Extension faculty oversee the Laban studies and notation curriculum for the Dance Department. Within the Extension and Department are opportunities for directing dances for performance, for notating newly choreographed works, for performing in notated works, and for creating multimedia projects. Laban studies and notation coursework are a core part of the undergraduate and graduate programs, and comprise a language component of the new PhD. Courses prepare students for the Dance Notation Bureau certifying exams at all levels (Elementary through Advanced) and provide the basis to continue as a Certified Professional Notator; final work is completed through the Dance Notation Bureau in New York.
B.F.A. with focus (Laban Studies/Notation)
Beginning in the junior year, students may declare a focus in one of several areas. For the Laban Studies/Notation area, students may elect to complete the notation sequence through Directing from Score (at the undergraduate level), complete independent projects such as directing a work, or notating a short work.M.F.A. Directing and Documenting Dance through Labanotation Scores and Technology
This area provides students with a framework for analyzing salient features of movement and the tools for documenting dance. In the Labanotation sequence, analyzing, reading/performing, and writing components of body-space-time interaction are studied in depth. Directing from Score is the culmination of the notation sequence; in it students focus on the interdisciplinary act of directing and staging works by incorporating scholarly research in history, performance and analysis. In the documentation sequence, students may choose among courses in video documentation and various other applications of camera and computer technology. A concentration in directing and documenting dance through Labanotation scores and technology requires the M.F.A. curriculum requirements plus appropriate coursework in Labanotation and documentation.
Ph.D. in Dance Studies
The focus of the Ph.D. will keep dance at its core, with principal coursework in research methods and the history, theory and literature of composition and movement analysis. New areas of research that emerge from the core strengths of the program are encouraged and supported. Literacy in a viable form of dance notation serves as a language competency for candidates pursuing research requiring advanced movement analysis.