Movement for the Stage

Course Number:
TA 148
Transcript Title:
Movement for the Stage
Created:
Aug 16, 2022
Updated:
Jul 17, 2023
Total Credits:
3
Lecture Hours:
30
Lecture / Lab Hours:
0
Lab Hours:
0
Satisfies Cultural Literacy requirement:
No
Satisfies General Education requirement:
No
Grading Options
A-F, P/NP, Audit
Default Grading Options
A-F
Repeats available for credit:
0

Course Description

Develops awareness and skills in movement as related to acting and communication. Focuses on body awareness, relaxation, energy, creating physical images and character, and communicating through body language. Explores expression through movement. Audit available.

Course Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

  1. Integrate physical skills and awareness into future performance work.
  2. Use movement exercises to structure a theatre warm-up for self and a group.
  3. Develop artistic intuition and identity through disciplined work with original ideas.
  4. Audition with confidence for movement-oriented performances.

Suggested Outcome Assessment Strategies

The determination of assessment strategies is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: writings (journals, self-reflections, pre writing exercises, essays), quizzes, tests, midterm and final exams, group projects, presentations (in person, videos, etc), self-assessments, experimentations, lab reports, peer critiques, responses (to texts, podcasts, videos, films, etc), student generated questions, Escape Room, interviews, and/or portfolios.

Department suggestions:
  1. Completion of weekly homework assignments which address specific movement-oriented tasks.
  2. In-class physical training to acceptable level of competence.
  3. In-class analysis of others' work, given certain criteria for consideration.
  4. A midterm portfolio examination.
  5. A final performance project.
  6. Frequent tests of ensemble skills through improvisation, exercises, and feedback sessions.

Course Activities and Design

The determination of teaching strategies used in the delivery of outcomes is generally left to the discretion of the instructor. Here are some strategies that you might consider when designing your course: lecture, small group/forum discussion, flipped classroom, dyads, oral presentation, role play, simulation scenarios, group projects, service learning projects, hands-on lab, peer review/workshops, cooperative learning (jigsaw, fishbowl), inquiry based instruction, differentiated instruction (learning centers), graphic organizers, etc.

Course Content

Themes, Concepts, and Issues

  • Nonverbal communication as a primary human interaction.
  • Expansion of movement range as a stimulus for creative thinking.
  • Repetition and precision in choreography as a goad to artistic integrity.
  • Value of limiting the actor's instrument through mask and mime.
  • Ensemble work (awareness and sensitivity to others) as a foundation for theatrical presentation.
  • Development of original ideas as the basis for theatrical exchange.

COMPETENCIES/SKILLS

  • Apply understanding of staging and choreography to original assignments.
  • Identify the use of successful staging and choreography in the work of others in the class, in film performances, and in live theatre performances through class discussion and through written work.
  • Perform specific movement theatre techniques - mask, mime.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how to use music as a partner in scene work through choreography.
  • Create written "scores" of physical scene work.
  • Demonstrate results of ongoing outside-of-class rehearsal of original work.
  • Demonstrate an understanding of how to enlarge physical range through the practice of various techniques - falls, lifts, mime, upside-down, and partnered movement.
  • Articulate verbally and in written form analysis of plays from a movement theatre perspective.
  • Develop original ideas as the basis for theatrical exchange.

Department Notes

Attendance of a live theatre performance will be required. We will read scripts for analysis of a physical approach to scene work. We may also analyze film performances for use of physical transformation, choreography, and ensemble work. This class can be physically demanding.