UNDERGRADUATE MAJORS, MINORS, AND ASSOCIATED AREAS OF STUDY
CLAIRE TREVOR SCHOOL OF THE ARTS DANCE The Department of Dance fosters an educational environment in which performance opportunities, creative projects, and theoretical studies complement and reinforce each other, providing a foundation for careers in dance. The program focuses on the dance techniques of ballet, modern, jazz, tap, world dance, and dance and technology. Theoretical studies include history; philosophy, aesthetics, and criticism; Laban studies; dance pedagogy; dance ethnography; dance science; and aesthetics of digital media. Creative opportunities bridge the studio and theoretical work through performance and choreography for multiple contexts; creative applications of animation, motion capture, audio and video technologies; lecture demonstration; and critical, historical, ethnographical, and scientific writing. The objective of studio work is to develop kinesthetic resources, precision, flexibility, creativity, and freedom in a coordinated and intelligently responsive dancer. The techniques of classical ballet, modern dance, and jazz constitute crafts and styles for the dancer that serve not only as a basis for the training of the body, but also as a basic language of movement for the choreographer. The theoretical, historical, and scientific courses are designed both to broaden the perspective of those students whose first interest is performance or choreography, and to provide a foundation for those students who plan to pursue careers in the academic, scientific, technological, or administrative fields of dance. The dance archives in the UCI Library Special Collections offer a rich source of research materials which enhance the Dance program. Among other special holdings, the archives include the extensive Ruth Clark Lert collection of dance books, journals, photographs, original costume sketches, and memorabilia of dance in Europe and the United States from pre-World War I to the present. The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) is designed for those who wish to obtain a broad undergraduate background as preparation for careers or graduate work and related fields. It offers students a dance education that stresses performance and choreography, and, at the same time, intellectual depth and scope. In addition to the core, 12 units of elective Dance courses are required. The remaining elective units required for graduation may be chosen from Dance or other disciplines in relation to a student's individual interest. While the program of study in Dance stresses technical proficiency and academic understanding in dance, the B.A. degree program also enables students to pursue elective subjects in their special areas of interest in other academic disciplines. The Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree program with specializations in Performance and Choreography, is designed for students who wish to prepare intensively for careers in those areas. The courses required in addition to the core are primarily in Dance. The B.F.A. program allows for a few free electives in other areas. Admission to the B.F.A. program with a specialization in Choreography is by faculty approval only. The B.F.A. program with a specialization in Performance does not require additional faculty approval beyond the required audition for admission to the Dance major; students should declare their intention to pursue this specialization during spring quarter of their sophomore year. Careers in dance require excellent training and extraordinary discipline, tenacity, and dedication. Graduates of the Department have an excellent record of placement in the many fields of dance. Some have become professional dancers in ballet companies (including the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Nashville Ballet, and Ballet Pacifica); in modern dance companies (including Hubbard Street Dance Company, MOMIX, and Martha Graham Dance Ensemble); in touring companies (including The Lion King, Fame: The Musical, Carousel, and Cirque du Soleil); and in films, television, and theatre. In addition to training for professional dance performance and choreography, the major in dance serves as a basis for graduate study or job opportunities in fields such as dance history, dance science, dance pedagogy, dance reconstruction, dance criticism, dance video, and technology. Related fields, such as arts administration, law in relation to the arts, arts therapies, design and production, and music also offer positions for graduates. Students who are interested in a career in physical therapy or dance science will find a major in Dance, with related course work in chemistry, physics, biology, and mathematics, to be excellent preparation for further study. - From the 2007-2008 UCI General Catalogue |
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