Oct 31, 2024  
2020-2021 Interim Catalog 
    
2020-2021 Interim Catalog [ARCHIVED CATALOG]

Theatre and Dance, B.A.


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Theatre and Dance

   Member of the Division of Humanities

Chair(s):

Justin Thomas

Faculty:

Lesley Delmenico - Senior Faculty Status
Kathleen Hurley
Ellen Mease - Senior Faculty Status
Celeste Miller
Craig Quintero

 

In the practice and study of performance, the Department of Theatre and Dance at Grinnell is committed to high standards of artistic expression and creative scholarship within the context of a liberal arts education. In the expansive fields within our department, students study the literature, history, and theory of theatre, dance, and performance. We also study the practices of performance making, of design, acting and directing, dance and choreography in European, American, postcolonial and other non-Western forms.

The major provides rigorous training in the analysis of performance forms in all of our classes. This provides a set of analytical “ways in” that students can apply to any of the texts (written or performed) with which they engage in all of our emphasis areas. These methods are predicated on understanding social, political, and historical contexts, and the ability to use theory to ground specific examples and forms. Our program coheres around a shared theoretical and methodological approach to the creation of performance in theatre, dance, and the multiplicity of cultural forms of identity-making (including sports, rituals, festivals, spectacles, and everyday life).

All of our students will graduate knowing how to read and critique texts and to interpret them for performance. They will be prepared for graduate study as well as professional programs. As one successful recent graduate commented of her studies, “I couldn’t learn everything there is to know about theatre at Grinnell, since it’s a liberal arts institution. But I learned how to learn.” Learning how to learn, how to research, and create continue to be the foundation for students within the multiple pathways in our discipline.

Major Requirements: A minimum of 36 credits


Required are:

200 level: Performance , Theory, Criticism, and History: 8 credits


200 level: Focused primarily in Creative Inquiry: 8 credits


300-level: Two courses or 8 credits


Practicum credits: 4 credits


  • At the 100-level 4 credits in at least three of the following areas: Theatrical performance, choreography, dramaturgical research, directing, stage and production management, performance technology, and performance crew

     or

Honors


To be considered for honors in theatre and dance, graduating seniors, in addition to meeting the College’s general requirements for honors, must demonstrate an underlying commitment to the discipline above and beyond simple completion of the classes for the major. This commitment is evidenced by excellent performance in class, sustained activity in department productions, and an Independent Project (such as a MAP 499).

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