Table of contents introduction 1

14. MUSICAL GUIDELINES FOR CHOREOGRAPHERS

Choreographers are always encouraged to find musicians who can compose music for their dances. When this is not possible, the following guidelines should be followed when selecting music.

Avoid music that is immediately recognizable. It is very easy for a piece of music to overshadow your work. If the music has strong associations outside of the dance concert hall, then your dance becomes about the music and not so much about your choreography. We are looking for a balance between the two. Types of music to avoid would include current and not so current Top 40 hits, the popular musical forms using lyrics in a verse/chorus format, and overused classical music.

There is no time like the present to begin that exploration. If you or a friend has a sound-editing program, you may be able to create a score of sounds and sound effects. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Paul Arslanian, musical director for the dance program.

• 
  Y
  13
  ou can contact musicians interested in composing music for your dance by posting notices in college music departments, talking to musicians you know or hear play in concert, or you might even place an ad in the newspaper.
  
• 
  College music libraries will generally allow you to listen, but they do not lend CDs. The UMass Library and Josten Library at Smith are good sources.
  
• 
  Public libraries will lend CDs, e.g. the Jones Library in downtown Amherst.
  
• 
  Various stores have listening stations. For example: Borders Books and Music, and Barnes and Noble let you scan any CD to listen to each track.
  
• 
  Used record shops allow you to hear any CD. Good ones in this area include B-Side Music in Northampton, Turn It Up in Northampton (Pleasant & Main Sts.) is great for jazz and classical, A-Side Music in Springfield.
  
• 
  Radio Stations. You can call up and ask what was just played. The Public Radio Music Source on NPR will send/sell you the music.
  
• 
  Sampler albums of various artists.
  
• 
  CD magazines give good verbal descriptions of music available. These are found on retail magazine shelves.
  
• 
  Unknown Public (experimental music quarterly). $20 per box which includes CD, poetry, art work. A new box comes out every three months. You can back order any issue. Write to them at this address: Unknown Public, PO BOX 354, Reading RG2 7JB, United Kingdom.
  
• 
  There are numerous sources for music on the web, for instance, Mactella and Limewire.   The  iTunes Music Store allows you to listen before you buy, and has a terrific selection of music.
  

The Senior Project is designed to be a culmination of a dance major's four-year course of study. The Senior Project may culminate in either a community outreach project, completed in the fall or a choreographic project which can be performed on the Alive With Dance concert in the spring. It should demonstrate ability in writing/research, performance and creativity. Research and writing ability should be demonstrated in the process paper that will be due at the completion of the project. This paper will also provide an in-depth self-reflection and evaluation.

C
14
ommunity-Based Project

• 
  An annotated bibliography of at least five sources: discuss what was useful and why.
  
• 
  Evaluations and observations of 2-3 practitioners in the field, or videotapes of best practice in the area of choice.
  
• 
  An overview: what you would like to accomplish over an 8 week course.
  
• 
  Lesson plans for the entire course. Lesson plans should include:
  
  • 
    goals for each class.
    
  • 
    activities related to each goal.
    
  • 
    objectivities written for each activity.
    
  • 
    a detailed evaluation of each class, to include: what was successful, what wasn’t; what you would change if you were re-teaching the class.
    
• 
  In the middle of the Fall Semester, you will be required to submit a 2-3 page process paper which summarizes the current stage of your project.
  
• 
  Evaluation of the whole project is to be completed at the conclusion of the course. This paper should be 2-3 pages long in MLA format.
  

Choreographic Project

• 
  A research paper, ten pages long, on a topic that will inform your choreographic work. The imagery, patterns, information, history, and sources in your research will help you solidify your central choreographic theme, and help you in your choices towards specificity and away from the generic. This research paper, due at the end of the fall semester, should include: a bibliography of at least five sources; a discography of at least five sources; and a videography of at least two sources. All papers should be in MLA format.
  
• 
  A rough draft, including all sources, will be due at a specified date in October. At the first choreographer's meeting in the fall, along with your music, you will be expected to bring a portfolio of colors, magazine clippings, shapes, stage patterns, drawings, poetry or reading excerpts, or any other means of giving your dance a conceptual form. These will then make a part of your portfolio, to be handed in with all other writings, at the end of the year.
  
• 
  In the middle of the spring semester, you will be required to submit a 3-page process paper, which summarizes the current stage of your project. Discuss your artistic process, and what you have been learning.
  
• 
  Evaluation of the whole project is to be completed at the end of the spring semester. In this paper discuss what went well, what could have been better, what you learned, what you would have done differently next time around, where you are as an artist. This paper should be 3 pages long. Please have this, as with all papers, in MLA format and include the rest of your portfolio with your final presentation.
  

16. DANCE TEACHING ASSISTANTS

All non-major dance classes are taught by upper class dance majors. These Dance Teaching Assistants (TAs) are selected by the dance faculty and courses taught are monitored and mentored by a designated dance faculty member. Students who are selected will commit to the following parameters of the program:

• 
  A pre-semester orientation meeting where teaching materials, student rosters and departmental handouts will be distributed. Discussion will center on preparing the TA for the dynamics of the classroom, including teacher/student relations, organization of class time, grading procedures, as well as any and all questions that the TAs need to clarify.
  
• 
  TAs must have a prepared syllabus to be analyzed at orientation and approved for distribution to the non-majors.
  
• 
  The designated faculty advisor will observe class two or more times. A meeting to discuss the progress of the class will follow each visit by the advisor.
  
• 
  The TA must notify students and the faculty advisor in advance of cancelled classes.
  
• 
  TAs will be allowed a maximum of two cancelled classes, but only in case of illness, injury or emergency.
  
• 
  TAs will receive 3 credits with a passing grade in Dance 395. Grades will be based on the following measures:
  

• 
  Consistency in attendance
  
• 
  Proper comportment and dress for teaching
  
• 
  Progress made in pedagogical effectiveness
  
• 
  Technical progress made by students
  
• 
  Student course evaluations
  

Teaching assignments will be arrived at using the following factors:

• 
  Completion of Dance 261, Dance Education.
  
• 
  Program needs/times students are available to teach.
  
• 
  Knowledge of material appropriate to the course.
  
• 
  Musicality and the ability to impart musical imperatives to students.
  
• 
  Ability to demonstrate movement clearly and correctly.
  
• 
  6. Effectiveness in promoting a positive atmosphere and a sense of concentration in the classroom.
  
• 
  Previous teaching experience.
  
• 
  Scholarship requirements- Scholarship students are required to teach two semesters.
  

17. MASTER CLASSES

16

Dance majors have the opportunity to take master classes from visiting guest artists sponsored by the program's Artist-in-Residence Program, the Five College Dance Department and the Fine Arts Center Series. Students are expected to attend all master classes to which they have been assigned. Assignments will be made through the appropriate technique teacher when space is limited.

18. SCHOLARSHIPS

Each year the Dance Program awards scholarships to worthy dance majors. Factors considered in making scholarship awards include skill, grade point average, financial need, and contribution to the Program. Once received, the scholarship is renewable each year until graduation providing the student continues to meet the qualifications for that scholarship.

Students who accept scholarships are expected to meet the following standards:

• 
  Follow the prescribed course of study outlined for either the BA, BFA, or BDIC degree in Dance;
  
• 
  Maintain a 3.0 average in the major subject, as well as a 2.5 cumulative average;
  
• 
  Audition and be available to perform in the University Dancers Concert and tour, the Emerging Choreographers Series, and the Alive With Dance Concert;
  
• 
  Be available to work backstage for University Dancers Concert, the Emerging Choreographers Series Concert, and the Alive With Dance Concert;
  
• 
  Be available to teach in the non-major dance program for at least 2 semesters;
  
• 
  Assist each year with incoming auditions;
  
• 
  Set a good example by being leaders in technical skill, observing departmental policies, and being an ambassador of the Dance Program.
  

19. COMMUNICATION

Dance Bulletin Board

All dance announcements, rehearsal schedules, and other information are posted on the dance bulletin board outside the dance office. It is critically important that each dance major check the board daily. Majors will be held responsible for this information, the majority of which will not be announced in classes or communicated in any other way.

E-mail

All students are asked to check their e-mail regularly for communications from the department. You are assigned a campus email address through the OIT office that the dance office will use. It is very important to check your email frequently to stay informed.

20. ACHIEVEMENT

17

The dance faculty cannot over emphasize the importance of application and practice outside the studio. Only through daily practice, determination and discipline can students master the principles, techniques and elements of dance. Developing ability and potential is your responsibility. We hope that along with mastering technical skill you also discover your own artistic identity and fuse both elements into a poetic expression that is uniquely personal. When financially possible, we hope school vacations will be devoted to intensive training. Information regarding different programs and professional schools is posted on the bulletin board and is also available in the dance office.

21. MATERIALS TO BE SUPPLIED BY DANCE MAJORS

1. Makeup for all performances.

2. Ice bag or zip-lock plastic bag. This should be carried in the dance bag at all times. Should injury occur, ice may be obtained from the freezers in the dance studios.

3. Those students who choreograph need to supply a blank CD for recording their music; this will be the property of the student.

4. Dance majors will need access to a word processor. The University has computers available for student use in various locations on campus. (see Undergraduate Catalog).

22. BORROWING VIDEOS

The UMass Library presently stores about 20 dance videos. In order to search for these videos, here are the steps: Go to the Library homepage, www.library.umass.edu and click on "catalog" in the upper right corner. Then click on "title" and enter the video title.

Videos are located on the 3rd floor of DuBois Library, as is viewing equipment. A UMass ID is all that is needed to use them. Library hours are on the library home page, on the right side of the screen. Daily hours are displayed; the Reserve Department and video viewing rooms are open whenever the Library is open.
There are more dance videos available in the Five College Library System. There are instructions for finding and borrowing videos through this system in the Dance Office if you need to use it but It may take about a week to have a video available.

Directory: music
music -> Polish and Scottish modern music
music -> How to Create a Student Recital Program
music -> Arthur houle pianist
music -> Only Solitaire: G. Starostin's Record Reviews, Reloaded c intro Notes
music -> +44 When Your Heart Stops Beating 1 Giant Leap – 1 Giant Leap 1 Love 10 Years Of Israeli Trance
music -> Music List Please Note : Latest Stuff At Bottom Of List albums a-z #
music -> Introductory material must include the following
music -> Cantus firmus: a few guidelines
music -> Singing for action on climate change London 21 September 2014 Global People’s Climate March We are people from Raised Voices and other political choirs. For contact and information

Download 115.14 Kb.

Share with your friends: