Upper-Division

Looks at use of theater/performance in the U.S. and Latin America by the state, oppositional groups, and theater and performance practitioners to solidify or challenge structures of power beginning with pre-Colombian indigenous civilizations, 16th-century Spanish/European conquest, national independence movements, to the U.S. Latino diaspora.

Advanced work in the design and techniques of stage make-up and masks.

An investigation into the intricacies of production, focusing on structural, spatial, and visual concepts, creation and execution of scenic units, drafting, and related areas of technology. Designed to facilitate in-depth studies of specific production problems.

Offers non-actors, as well as actors, an enhanced understanding of Shakespeare and provides the ability to speak with greater clarity and vividness through reading aloud selected plays and sonnets. Explores work meanings, scansion, phrasing, breathing, tone, articulation, vowels, and consonants.

Continued study of classical ballet technique as a serious, expressive art form. Work includes longer combinations, air work, and style study in a regular class routine. Audition at first class meeting.

A progression from the simple phrasing and articulation of beginning technique class to more complex material requiring more acute perceptive skills and richer dynamic range. Emphasis is on both alignment and maintaining the kinetic integrity of the body while moving through space.

Advanced instruction in developing the dancer's mind/body, combined with contemporary movement theory and practice.

Continued study of postmodern dance theory and technique. Focus on advanced compositional practice, theatrical applications, and critical analysis of contemporary postmodern dance choreographers in the U.S. and worldwide. Audition at first class meeting.

Hands on study and exploration of the process of developing a new script from the perspective of the playwright, the actor, and the director. Students enrolling in this course as playwrights are selected on the basis of submissions turned in the previous quarter. Students taking the course as directors are required to obtain consent of the instructor. Other students may enroll as usual.

Examination of selected plays of Euripides, Aristophanes, Menander, Plautus, Terence, with workshop presentation of scenes from the plays.

An examination of the drama of continental Europe from 1918 to the present from an explicitly theatrical viewpoint, involving scene study, investigation of staging techniques, and relevant dramatic criticism. Selected plays from Antonin Artaud, Beckett, Brecht, Camus, Genet, Frisch, de Ghelderode, Gombrowicz, Ionesco, Mrozek, Pirandello, Sartre are read.

Selected plays of Eugene O'Neill studied in the context of the artistic, social, and political ferment in the American theater during the period in which he worked (1913-1953).

A study of three basic periods of Brecht's theater, poetry, and prose: 1918-1934 Munich and Berlin; 1933-1947 Exile; 1948-1956 Return to Berlin. Emphasis is on Brecht as theater theorist and stage director. Scene work and papers are required.