Topics course. Enrollment limited to 30: Hip Hop is a lifestyle that has historical roots and unique dance movements. Throughout the semester students will learn the history and culture, origins and influences of today's Hip Hop scene and explore how different styles developed. Dancers will learn hip-hop movements that infuse poppin', lockin', house and breakin’ dance techniques. 

Refinement of performance of tap dance steps with increasing complexity and length of dance sequences learned. Emphasis is on clarity of rhythm and body coordination while working on style and expression. Prerequisite: Tap I or permission of the instructor. Enrollment limited to 15.

What social functions do dance serve? How does the body signify culture? How does movement articulate identities? What are connections between dancing and other social practices? How do theories of performance and embodiment help understand the relationships between self, body, culture, and society? This course aims to answer these questions from the perspective of dance anthropology. It analyzes documentaries and texts that illustrate the diverse manners in which ethnographers approach the study of dance as a sociocultural process.

First-year MFA students enroll in this course to accrue independent study credit for their grad event choreography, but only in the semester when their grad event piece is not created within a choreography course (DAN 521 or DAN 553).

First-year MFA students enroll in this course to fulfill the graduate dance production requirement (usually stage managing a dance concert). Enrollment in DAN 507 takes place in the semester when the student completes the dance production assignment, as scheduled by the faculty.

First-year MFA students enroll in this course to fulfill the graduate performance requirement. Enrollment in DAN 505 takes place in the same semester as the performance. The requirement is met by participating in the choreography of a Five College Dance Department faculty member (including guest artists) or an MFA thesis. Students must attend the respective auditions.

MFA students take this seminar four times as part of their coursework. Current topics include:

MFA students take this seminar four times as part of their coursework. Current topics include:

Senior seminar is a capstone course that integrates dance studies through an individual research or creative project and to articulate critical analysis and feedback for peers. Required for senior dance majors and open by permission to other seniors with a serious interest in dance.

This course explores a specific idea, concept, period, person or event important in the history and/or aesthetics of dance. Topics vary depending on the instructor’s research and expertise. Enrollment limited to 20: This seminar, which examines current trends in the field of contemporary dance, functions as a tool for students to expand, deepen, and refine their engagement with contemporary dance - as choreographers, performers, spectators, critics, or scholars.