The Dance track of the Theatre Arts and Performance Studies concentration engages students in the study of dance, movement, and other forms of kinesthetic performance. Emphasizing dance technique, choreography/composition, and theories and histories of global forms of dance practice, concentrators in this track will study how multiple global dance forms articulate culture, negotiate difference, construct identity, and transmit collective historical traditions. Concentrators will receive instruction in composition and technique, and engage with dance, theatre, and performance production within the department to understand dance within a network of performance practices.
The Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies (TAPS) is the intellectual and artistic center for the aesthetic, historical, literary, practical, and theoretical explorations of performance in global perspective theatre, dance, speech, time-based art, and even performative roles in everyday life. The TAPS concentration offers three tracks with many points of overlap among them: Performance Studies, Theatre Arts, and Dance. Concentrators gain exposure to a broad spectrum of performance modes and methods -- acting, directing, dance, and writing, and chose an avenue of focus among them. In addition, TAPS concentrators with an interest in socially engaged performance that tackles complex social issues may pursue the Engaged Scholars Program. Everyone graduates having studied craft, gained familiarity with history, and investigated the role of performance arts in culture.