The School of Music, Theatre & Dance is offering online courses during the spring semester in a variety of disciplines. These courses offer students the opportunity to continue their education in performance theory and practice through one-on-one mentorship, group discussion, project-based work, and remote instruction.
Available courses include:
Contemporary Barre and Creative Movement (Dance 405.101, 515.101, 615.101)
Drawing upon Limón principles, instructor Melissa Brading guides students to use the barre for finding a sense of weight and suspension. Students will also practice barre work for full-bodied movement that can be accomplished in small spaces. Utilizing ideas from barre and center, readings, writing, and peer feedback each student will craft a movement solo as a final project. A chair, wall, or other sturdy items can be used in place of a barre throughout the course.
Healing Dance Sessions (Dance 405.102)
Led by instructor Imani Ma’at, Healing Dance Sessions is a course that brings the intention and concept of ritual into multiple contexts to embrace student points of view. This online improvisational dance class is designed to get students up and moving while cultivating healing movement that can be comforting during troubling times. Students will sing, dance, and make their own music by utilizing common household items, all while sharing their voices, ideas, and performances with fellow classmates. The purpose of this course is to provide students with essential tools that can be useful in creating safe dance spaces inside their homes as our community figures out how to move through the unknown and unpredictable.
Beginning Guitar: Popular Styles (Guitar 111)
Designed for both music majors and non-music majors, this introductory course in popular guitar styles has been optimized for online learning and will teach students essential performance skills as well as a deeper understanding of the cultural importance of the guitar in popular music. Led by instructor Jonathan Edwards, students will learn to read standard music notation, guitar tablature, develop a knowledge of common chords and rhythmic strumming patterns on the instrument, and perform a variety of popular songs utilizing techniques introduced throughout the term.
Contemporary American Drama (Musical Theatre 325)
Anita Gonzalez, Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs and Professor of Theatre & Drama, will lead this online course in which students read, view, and analyze 10 contemporary American plays drawing from the list of recent Pulitzer Prize winners and their runner-ups. The class will consider how theatre promotes social change and reveals diverse cultural perspectives. Students will also read, view, or listen to interviews and performance excerpts and participate in individual and group work.
Music and Society (Musicology 346)
Engaging the discipline of ethnomusicology, this course, led by Lecturer Ryan Bodiford, examines how various folk, popular, and art music traditions have developed in relation to disparate cultural and social contexts around the world. Through a series of case studies, students will explore how music constructs and conveys meaning, how it serves to shape and maintain social interactions and identities, and how it evolves in relation to shifting performance contexts, technological developments, and socio-political circumstances. Case studies include considerations of musical practices originating in Indonesia, North India, Africa, South America, and the Caribbean, among others. Course requirements will include lectures, written reflections on assigned audio/visual/reading materials, discussions, and online peer engagement.
Course registration is open April 8 through May 4 online via Wolverine Access. For more the most up-to-date information about course offerings, visit the Office of the Registrar’s schedule of classes.