THTREMUS 101: Intro to Acting

Designed to help students develop and strengthen acting skills, this course will cover techniques to enhance self-awareness, sensory awareness, and spatial awareness and will explore strategies to help develop characters and create stories.

THTREMUS 110: Intro to Acting for Camera

This course explores the fundamentals of on-camera acting, leading to compelling, relaxed, and truthful performances.

THTREMUS 399 (section 008): Topics in Drama – TYA (Theatre for Young Audiences) Tour

This course covers a different specialized topic in theatre and drama each semester, offering an in-depth exploration.

DANCE 100: Intro to Dance

DANCE 100.001 – Non-major Modern
This modern dance class is taught by students.

DANCE 100.002 – Non-major Contemporary Floorwork
This open-level course introduces students to contemporary floorwork, emphasizing strength-building, body awareness, and creativity.

DANCE 100.003 – Non-major Improvisation
This class will teach students foundational skills needed for improvising well, including practicing listening, relationship, movement quality, availability, and impulse.

DANCE 100.004 – Non-major Jazz Funk
This energetic jazz funk dance class (also known as street jazz) will address the origins of this popular dance genre while grooving to original choreography inspired by favorite popular music artists.

DANCE 100.005 – Non-major Contemporary
This course provides a platform for free exploration, guiding students to investigate the possibilities of the body. The training revolves around core elements including risk-taking, musicality, spatial awareness, and movement creativity.

DANCE 100.006 – Non-major Queer Social Dances
This course offers an introductory exploration of queer social dances, spotlighting house dance, waacking, and voguing. These dance forms, deeply rooted in the history and culture of LGBTQ+ communities, serve as vehicles for improvisation and self-expression, fostering connections, resilience, and celebration.

DANCE 100.007 – Non-major Composition
Through group exercises, improvisations, and in-class assignments to create new dances, students will gain knowledge of fundamental tenets to keep in mind when composing new dance works.

DANCE 100.008 – Non-major Hip Hop
Students can expect to learn a series of original choreography inspired by well known subcategories of the style such as popping, tutting, clowning, bucking, and much more!

DANCE 100.009 – Chinese Classical Dance Lab
Rooted in Eastern culture, this course draws its essence from Taoist philosophy and the principles of body movement. Students will develop multi-dimensional control of their bodies, focusing on resistance, restraint, extension, transition and fluidity in movement.

DANCE 100.010 – Congolese
This course will study traditional dances of the African Congo.

DANCE 100.011 – Non-major Modern
This modern dance class is taught by students.

DANCE 100.012 – Non-major Survey of Dance Styles
This survey dance class is taught by dance minor students.

DANCE 100.013 – Non-major Broadway Jazz
This class explores several approaches to musical theatre dance styles and features combinations inspired by current and past Broadway choreographers. Students will learn technical exercises to improve their stamina, coordination, alignment, musicality, and flexibility.

Arts Chorale

A mixed choir, the Arts Chorale is open to any student at the University of Michigan and most members are not music majors. No audition is required; all are welcome.

University Band
Repertoire for University Band, which uses full wind ensemble instrumentation, consists of mainly grades 5 and 6 and is the more advanced of the non-major concert bands. Audition is required for placement. All interested students should enroll in ENS 346.001.

Campus Band
Repertoire for Campus Band, which uses full wind ensemble instrumentation, consists of grades 3 to 5. Playing assessment for part assignments only; everyone with experience playing a band instrument is welcome to join. All interested students should enroll in ENS 346.002.

Campus Orchestra

The Campus Symphony Orchestra and Campus Philharmonia Orchestras offer a welcoming and collaborative environment for non-music majors, and an opportunity to perform an exciting and diverse variety of great orchestral music on the famed Hill Auditorium stage. All interested students should enroll in ENS 344.001 (Campus Symphony Orchestra) or ENS 344.002 (Campus Philharmonia Orchestra). 

The University of Michigan Gamelan Ensemble is open to all, regardless of musical training. The group will learn how to play pieces on different instrument groupings from Java and Bali, Indonesia, with repertoire ranging from traditional works to contemporary compositions. (3 credits)

The University of Michigan’s guitar ensemble, open to all guitarists, is a supportive/collaborative environment where students will learn how to perform with other guitarists and work with a conductor. (2 credits)

Open to all U-M students by audition, the Hockey and Basketball bands support their respective sports at all home games and selected tournament games.

Open to all U-M students by audition, the Michigan Winter Ensemble is a competitive color guard performance group that performs and competes in the MCGC circuit.

Out of the Blue is the University of Michigan’s prison outreach choir, a collaboration between PCAP and SMTD, overseen by Dr. Eugene Rogers. Students from across the university, alumni, and community members are encouraged to participate in the ensemble. Members can enroll as an official class either through SMTD or the Residential College, or they can join as a club. (2 credits)

The Men’s Glee Club welcomes you to audition for our 164th season serving as ambassadors of song. The coming year will be particularly special as we will tour to South America in May 2024 (optional for Glee Club members). The Men’s Glee Club welcomes all male-identifying and non-binary students who sing tenor or bass to audition.

The Women’s Glee Club is a SSAA choral ensemble open by audition, representing undergraduate and graduate women from diverse fields across campus. WGC gives female students the opportunity to express their love of music through performance, community outreach and travel. Repertoire ranges from the Renaissance to the present; includes folk music, college songs, and works specifically written for women’s chorus.

THTREMUS 277: Western Silhouettes

This course offers an examination of clothing silhouettes and prominent designers that have contributed to the narrative of Western dress and fashion. Use of illustrated lectures and hands-on projects will encourage the student to see the connections between cultural trends and ever-evolving silhouettes of fashion and costume design.

Guitar 110: Intro to Guitar
This introductory course in popular guitar style will teach students essential performance skills while building a deeper understanding of the cultural importance of the guitar in popular music. No prior guitar experience needed to enroll.

Guitar 111: Intermediate Guitar
This intermediate guitar course will teach students continued technical and performance-based skillsets on the instrument. Guitar 110: Intro to Guitar or comparable guitar experience recommended.

Guitar 112: Advanced Guitar
This advanced guitar course will explore in detail key guitarists throughout the diverse history of the popular music genre. A “case-study” approach will be taken to introduce the varied techniques, chord structures and melodic soloing styles of guitar greats such as Robert Johnson, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, B.B. King, and Joni Mitchell, to name a few. Guitar 111: Intermediate Guitar or comparable guitar experience recommended.

JAZZ 450/550: Contemplative Practice

450/550: The Contemplative Practices Seminar
This seminar introduces sitting meditation and includes journaling, walking meditation outdoors, and contemplative reading.

455/555: Nature-based Contemplative Practice
This seminar introduces nature-based contemplative practices, which deepen our connection with the natural world by expanding our conversation with the elements.

454/554 Special Topics/”Finding Your Way”
This is a course in contemplative journal writing. Through guided, reflective writing based on weekly prompts, this course helps students explore life-path questions.

MUSIC 200: Intro to Popular Songwriting

This introductory course in pop songwriting will include a survey of diverse and iconic songwriters throughout popular music history and will teach students myriad creative skills to compose original pop songs through fun and collaborative songwriting projects.

MUSIC 360: K-Pop and Beyond: Popular Culture and Korean Society (Vocal Music Edition)

This course will be a co-instruction collaboration SMTD and the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures (LSA). It will cover Korean history and culture through its vocal music, from premodern Korea and traditional music through the 20th and early 21st centuries. Representative music will include Trot, art song, K-Pop, ballads, jazz, and music in media (video games and TV/movies).

MUSIC 460: Composing for Change: Healing Arts

In this project-based course, students will learn to compose music, a script, choreography, or creative writing to tell stories of social injustices and agency and to celebrate the unsung gifts of marginalized individuals and communities. Students must have a working competency in the medium they choose.

COMP 222: Intro to Elements of Composition

It’s easy to take for granted that behind all music is at least one person who sat down and composed that music. In this course, students will become familiar with the practical aspects of composing – the process of thinking, listening, and working like a composer.

MUSPERF 200: Engaging Performance

This course allows students to experience the performing arts up close and behind the scenes, connecting students directly to the touring, world-class artists who perform music, theatre, and dance on the U-M campus. Students will attend live performances, talk with the artists and arts administrators, and explore how the performing arts are an integral part of our lives and the world at large.

THEORY 238: Intro to Music Analysis

This course offers a broad overview of musical analysis across many genres, from classical to film to popular music. It requires knowledge equivalent to the prerequisite, Theory 137, though a solid musical background with some theory is sufficient to enroll.

MUSICOL 122: Intro to World Music

This course introduces students to world soundscapes and cultures through the lens of ethnomusicology – the study of music in the context of culture. It analyzes the ever-changing balance between traditional and modern ideas of music – in systems of learning, performance techniques, and ways of writing and recording music.

MUSICOL 123: Intro to Popular Music

This course offers a broad survey of 20th-century popular music, exploring a diverse set of genres from the Tin Pan Alley era to the present. The course places the musical conventions, significant performers, and aesthetic shifts that mark the history of popular music in social, cultural, technological, and musical context.

MUSICOL 346.002: Science Fiction Film Music

This course explores the intersections between music and scientific fiction film and television from a variety of perspectives. It considers the aesthetic, technical, and creative choices made by influential creative figures and contemplates the impact of technological innovations in sound and cinema.

MUSICOL 346.003/130.001: Opera!

This introductory-level course on the collaborative art form of opera explores a repertory of exceeding beauty and interest while it considers this form of theatre as a fold for thinking about the value of song, empathy, myth, beauty, and the politics of entertainment.

MUSICOL 346.001: The History of Hip Hop

This course explores the history of hip-hop in the Americas and beyond. Discover how and why it became a global phenomenon with sonic and audiovisual examples followed by readings and discussions.

MUSICOL 346.004: History of Musics of South Korea in the Shadow of the US

This course takes a chronological approach to examine the entanglements of music and societal concerns within the context of US imperialism in South Korea. By exploring diverse music genres such as country, K-pop (including hip-hop and kayo), military marches, Christian hymns, and more, students will gain a comprehensive understanding of how US imperialism manifests itself musically.

MUSICOL 346.005: History of the American Musical

PAT 100: Music in Technology

This course focuses primarily on popular music styles, tracing the evolution of music technology and exploring how musicians influenced technological developments and how developments in music technology influenced artists. Students will attain a deeper knowledge and understanding of the field and the skills necessary to begin making music with technology on their own.

PAT 200: Intro to Electronic Music Production

This course is for students not majoring in Performing Arts Technology who are interested in electronic music composition, production, and performance.

The Piano 110 non-SMTD course is designed for non-music majors who are interested in learning beginner piano skills in a group class. No prior experience is required.

The Piano 111 non-SMTD course is a continuation of Piano 110. This course is designed for students looking to continue their piano study, or for non-music majors with some prior piano playing experience to further their skills in a group setting.

PIANO 150: Advanced Individual Studio Lessons

This course is designed to provide non-SMTD students, ranging from beginner to advanced, with private piano instruction. Students will receive a 30-minute lesson with a graduate student instructor each week.

MUSIC 210: Rap History & Songwriting

This course will focus on message, intentionality, and style, while allowing participants to explore their own artistic expression through hip hop and spoken word. No experience is necessary.

THTREMUS 211 (sections 001 & 002): Intro to Drama

This course introduces students to as many basic elements of the theatre, practical and theoretical, as time allows. It also presents a number of key plays from various periods, examining them in terms of their dramatic qualities, theatrical strengths, social and political contexts, performance history, and relevance today. This course is geared toward students who do not have extensive experience attending or participating in the theatre.

VOICE 111: Beginning Voice Class

This beginning-level group singing course focuses on fundamentals of voice production and performance preparation. The course is designed to help develop a basic understanding of vocal function, vocal health and hygiene, and technique as well as the process of learning music and enhancing solo performance.

WELLNESS 412: Yoga for Performers, Dancers & Athletes

This class is an introduction to yoga fundamentals and their application to athletic/dancer fitness and performance.