Performing Arts: Dance, Music, and Theatre

The Performing Arts Department offers a unique approach to the study of dance, music and theatre within a Liberal Arts context. Students receive conservatory-calibre training that prepares them for graduate studies or a career in the performing arts, while developing the critical thinking and communication skills that are the hallmark of a liberally educated person. All majors take a sequence of courses in their chosen discipline-emphasizing performance practice, history and theory, criticism and analysis in either music, dance or theatre. Performing Arts students are also encouraged to explore interdisciplinary pathways, through classes and performance opportunities beyond their home program.

The Performing Arts Department offers five separate majors:

Dance: Choreography and Performance
Dance Studies
Music
Theatre: Performance and Theatre Studies
Theatre: Design and Technical Theatre

The Performing Arts Department builds creative artists with strong foundational skills and adventuresome spirits. A team-taught core course cultivates thoughtful perception of the arts and introduces the distinctive languages of each medium. Rigorous studio and lab courses build technique, while classes in history, theory and analysis foster critical engagement with the substance and styles of dance, music and theatre. Students learn to discuss and analyze both classic and contemporary works, and to understand the arts in the context of the history of great ideas and artistic achievements that have shaped our world.

The capstone of the Performing Arts degree is the senior project, for which students produce a substantial original research paper or creative work demonstrating their command of artistic and intellectual skills appropriate to the undertaking.

Performing Arts’ signature values include:

Mentoring by faculty members who are both outstanding teachers and accomplished artists.
Frequent attendance at world-class dance, music, and theatre performances around the Bay Area.
Multiple and varied performance opportunities, beginning with the first year.
Challenging standards that help students achieve artistic excellence and professionalism.
Master classes, guest lectures and informal contact with professional artists, connecting classroom learning with the real world.
A welcoming and inclusive student cohort experience, in which students of all levels are supported and encouraged in their individual development.
Stimulating creative collaborations and intellectual exchange between programs.

Faculty

Dana Lawton, MFA, Professor, Dance, Chair (Dance Technique, Choreography, Dance Appreciation, Dance Pedagogy)
Rosana Barragán, MFA, Associate Professor, (Phenomenology, Choreography, Somatic Movement, Yoga, Dance Technique)
CatherineMarie Davalos, MFA, Professor, Dance Program Director (Dance Technique, Dance History and Theory, Choreography, Somatic Movement)
Rebecca Engle, MA, Professor, Head of Performance & Theatre Studies (Acting, Directing, Contemporary Theatre)
Julie Ford, D.MA, Associate Professor, Music Program Director, Vocal/Choral Arts Director (Classical, Pop, and Jazz Choirs, Vocal Science, Private Voice, Conducting)
Rogelio Lopez, MFA, Assistant Professor, Director, MFA in Dance, Resident Dance Costume Designer (Dance Technique, Choreography, Costume and Set Design, Ballet Folklorico)
Amissa Miller, MFA., Assistant Professor, Theatre (Dramaturgy, African American Theatre, Interactive Theatre, Playwriting)
Sixto Montesinos, PhD, Assistant Professor (Music Fundamentals, Orchestration, Sports Band, Chamber Music)
Lino Rivera, D.MA, Professor (Piano, Music History, Music Theory, Form and Analysis, Chamber Music)
Martin Rokeach, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Music
Shaunna Vella, MFA, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Director of LEAP (Dance Technique, Dance and Social Justice, Repertory)
Jia Wu, MFA, Associate Professor, (Dance Technique, Chinese Dance and Diaspora Studies, Dance for the Camera)
Deanna Zibello, MFA, Associate Professor, Theatre Program Director, Head of Design and Technical Theatre (Scenic Design)

Learning Outcomes

When they have completed the Performing Arts Program, students will be able to:

USE specific, technical terms appropriately when discussing works of dance, music or theatre.
ARTICULATE significant structural elements when analyzing a work’s form and meaning, and RECOGNIZE structural similarities between works of music, dance and theatre.
IDENTIFY significant elements of a work’s aesthetic, historical and cultural context, and COMPARE the work with others from within a similar context.
UTILIZE a cross-disciplinary perspective and familiarity with the Great Books/Liberal Arts traditions to identify the ways performing artists draw inspiration from nature, history, one’s own imagination, and the creative ideas of others.
ENGAGE in critical discourse to explore how social identities are constructed, constrained, reinforced, and treated with inequality by systems of power, including within the field of performing arts. ANALYZE issues of access, representation, exclusion, and inclusion in the field and DEVELOP an understanding of performance-making as civic practice.
DEVELOP the artist’s instrument through exploration of the whole self - i.e., seek an active imagination, sense of one’s spirit, use of empathy, ensemble awareness, self-expression, open communication, receptivity, and collaboration.
ACHIEVE the capacity for sustained and focused rehearsal efforts, and for working collaboratively with different directors and performers.
DEMONSTRATE advanced performance skills in live performance to meet the technical demands of masterworks of various styles, eras, and cultures, including original/contemporary works, including the ability to use a variety of techniques within the discipline.
EXHIBIT proficiency in a variety of discipline-specific forms of writing appropriate to the writer’s purpose and audience. [Examples: personal reflection; observation and description; critical analysis; evaluation; generating performance texts]
IDENTIFY, locate and evaluate discipline-specific scholarly sources, and competently select, summarize, and synthesize pertinent research findings.
ENGAGE discipline-specific skills and methods that EXHIBIT a capacity for goal-setting, time/ resource management, problem-solving and self-reflection in the realization of a capstone creative or research-based project.

Prerequisite Grade

Any course listed in this department with a prerequisite assumes a grade of C- or better in the prerequisite course or the permission of the chair to waive that provision.

The Dance program also offers a concentration in Dance Science; consult the Director of the Dance Program, Professor Davalos.

Split Major Agreements

Dance and Biology
Dance and Communication
Dance and English
Dance and Kinesiology
Dance and Studio Art
Musical Theatre and Studio Art
Theatre and Studio Art
Theatre and English
Theatre and Social Justice (Sociology/Ethnic Studies)

Students considering a split major or an individualized major must have a curricular plan approved and on file with the department and the Registrar’s Office by the time they have accumulated 22 graduation units. For further information on these or other split or individualized majors, contact Department Chair Dana Lawton at dlawton@stmarys-ca.edu.

Prerequisite Grade

Any course listed in this department with a prerequisite assumes a grade of C- or better in the prerequisite course or the permission of the chair to waive that provision.

Programs

Bachelor of Arts

Minor

Other Programs

Courses

Performing Arts - Lower Division

PERFA 001 - Perceiving the Performing Arts

Performing Arts - Upper Division

Performing Arts - Dance

Performing Arts - Music

Performing Arts - Theatre