Deborah Goffe

Modern/Contemporary Dance Technique 2 is an advanced-beginning level class, which will establish an foundational experience with modern dance technique. The studio will be our laboratory for this semester-long exploration of a wide range of modern dance concepts with a focus on sensation, initiation, expansive use of space, efficiency, safety, connectivity and embodiment of phrase work. Along the way we will also bring attention to alignment, spatial clarity, use of breath, increasing range of motion and the development of strength and stamina. The hope is that this consistent engagement in movement practice over the course of the semester will form the basis of a sustainable and deeply engaged movement practice-one that may inform a lifetime of embodied creative process.

Modern/Contemporary Dance Technique 4 is a high-intermediate level class, which will build on students' previous study of modern dance technique. The studio will be our laboratory for this semester-long exploration of a wide range of modern dance concepts with a focus on sensation, initiation, expansive use of space, efficiency, safety, connectivity and increasingly complex phrase work. Along the way we will give continued attention to alignment, spatial clarity, use of breath, increasing range of motion and the development of strength and stamina. Ultimately, the goal is for each student to engage in a holistic approach to contemporary/modern dance technique-moving beyond rote mimicry toward dynamic, fully expansive movement exploration. The hope is that this consistent engagement in movement practice over the course of the semester will form the basis of a sustainable and deeply engaged movement practice-one that may inform a lifetime of embodied creative process.Prerequisite: previous study of modern dance technique.

There is a magic that exists in the space between artists and between art forms. Collaborative processes offer dynamic ways to access/leverage that magic and examples abound of artists who employ such processes to transcend any one discipline. In this course, students representing a wide variety of artistic disciplines will bring their knowledge of a given art form to a shared art-making process. By claiming the unique power of one's primary discipline and bringing that power into dialogue with other media, students will learn the language of other art forms and establish a common vocabulary for negotiating artistic decisions as co-makers. The body will provide a beginning point and constant point of departure with movement as a unifying practice. This semester-long development of a shared time-based interdisciplinary work will be supported by contextualizing research and will culminate in an informal class showing. Prerequisite: Previous formal study in an art form (or forms) required.

This intermediate level modern/contemporary dance technique course will be a laboratory exploring the movement capacities of the human body as selected for aesthetic and expressive purposes. Students will investigate expression in movement by working with sensation, space, time, focus and attention to detail. They'll deepen their knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics to increase movement efficiency and safety, and they'll work to expand their rhythmic and dynamic range in longer and more complex movement phrases.

This course will continue to develop skills in imagining and composing dances, now focusing on group forms, and the challenges to creating meaning, referential or abstract, in non-verbal, three-dimensional, motional and, most of all, embodied expression. In class we'll explore a variety of composition strategies used in group work, both classical and contemporary, and work with longer, more complex sequences. We'll play with such methods as layering, subtracting, juxtaposing, multiplicity, simultaneity, ambiguity, image, suggestion and statement. We'll also discuss strategies for working with dancers and conducting rehearsals. Out of class, students will develop one group dance over the semester in weekly rehearsals with their dancers. In addition, students will develop a portfolio of resources (in music, visual images, poetry and other materials), and study dances of established choreographers. Prerequisite: Required: Making Dances 1 or other dance composition course. Previous study of dance history and dance technique is preferred.

It is here that dancers deepen, diversify and challenge their performance abilities in dance. Intermediate and advanced level dancers will work intensively with a faculty member in the creation and performance of a dance to be presented in the Hampshire Winter Dance Concert in February 2015, and/or the FCDD Faculty Concert in spring 2015. In rehearsal students will study the artist's unique style, collaborate in creating and composing the movement, and hone their interpretation and performance skills. Rehearsals times will be scheduled after casting, and will likely include evening/weekend/Jan Term/early Spring 2015 times. The dance will be cast at the Five College Dance Department faculty auditions in September 2014. www.fivecolleges.edu/dance. Prerequisite: Audition September 2014.