Dance - Choreography and Performance

Bachelor of Fine Arts - Dance; Track: Choreography and Performance

College of Visual & Perf Arts

Catalog Year: 2014-2015

Degree Specific Credits: 73

Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0

Note: There is an Admission Audition which a prospective major must pass at the end of the first year to continue in the program. All students must take DANC 194: Freshman Seminar prior to auditioning for the major.

BFA Dance Major LD Core

Rule: Must complete the following subcategories

9 Total Credits Required

Required Courses

Rule: All courses are required.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 205 - Improvisation
(R-6) Offered spring. Exploration of stimulus, structure and performance of improvised movement. Elements such as space, shape, motion, time, quality, form and awareness emphasized. Instructor-designed structures, transitioning to student-designed scores, culminating in improvised performance.
 2 Credits
Show Description DANC 220A - Beginning Composition
(R-4) Offered spring. Prereq., DANC 200A. Basic use of space, time and energy in dance. Movement composition studies assigned each week.
 2 Credits
Show Description DANC 298 - Internship: Children's Dance
(R-4) Offered autumn and spring. Students participate and gain beginning-level teaching experience in two of four dance classes for children ranging in ages from 3 ½ to 12 years old.
 1 Credits
Show Description THTR 106A - Theat Prod I:Run Crew
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. Operation and running a show backstage on a scenery, costume, or prop crew for a major school production.
 1 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

Costuming Experience

Rule: Select 1 of the 2 options.

Note: For THTR 107A: choose either Section 02: Costume Shop on MW or Section 05: Costume Shop on TR.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description THTR 107A - Theat Prod I:Constr Crew
(R-9) Offered autumn and spring. The construction and completion of scenery, costumes and props under supervision. Most assignments involve very basic construction techniques. Involves two 4-hour labs a week.
 3 Credits
Show Description THTR 245 - Int Costume Construction
Offered spring. Intermediate costume construction focusing on the development of skills needed to function as a stitcher.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required

BFA Dance Major UD Core

Rule: Must complete the following subcategories

38 Total Credits Required

Required Courses

Rule: All courses are required.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 305 - Contact Improvisation
(R-6) Offered autumn odd-numbered years. The art of moving with one or more partners while using a shifting point of contact and supporting each other's weight. Skills such as rolling, suspending, falling and recovering together explored through physical sensations that use weight, counter-balance and yielding.
 2 Credits
Show Description DANC 334 - Dance History
Offered autumn odd-numbered years. Discussion of primary movements and major figures in American modern dance, including global influences and its relationship to cultural trends of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
 3 Credits
Show Description DANC 360L - World Dance
(R-6) Offered autumn odd-numbered years. Investigation of dances of diverse cultures. Study of dance as: an emblem of cultural identity, social order, power and gender-specific behavior; an expression of religion and/or ritual; a classical art form; and as a medium for personal expression in Western and non-Western world cultures.
 3 Credits
Show Description DANC 380 - Science of Dance Movement
Offered spring even-numbered years. Study of the skeletal system and how it relates to dance movement. Basic kinesthetic principles, conditioning for dancers, and injury recognition and prevention.
 3 Credits
Show Description DANC 406 - Dance as a Healing Art
(R-6) Offered spring. Study of body movement as a reflection of inner emotional states. How changes in movement lead to changes in the psyche, promoting health and growth. Exploration of techniques for experiencing the inter-connection between movement and emotional expression.
 2 Credits
Show Description DANC 440 - Dance Pedagogy
(R-9) Offered autumn even-numbered years. Prereq., DANC 298. Methods and experiences in teaching modern dance, ballet and jazz.
 3 Credits
Show Description DANC 494 - Seminar/Workshop
(R-6) Offered autumn even-numbered years.  Seminar to discuss both practical and philosophical issues confronting dance students about to enter the "real" world.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 19 Total Credits Required

Ballet Courses

Rule: 12 credits required at or above the listed level.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 310 - Ballet III
(R-12) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., consent of instr. Development of ability to combine steps; carriage of head and arms.
 2 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 12 Total Credits Required

Stage Management Course

Rule: Registration based on production assignment as determined by Dance faculty.

Note: Section 02

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description THTR 371 - Stage Mgmt Pract I
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., THTR 370 or consent of instr. Stage management practicum involving stage managing a showcase production or assistant stage managing a major show. Involves evening work.
 1 To 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 1 Total Credits Required

Junior Project

Rule: Students must complete project for graduation.

Note: Junior projects must be planned with the student's project advisor and all journals and papers will be submitted to that advisor. All choreography and performance BFA candidates are required to choreograph for their junior projects.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 399 - Jr Creat/Research Proj
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., B.F.A. dance major. Independent study in choreography or a research paper which could be on such subjects as teaching styles, multiple intelligence theory, dance historical topics, dance injuries, etc. An initial proposal, a journal, and a paper are required.
 1 To 6 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required

Senior Project

Rule: Students must complete project for graduation.

Note: Senior projects must be planned with the student's project advisor and all journals and papers will be submitted to that advisor. The senior project must be a piece of choreography produced off-campus in the Missoula community.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 498 - Senior Thesis/Creative Project
(R-6) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., Dance major. Independent study in choreography or teaching. If the student is a B.F.A. candidate the project must take place off-campus in the Missoula community. The student is responsible for setting up the project. An initial proposal, a journal, and a paper are required.
 1 To 6 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 3 Total Credits Required

BFA Choreography & Performance Degree Electives

Rule: Complete the follow subcategories

1-4 Total Credits Required

Cross-Training

Rule: One credit from HHP by advisement.

Acting Elective

Rule: Optional, select 1 of the 2 by advisement.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description THTR 120A - Introduction to Acting I
Offered every term. An introduction to the skills and techniques required of the actor to be effective in communication with others on stage and off stage.
 3 Credits
Show Description THTR 220 - Acting I
Offered autumn. Intensive development of basic acting skills through psycho-physical technique: dramatic action, image-making and improvisation.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: Pass 3 Total Credits Required

BFA Choreography & Performance Requirements

Rule: Must complete the following subcategories

25 Total Credits Required

Required Courses

Rule: All courses are required.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 280 - Dance Conditioning: Pilates
(R-8) Offered autumn and spring. Pilates mat (floor) exercises to build core control, strength and flexibility.
 1 Credits
Show Description DANC 320 - Intermediate Composition
(R-6) Offered autumn even-numbered years. Prereq., DANC 220A and 6 credits of dance technique. Explores ways to manipulate several dancers in space, through repetition of shapes, through related rhythms. May include choreography for videotape.
 2 Credits
Show Description DANC 405 - Advanced Improvisation
(R-6) Prereq., DANC 205, 305.  Exploration of improvisation and contact improvisation as performance art forms.  Instructor and students collaboratively design, rehearse, and publicly perform improvisational scores.
 2 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 5 Total Credits Required

Production Courses

Rule: Registration and credit load based on casting for Theatre & Dance productions.

Note: Performing in one piece equals one credit.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 225 - Rehearsal & Performance
(R-12) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., consent of instr. Open to students who are choreographing a dance for a concert or to those who have been selected through audition to perform.
 1 To 4 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 2 Total Credits Required

Modern Experience I

Rule: 6 credits required at or above the listed level.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 300 - Modern III
(R-12) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., DANC 200A. Extension of the modern dance vocabulary through lengthier combinations of movement.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

Modern Experience II

Rule: Repeat once.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 400 - Modern IV
(R-12) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., DANC 300. Performance of exercises and combinations that are technically demanding in strength, balance, weight, agility and line.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

Modern Experience III

Rule: Repeat once.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description DANC 404 - Adv Tech Modern Dance
(R-12) Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., DANC 400, 6 cr., or equiv. skill, and consent of instr. Continuation of DANC 400.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

This is an advising track only and not an official program as recognized by the University of Montana (UM) or the Montana University System. This information will not appear on your UM transcript, diploma, university lists, student data system, or university publication. You do not fill out a major change for a track.