Dance
The Dance Program at Marlboro is committed to engaging students physically, creatively and analytically in the study of dance and movement. While the program is centered in modern dance, students are invited to apply physical skills, creative processes, and critical frameworks acquired in their dance classes to other styles of dance, both performed and participatory.
Dance courses are designed to help students develop an appreciation for experiential learning, gather tools for creative expression through movement, and hone their abilities to think and write critically about performance. The coursework contextualizes modern dance as an art form that comes from a particular culture, at a particular time, and represents a particular set of aesthetic values, and it places equal value on dance forms from other places and times, dance for other purposes, and dance shaped around different sets of cultural and aesthetic values.
Kristin Horrigan
Dana Holby(retiring 2009)
Kristin Horrigan’s research interests include intergenerational dance, dance as social action, postmodern choreography, an
d improvisation as practice and performance (with a focus on contact improvisation). Secondary areas of expertise include dance writing and the history, theory and practice of tap dance.
Student Plans in Dance may focus on creative work (choreography and improvisation) or on dance scholarship (history and theory), or they may combine the two. With appropriate collaboration across disciplines, students may also pursue Plan work dance therapy, dance and culture, and or other related movement practices.
Starting Points (Basic and Introductory Courses)
Modern Dance Technique (ART23)
This course introduces students to modern dance technique. Through studio practice, students will build physical coordination, strength, flexibility, balance, body awareness, and an understanding of principles of modern dance. The course will also include some creative work. May be repeated for credit. (Introductory)
Contact Improvisation (ART537)
Contact Improvisation (CI) is an exploration of the movement that is possible when two bodies are in physical contact, using each other’s support to balance, and communicating through weight and momentum. CI is practiced around the world both as a social dance and as a component of post-modern dance performance. In this class, we will study basic skills and concepts that will teach us to practice contact improvisation. (Introductory)
Improvisation (ART21)
This class explores the spontaneous creation of dance movement and performance. Working with visual and auditory stimuli and a variety of structures that limit and focus dancing, we will explore our abilities to express ourselves through movement, to connect with others, and to compose dances in the moment. May be repeated for credit. (Introductory or Intermediate/Advanced)
Roots of the Rhythm: History, Theory, and Practice of Tap Dancing (ART871)
In this course, we will trace the development of tap dancing from its origins in the rhythmic dances of Africa and Western Europe through its birth and growth as a unique American art form. One class a week will be spent in the studio learning tap dance and related forms and two classes a week will be spent in the classroom considering through films and readings how these dances were shaped by dynamics of race, class, and political ideology. (Introductory)
Dance As Social Action (ART911)
This course examines the intersection of dance and social/political activism, focusing primarily on American modern dance performance, but taking detours into the dances of other times, places, and cultures. How can dance participate in addressing social issues? How has it done so in the past? Can dance actually spark social change? We will examine dances that bring social and political themes to the concert stage, dances that protest in the street, dance companies that challenge the politics of who gets to dance, and more. Class work will be based in discussion of readings and dance films, but the course will also include guest speakers, creative projects, fieldtrips/service learning, and a research paper. (Introductory)
Argentine Tango (ART742) (taught by Jim Mahoney)
The Argentine Tango is an improvised social partner dance currently popular all over the world, including here in Brattleboro. May be repeated for credit. (Introductory)
Yoga (ART614)
Inspired by the Ashtanga and Anusara yogic traditions, this class will focus on the practice of yogic postures, with attention to the flow of breath and movement, the focus of the mind, and the alignment of the body. May be repeated for credit. (Introductory)
Pursuing Interests (Intermediate and Thematic Courses)
Modern Dance Technique (ART691)
This course will focus on developing expansive, articulate, and powerful dancing through a study of the principles of modern dance with a focus on contemporary release technique. May be repeated for credit. (Intermediate/Advanced)
Choreography (ART850)
In this class, students will explore both the art and the craft of making dances. Students will create a number of short dances throughout the semester and present their final projects in a public end-of-the-semester showing. Attention will be given to learning how to give and receive choreographic feedback, and to editing and developing existing choreography. In addition, students will study the choreographic methods of other artists. This course may be repeated for credit; assignments, readings, and special topics will differ each semester. (Intermediate)
Modern Dance: Anatomy as a Master Image (ART894)
This course will focus on integrating somatic awareness with technical and artistic achievement in the dance studio. Anatomical information can provide powerful imagery to help students be more aware and articulate in their movement. Our project, then, will be to connect anatomical information with the experience of moving, to develop a vocabulary of anatomical imagery and experiences that will inform exercises and phrase-work. (Intermediate)
Performance Workshop (ART69)
Students will participate in the creation and performance of new choreographic work by a faculty member or guest artist. May be repeated for credit. (Intermediate/Advanced)
Special Topics in Dance History
Through in-depth study of one area of dance history, we will develop paradigms for examining the history, theory, and practice of other dance traditions. This course may be taught in conjunction with faculty in other disciplines. May be repeated for credit. (Intermediate)
Dance Production (ART870) (co-taught with David Underwood)
In this course, students will learn how to take their choreography from the studio to the stage. Topics will include: principles of theatrical lighting for dance, technical aspects of working with sound and lighting equipment, writing publicity materials for dance, framing the work through titles/costuming/program notes, and performance coaching. (Intermediate)
Afro-Modern Dance (ART877) (guest instructor)
Afro-Modern is a beginning level class that draws its material from the African diaspora and the dance technique of Katherine Dunham. May be repeated for credit. (Introductory)
Advanced Beginner Ballet (ART878) (guest instructor)
Advanced Beginner Ballet will expose the student to the basic concepts required for the proper execution of ballet technique, including alignment, turnout, articulation of the knees and feet, and port de bras. The class will promote strength and flexibility for the overall dancer while respecting each student’s unique physical capacities within the demands of classical technique. May be repeated for credit. (Intermediate)
Tap Dance (ART415)
This course will introduce students to tap dance vocabulary and various styles of tap dance, with a focus on contemporary rhythm tap. (Introductory)
Special Topics in World Dance
This course will be offered in conjunction with guest instructors from countries around the world, as available. It will include dancing in the studio and study of the culture(s) from which the dancing has come. May be repeated for credit. (Introductory)
Documenting Dance (ART672)
In this course, we will examine the artistic and technological challenges inherent in the process of documenting dance. Students will design and complete a dance documentation project. The class will introduce the basics of image, video, and audio editing programs.
Writing about Dance
In this course students will hone their abilities to write vividly and effectively about dance. Their writing practices will be informed by studying various traditions of dance criticism and scholarship. (Intermediate)
Good Foundation For Plan
Marlboro students studying dance have connected their creative work and scholarship to ideas from many other disciplines. To prepare for Plan work in dance, students are encouraged to study broadly across the curriculum to discover inspiration for their choreography and research and to gain exposure to various forms of scholarship. The discipline of dance draws heavily on theories from anthropology, sociology, psychology, music, theater, visual arts, and film. Recent students have also found connections between dance and chemistry, biology, literature, education, history, and political theory. Students wishing to go on Plan in dance are strongly encouraged to take at least one course in each of the four broad areas of the curriculum.
Students pursuing Plan work in dance must complete studio courses in dance techniques on a regular basis, classes and tutorials in creative process (choreography and improvisation), and one or more classes or tutorials in dance history/theory/writing. Students are also expected to perform regularly in student and faculty dance concerts and to learn basic technical skills for dance production. Modified curricula will be developed for students studying dance as practice rather than performance.