Class Schedules

In this course, first-year students critically attend live dance and theater performances in the exciting arts scene of the Twin Cities, and articulate their individual reactions by writing reviews, responses, and essays. In this process of studied spectatorship, students acquire the vocabularies of the field. Readings include seminal texts in dance and theatre criticism, as well as manifestos and scholarly articles. We will attend dance and theater performances at professional venues such as the Walker Arts Center, the Guthrie, Penumbra Theatre, Mixed Blood, Northrop Auditorium, and Cowles Center.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WA
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Acting I introduces students to the art of acting. By the end of this semester, students will have acquired fundamental acting skills and insight into performance analysis. Students will develop a detailed understanding of the actor's craft; engage the body/voice as the actor's performing instrument; explore internal (memory, impulses, and so forth) and external (the other actors, the environment, objects, and so forth) stimuli as creative sources; rediscover of play and imagination; learn how to focus effort and attention while performing; and develop work ethics and discipline. Students in this course will engage in physical activity and be required to spend 3-5 hours in rehearsals outside of scheduled class time.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

An introduction to the fundamentals of the human voice. Using techniques of Lessac, Linklater, and Rodenburg, students learn elements of elocution: communication awareness, breath support, healthy voice production, projection, posture, speech articulation, Standard American English pronunciation, and vocal delivery. Essential performers and useful for anyone choosing a career such as law, teaching, politics, leadership, that use public speaking. This is a dynamic and highly experiential performance-based lab course. The semester culminates with a public solo performance of oratory and poetry. No previous acting experience required.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is the study and discipline of dance-making. Students learn the tools of the choreographer - time, space, energy - and how they can be shaped to give the body expressive power. The relationships between form, content, and technique are explored. Students choreograph short studies, improvise, discuss, and view dance on film and in live performance. The course values risk-taking and collaboration in a supportive, shared space. Through the creative process, we seek energy from a sense of investigation as opposed to the pressure to "succeed". The solo form is emphasized. May be repeated for credit.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

As our society shifts away from a human connection to the tangible, this course seeks to reconnect the student to the tangible object. Our focus will be on the process of "thinking through making." Through a series of project based learning opportunities, students will develop a deeper understanding of themselves, the process of "critical making," and current performance production technologies.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

As our society shifts away from a human connection to the tangible, this course seeks to reconnect the student to the tangible object. Our focus will be on the process of "thinking through making." Through a series of project based learning opportunities, students will develop a deeper understanding of themselves, the process of "critical making," and current performance production technologies.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Scenography is the creation of imagined spaces for performance. In this course we will study the fundamentals of scenography holistically, including scenic, lighting, costume, sound, and projection design. Students will develop the ability to analyze and critique elements of performance design, articulate design ideas through written and verbal means, and complete a design project from textual analysis to tangible object.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

The study of anatomy and somatics provide concrete pathways to deepening our understanding of self and the mind-body connection. We will study the musculoskeletal human anatomy on both a theoretical and practical level. Countering the notion that the body is an assemblage parts to be trained, strengthened, and disciplined, we will delve into various mind-body practices that illuminate anatomy from a first-person perspective. We will focus on experiential learning including embodied anatomy and movement practices that provide direct knowledge of anatomy and alignment while providing opportunities for an integrated experience from within and increased self-awareness. In-class work will be supplemented by readings, journaling, physical practice, writing and research.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course proposes several varieties of contemporary creative nonfiction as templates for solo performance creation. Diary, investigative journalism, lyric essay, memoir – through these and other forms, CNF is a creative writing practice that proposes, essais, worlds for the page akin to solo works’s provisional worlds for the stage. Students will read CNF essays through questions of strategy, scene, and voice; then, they will study solo performance as embodied essay. Through this cross-genre investigation, students will be fortified in making their own creative nonfiction performance essays for the course. Performing experience helpful, but keenness is all.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course introduces students to debates, methods, and conceptual frameworks in race and gender, as represented in performance. It engages students in an interdisciplinary exploration of key terms--such as corporeality, embodiment, intersectionality, and performativity--that remain central to the fields of gender and sexuality, critical race theory, and performance. Through drafts and revisions of written work, critical dialogues and oral presentations in small groups, peer feedback, and analytical reading, students will engage in questions around identity formation, structural inequality, and the politics of citizenship.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Performing heightened text is one of the greatest challenges of any performer. You need understanding of the context and meaning of the poetry, the writer, and the time it was written, strong voice and speech technique to handle the poetry of the language, AND access to the emotional intensity that characters in these texts are immersed in. This class will explore poetic analysis of heightened text and learn acting techniques needed to bring the texts to life. You will learn how to perform Shakespeare and other great classical writers so you can be heard, understood, and most importantly, to be felt!

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

The course explores scenic design in traditional theatrical buildings and alternative sites. Students will learn how to bridge script analysis and visual research, deepen their knowledge of spatial composition, acquire drafting skills, and practice design conceptualization with reference to historical and contemporary practices. The course outcome is a design portfolio, the collection of the various course projects each student will create during the semester. Prerequisite(s): THDA 232 or THDA 235 recommended, but not required. Students with a background in studio art or design are welcome to enroll.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This is a reading and writing intensive course that engages theories from the fields of aesthetics and cultural studies to support each student's in-depth research into a topic of their choice. Discussions examine how particular uses of the body, space, and narrative intersect to inform our experience of "performance", broadly defined, and engage the interplay between real and fictional in both artistic productions and performative social contexts. Students may pursue archival and library research, analysis of live performance, and analysis of documents of various kinds, including visual materials. Required for Theater and Dance majors, open to Dance, Theater, and Performance Design and Technologies minors.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

This African-based Movement course focuses on dance inspired by West Africa, other African regions, the Caribbean, Americas, and the African Diaspora at large. It is a class rooted in a communal environment where students learn technique, characteristics, and the fundamental connection between the music, rhythms, and the dance. Students will create in-class movement projects and presentations. Though this class may focus on traditional dance at times, it is not a traditional-specific class. All are welcome. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This introductory level course is a joyous and demanding exploration of the theory, technique, and terminology of modern dance as a performing art. Students engage fully with their bodies and minds as they deepen their strength, sense of rhythm, flexibility, and coordination. The course develops skills in inversions, floorwork, and balance based in clear alignment. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

This intermediate to advanced level technique course values expression, precision, and stamina. Students develop an understanding of how to use tiny muscles hidden within large muscles as they practice complex movement phrases on the ground, in the center, and across the floor. They learn a range of turns, jumps and movement sequences that build strength and agility. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This is a beginning ballet technique class. The goal is to demonstrate fundamental understanding and execution of ballet technique. It will include barre work, center-floor, and across-the-floor combinations. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

This is an intermediate ballet class and is geared for students who have developed proficient skills at the barre and in the center. Center will include pirouettes, adage, beats, and more complex combinations. Students will develop a more advanced vocabulary while continuing to focus on placement, alignment, flexibility, strength, and fluidity and connection of movement. The refinement of technical skills and performance skills with longer combinations will be emphasized. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

African-based Movement Ensemble focuses on selected histories and techniques of dance forms from West Africa and the African Diaspora, including the Caribbean and the Americas. Students perform in the yearly Fall Dance Concerts of the Theater and Dance Department. They have also performed at events such as the Black History Month Showcase, Afrika Week, and Family Fest. Completion of African-based Movement I and/or II is recommended. 2 credits are awarded upon successful completion of Ensemble. 4 credits of fine arts general distribution are awarded upon completion of two semesters of Ensemble. Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Ensemble is by audition/permission of instructor only.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

Students are involved in production as actors, assistant choreographers or choreographers, assistant directors or directors, assistant designers or designers, dramaturgs and playwrights. Two credits awarded at the end of the semester. May be repeated for credit.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Students are involved in set, costume, lighting and sound engineering and construction, and running crew. Two credits awarded at the end of the semester. May be repeated for credit.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This is a survey course that welcomes majors and non-majors alike. Students are exposed to a variety of modern contemporary dance and theatre pieces, screenings, plays, essays, and criticism to explore the intersections of performance and identity from a historical perspective. Assignments include attending screenings and/or performances; script analyses and close readings; individual research; short written projects and a final paper.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Acting I introduces students to the art of acting. By the end of this semester, students will have acquired fundamental acting skills and insight into performance analysis. Students will develop a detailed understanding of the actor's craft; engage the body/voice as the actor's performing instrument; explore internal (memory, impulses, and so forth) and external (the other actors, the environment, objects, and so forth) stimuli as creative sources; rediscover of play and imagination; learn how to focus effort and attention while performing; and develop work ethics and discipline. Students in this course will engage in physical activity and be required to spend 3-5 hours in rehearsals outside of scheduled class time.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Games and Improvisation are methods of discovery for performers. A given text or situation offers only so much: it is the actor who must supply the offstage histories, the unimagined details, the impulses that make a character, a world, onstage. In Playing for Life, students will examine the histories, applications and purposes of many games contemporary performers play, through key texts and exercise descriptions. We will play games and use improvisation techniques developed by the great proponents of imagination training in theatre: Stanislavski, Chilton, Spolin, Boal and others. We will look at extra-theatrical applications of games, in sites like activist training, therapy training, special needs and language education, business and senior living centers. Final projects may include designing a games- or improvisation-based curriculum for a target group, and a performance. Students should be prepared for physical movement in all class periods.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In almost every town in the world, in a rich tradition spanning millennia, communities make theatrical representations of themselves: their heroes, their unsung neighbors, their struggles, their aspirations. Community-based theater is made by, for and about communities, and the varieties, strategies, controversies and triumphs of this form are the content of this course. In the United States, which is the geographical focus of this course, community-based theater has emerged from rural and urban communities, communities of color, communities of coalitions united toward a cause - we will learn from historical and scholarly accounts, and from local participants, about many of these efforts. We also will explore the Twin Cities' own deep history of community-based theater-making, and participate in a major community project during the semester. You will be off campus for a good amount of time in the later part of the semester connecting and experiencing work.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP
U.S. Identities and Differences

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course focuses on dance in the United States from the early 20th century to today. The historical study of dance as an embodied art form supports an intersectional examination of how gender, race, ethnicity, and class experiences both reflect and shape individual and collective identities. We will read seminal texts in dance and cultural studies, analyze dance videos and live performances, and write short papers that critically consider an array of theatrical dance forms and traditions.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

An introduction to the fundamentals of the human voice. Using techniques of Lessac, Linklater, and Rodenburg, students learn elements of elocution: communication awareness, breath support, healthy voice production, projection, posture, speech articulation, Standard American English pronunciation, and vocal delivery. Essential performers and useful for anyone choosing a career such as law, teaching, politics, leadership, that use public speaking. This is a dynamic and highly experiential performance-based lab course. The semester culminates with a public solo performance of oratory and poetry. No previous acting experience required.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This laboratory course offers intensive training in making theatre from action . Based on the teaching of Jacques Lecoq and his school of physical theatre training in Paris, work will focus on the observation, re-creation and transposition of daily life to create a theatre that is at once playful, emotional and creative. Course work will include an examination of the natural world and all its movements, our relationship with space and time, and object manipulation. We will use improvisation, games and exercises to develop physical and creative skills with which to create original work. Applied analyses of professional productions are required, as are written analyses of course work and individual progress. The goal of the course is to encourage curiosity and exploration to engage the student as creator, designer, and performer. Prerequisite(s): THDA 120 or other performance training strongly encouraged.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course is an introduction to performance lighting design. While emphasis is on performance,  the principles can be applied to film, television, and environmental settings. The course focus will be on the design process, but there will be some attention to lighting hardware and technologies as well.  A primary goal of the course is to make the student more aware of color and light around them every day. Prerequisite(s): THDA 232 or THDA 235 recommended, but not required. Students with a background in studio art or design are welcome to enroll.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

From classic theater and dance performance to CosPlay and Re-enactments, clothing as costume is one of the main ways we visually build a character and present it to the viewer. This class will present an overview of fashion and costume history as the basis for the design process. We will examine design techniques and media, both traditional and digital, and design the clothing for characters based on scripted, devised, or choreographer work. We will then look at the systems for translating these two-dimensional designs to fit the human form via drafting and crafting methods. Prerequisite(s): THDA 232 or THDA 235 recommended, but not required. Students with a background in studio art or design are welcome to enroll.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

From Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex through the many foundlings in Shakespeare and melodrama, playwrights have staged questions about bloodlines, origins and legitimacy. Since mid-20th century Adoption Reform movements worldwide, playwrights and performers have staged dilemmas of the Adoption Triad, including donor conception, transracial/transnational adoption, search/reunion, and other urgent topics. The course material here includes plays and performance texts, as well as contextual, interdisciplinary readings from adoption studies, history and legal studies. Among final project options, students may create a new performance text that stages adoption as a site of identity, dis/identification, power and/or possibility.

General Education Requirements:
Writing WP

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

In this course, the student has the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the craft of dancing-making. They embody the tools of space, time and energy with greater clarity, and become fluent with compositional structures as they choreograph solo, duet, and group forms. They begin to touch more deeply into their distinct power and vision as an artist. Collaboration, risk-taking, investigation, and joy are valued within the support of a shared space. Prerequisite(s): THDA 121 or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course prepares advanced Theater students to direct public performances, and thus focuses on the acquisition of skills such as text analysis, storytelling, stage composition, and an understanding of visual elements. Students will also learn best collaborative practices with actors and designers, since the class unfolds in conversation with THDA 255 and THDA 120. Prerequisite(s): THDA 120 and THDA 235, or permission of the instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

Advanced work in characterization and additional acting techniques with continued focus on voice, movement, improvisation and innovative textual analysis. A continuation of Acting I, this course is designed to deepen the student's understanding of their instrument as well as develop an individualized working method. Included in the course is a consideration of style through scene work in new genres. Course may be repeated one time for credit, with different instructor. Prerequisite(s): THDA 120

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This course will undertake the process of technical design. The challenges and problems one must overcome in bringing a design to full realization. We live in a performance world greatly influenced by film and spectacle; and these influences create great technical challenges. This course will cover some foundational material science and then focus on 2-3 specific technical areas for deeper exploration.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:
Fine arts

Course Materials

This African-based Movement course focuses on dance inspired by West Africa, other African regions, the Caribbean, Americas, and the African Diaspora at large. This physically rigorous class is rooted in a communal environment. Students will continue building on fundamental principles and technique, including more complex poly-rhythmic aspects of the movement, while deepening the inter-connected relationship with the music, rhythms, and the dance. They will also create in-class movement projects and presentations. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only. Prerequisite(s): THDA 21 or permission of instructor.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Find expression and embodiment through the practice of movement improvisation. This course is open to students at all levels of ability who have a desire to move and a willingness to explore in a non-competitive environment. Students learn to fall, roll and work with gravity in relationship to themselves and others. The class includes an introduction to contact improvisation, the "art-sport" developed by Steve Paxton in 1972. This course brings balance to mind and body through physical awareness. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

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Course Materials

This beginning/advanced beginning level course builds on skills introduced in Modern Dance I. It is a joyous and demanding exploration of the theory, technique, and terminology of modern dance as a performing art. Students engage fully with their bodies and minds as they deepen their strength, sense of rhythm, alignment, flexibility, and coordination. An emphasis is placed on the joy of moving in an expressive and highly physical manner. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

The purpose of this technique class is to allow the intermediate to advanced modern dance student to explore and discover themselves as an articulate and expressive mover. Classwork places specific emphasis on alignment, power, momentum, articulation, clarity of intent, musicality and stamina. Class consists of in-place warm-ups, center exercises and a range of dance phrases. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

General Education Requirements:

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Course Materials

This ballet technique class is for students with some experience in classical ballet. The goal is to demonstrate a beginning to intermediate dancer's understanding and execution of ballet technique. It will include barre work, center-floor, and across-the-floor combinations. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

This is the highest level of ballet at Macalester and is a continuation and progression of Ballet III. It is assumed at this level that the student has acquired and practiced work covered in previous levels. Students will refine vocabulary and strive to increase strength, flexibility, coordination, and artistry within their movements. Proper alignment, musicality, clarity of movement will be emphasized. Students are expected to pick up movement quickly and dance with speed and accuracy and demonstrate control. Corrections should be applied and refined quickly. May be repeated for credit. S/N grading only. Prerequisite(s): THDA 51, THDA 52, and THDA 53 .

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

African-based Movement Ensemble focuses on selected histories and techniques of dance forms from West Africa and the African Diaspora, including the Caribbean and the Americas. Students perform in the yearly Fall Dance Concerts of the Theater and Dance Department. They have also performed at events such as the Black History Month Showcase, Afrika Week, and Family Fest. Completion of African-based Movement I and/or II is recommended. 2 credits are awarded upon successful completion of Ensemble. 4 credits of fine arts general distribution are awarded upon completion of two semesters of Ensemble. Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Ensemble is by audition/permission of instructor only.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Students are involved in production as actors, assistant choreographers or choreographers, assistant directors or directors, assistant designers or designers, dramaturgs and playwrights. Two credits awarded at the end of the semester. May be repeated for credit.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials

Students are involved in set, costume, lighting and sound engineering and construction, and running crew. Two credits awarded at the end of the semester. May be repeated for credit.

General Education Requirements:

Distribution Requirements:

Course Materials