Theatre & Dance Academics

The Department of Theatre and Dance advances the knowledge of the practice, history and the contemporary range of the diverse repertoire of drama and choreography in its Dramatic Art major.

Students will gain understanding of both creative power and different kinds of knowledge, interpretation and communication using voice, body and gesture, spatial and material visualization and implementation, sociocultural media, and academic exploration and argumentation.

Assessment is by productions, projects and essays applicable to the different skills areas in accordance with departmental rubric.

Knowledge

Dramatic Art teaches students practice-based knowledge, as well as historical, theoretical and critical strategies for integrating practice-based knowledge into the social, cultural and political discussions of the contemporary world. This includes the experience of creative insight that generates new knowledge, new ways of talking about the ways we know, and what we know that is beyond conventional boundaries and can address issues of diversity and globalization.

Interpretation

Dramatic Art teaches students to interpret a wide variety of texts, from the scripts and scores of drama and choreography to the fundamentals of set, lighting and costume design and construction, the printed and digitized media of contemporary life, and the academic writings of history, theory and criticism. This wide range of interpretive skills develops exceptionally detailed comprehension.

Communication

Dramatic Art trains students in communication through informed practices built up over centuries. These practices have a history of strategies and methods for understanding and developing ways for different media (visual, oral, embodied, graphic, and increasingly digital literacies) to impact on society, politics and community. Students are expected to be able to gain the technical skills, the production strategies, and the evaluative methods for diverse communicative media.

Skills

The skills outcomes in Dramatic Art are inherently interdisciplinary and collective, training students in communication, collaboration, problem-solving, negotiation, time- and material-management, and project completion.

Students will acquire culturally diverse academic and critical skills in the history and theory of Dramatic Art, including some performance practice, as they contribute to the Arts and Humanities. (DRA001, 014, 020, 142, 150, 154, 155, 156an, 156bn, 156cn, 156d, 158, 159, 160a)

Students will acquire skills in creative technical craft, interpretation and research, analysis, application, synthesis and evaluation of a range of elements (including budgets and stage/production management: DRA026, 126, 180c, 180d) related to the production and reception of Dramatic Art (including courses) in:

• Acting: recognition of the significance of psychophysical integration (i.e. breath control, physical relaxation, imaginative connection and somatic awareness) in developing the actor’s instrument; to interpret a diversity of world views through the embodied enactment of a range of pieces from the ancient and classical canon to 21st-century performance texts; to evolve transferable skills (e.g. presentation skills, communication skills, collaboration, empathy, appreciation of cultural and social diversity, etc.); to analyse and research an understanding of acting and aesthetics across cultures and eras; to devise and perform original dramatic works; to evaluate and assess individual work and that of one’s peers through reflective journals, peer-group discussion and instructor-led feedback. (DRA021a, 120, 121 a/b/c, 122 a/b/c/, 135, 141, 143, 144, 174, 180a)
  
• Design: ability to create visual ideas and carry out research into and interpretation of the media related to scenic, lighting and costume design; see work from the page into reality; work with technical shops; communicate with actors/ dancers/ directors/ choreographers; and realize concepts in production. (DRA024, 025, 124a, 124b, 124c, 124d, 124e, 130, 180b, 180e, 180f, 180g)
  
• Dance: ability to create and embody texts (scored, improvised, devised); undertake research into and interpret and analyze background materials; communicate creatively with choreographers and other dancers; and work constructively with designers and other production staff. (DRA140a, 145, 146a, 146b)
  
• Directing: ability to creatively realize the staging of a text (scripted, scored, devised); undertake research into and analysis of preparatory materials; synthesize the various elements of design, performer, production, into a coherent whole; work to final production at a certain time; engender and facilitate dialogues needed to make production happen; understand audience desires, needs and challenges; and communicate to the larger public. (DRA127a, 127b, 180c)
  
• Scriptwriting/Dramaturgy: awareness of dramatic structure and presentation in various historical, cultural, and aesthetic contexts. Ability to recognize formal elements and the relationship between language and form in crafting and evaluating writing for performance. Ability to critically analyze various elements of performance, both written documents and staged, including awareness of the use of space, language, and structure to generate meaning.
  
  
   
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