Introduction to the basic tap dance steps with general concepts of dance technique. Performance of traditional tap step patterns and short combinations. Enrollment limited to 15.

For students who have taken Ballet I or the equivalent. Limited enrollment.

Limited enrollment. Offered both semesters each year at Smith and in the Five Colleges.

A duet form of movement improvisation. The technique focuses on work with gravity, weight support, balance, inner sensation and touch, to develop spontaneous fluidity of movement in relation to a partner. Enrollment limited to 10. May be repeated once for credit.

For students who have taken Contemporary Dance I or the equivalent.  L.  {A}  2 credits

Limited enrollment.

Limited enrollment.

Intermediate and advanced script projects. Prerequisite: 261. L and P.

The means and methods of the playwright and the writer for television and the cinema. Analysis of the structure and dialogue of a few selected plays. Weekly and biweekly exercises in writing for various media. Goal for beginning playwrights: to draft a one-act play by the end of the semester. Plays by students are considered for staging. L and P with writing sample required, best submitted weeks prior to registration.

The course examines the roots of the American musical as a seminal theatrical form, with its own distinctive venues and styles; we pay particular attention to the socio-cultural factors that made the American musical stage a locus for identity-formation. The history of the American musical is deeply intertwined with the assimilationist project, particularly among Jewish-Americans, who were highly instrumental in its development.