are forced to hold the body in place, thereby creating excessive stress and work. The main job of the muscles is to help the bones move, not to carry the weight of the body. When an imbalance exists, some muscles are required to work overtime to hold the body up while others become underutilized, thereby opening the dancer to bodily injury and insult. The purpose of alignment work in dance is not to create a straight and “held” posture of the spine; the curves of the spine are necessary for shock absorption during movement. However, the alignment landmarks may be used to keep the weight moving through the bones in a safe and effective manner. It helps to think of alignment as kinetic, whereby small adjustments continually provide a more moving and changing balance.

Common areas of excessive or frozen tension and problems on the body include:

Spine, pelvis, and chest/rib, including inability to release the lower back causing excessive habitual retraction of the pelvis, sticking out or held movement in the chest, and collapse in the chest.

Habitual distortions in the line of the body landmarks (listed above).

Problems of the hip joints, extremities and knees, including pronation of the feet or inward movement of the knees or upper thighs.

Protrusions of the chin.

Mini-Autobiography/Self Evaluation

Contemporary Modern Technique

Shawn Bowman-Hicks

1. Brief biography (Where are you from? Year in school? Major? Why dance? Etc.)

2. How do you feel about your body?

3. What are your strengths/weakness in dancing? And in life?

4. What is your personal dance style/ What makes you feel most comfortable, free, alive?

Do you see yourself gravitate toward a specific technique such as Cunningham, etc,?

5. What area (in terms of technique) would you like to focus and move toward improving?

6. Who or what has had the greatest influence/impact in your life? Why?

Due: Hard copy.

You may state the question then answer or write a short essay. Please take time to consider each question and answer fully. You are welcome to go into as much depth as you like. Remember this process helps me to get to know you as individuals. The assignment should be typed and 1-2 pages in length. I will also share my self evaluation with you.