Name of Proposed Degree Program: MFA in Dance: Choreography and Performance

Name of Proposed Degree Program: MFA in Dance: Choreography and Performance

School: Liberal Arts

Primary Contact Person: Professor Cathy Davalos

Other Faculty Involved: Linda Baumgardner and Rosana Barragán

Date: Oct. 15, 2012

PROPOSAL FOR AN MA/MFA IN DANCE

This proposal outlines the rationale for development of three new graduate programs in dance: MFA in Dance: Design and Production; MFA in Dance: Choreography and Performance; MA in Dance and Movement Studies. These graduate degree programs are unique in three ways: 1) a low-residency option; 2) a somatic approach that broadens the scope of the traditional MFA in Choreography and Performance as well as the MA in Dance and Movement Studies; 3) the first MFA in this country in Dance: Design and Production. Furthermore, as a way to cross-pollinate the disciplines and maximize budget expenses, the three programs overlap. Students wishing to seek an MA would complete a portion of the work in the MFA program focusing on research, minus the creative practice. The MA also allows for 4+1 degree completion similar to the Teachers for Tomorrow program. Students engaging in the MFA programs are expected to create a body of work culminating in a performance thesis and thesis project paper, thus combining the research and creative practices. These dance productions would serve both the MFA candidates in the Choreography and Performance model as well as the Design and Production focus. The MFA is a terminal degree; the MA would prepare the student for graduate work in a doctoral program, as well as working as dance educators and in the field of somatic based movement therapy. This proposal also addresses the rationale for the three programs based on the College’s Mission and the goals/strategic plan of the School of Liberal Arts, the academic structure of the program, a business plan, Library review, and a timeline for assessment.

Please note that the budgetary and curricular implications of all three programs do overlap. Though this approach is beneficial to the three graduate programs in dance, it is not imperative that all three foci be implemented at the same time. In terms of benefit to the College and Community we consider the importance of more immediate implementation to be ranked in the following order: MFA in Dance: Design and Production, MA in Dance and Movement Studies, andfinally MFA in Dance: Choreography and Performance. The following materials explain each degree option as a separate proposal. This offers the possibility of approving one, two, or three of the degrees.

1) CONTEXT: Rationale for an MA/MFA in Dance

The Performing Arts Department and more specifically the Dance program expressed the need for graduate studies in dance in their 2008 Program Review. Identified as one of the long term goals, the faculty felt that the natural extension of a successful undergraduate degree is the graduate program. More importantly, the Bay Area is a thriving dance community with only one institution to offer an MFA in Dance, Mills College. We feel that the Bay Area dance community would embrace other options and have evidence to support interest in our program (please see appendix A). Furthermore, there are no schools in the country to offer an MFA in Dance: Design and Production (see more rationale in the MFA in Dance: Design and Production proposal). Therefore, we would have the first MFA that focuses on the unique aspects of production and design specifically for this area. The MA program also offers a distinctive somatic approach uncommon in the United States. Furthermore, each program overlaps the other to enhance budget efficiency, course offerings, collaboration, and degree effectiveness. The global dance community thrives on innovation and complexity. Therefore, it is imperative for new degrees to encompass and embrace the demands of the 21st century.

These programs also address the impetus of the strategic plan by offering formal education and advanced degrees in dance, enriching the graduate offerings at Saint Mary’s College. Once seen as a hobby for wealthy girls, dance has become a venue for social justice and cultural criticism. Dancers and choreographers are the newest members of the global arena imitating, creating, and challenging what society has to offer. As the United States embraces the importance of a healthy mind/body connection and movement education in child, adolescent, and adult development, dance has moved to the forefront of our learning. And even though we are playing “catch-up” to the global dance community (because so many other cultures/countries already embrace the moving body), the United States has the advantageof diversity.

The MA in Dance and Movement Studies and the MFA in Dance: Choreography and Performance will take advantage of an academic calendar that favors working adults and international students by creating a low residency program. The program is also designed for highly motivated professionals seeking to substantiate their portfolio as they develop their professional careers. With a majority of the courses offered during June Term and January Term, we take advantage of our spaces in Syufy Hall for the Performing Arts and LeFevre Theatre. During the regular academic calendar these spaces are highly impacted, but they sit empty most of the summer. Since many undergraduates with a degree in dance become elementary and secondary teachers, this model is very appropriate for them. Both the LEAP program and the MA in Kinesiology have been successful in using a similar calendar structure. There are few graduate programs in dance that offer a low residency component that compliments the working student. One is in North Carolina through the American Dance Festival in conjunction with Hollins University in Virginia. Saint Mary’s would offer the only low residency program on the West Coast.

The MA in Dance and Movement Studies is based on a model of combining theory, somatic movement studies and dance education that no other university in the world offers. It is a unique blend of what graduate programs in dance studies have traditionally offered in the Scandinavian countries and the United Kingdom with what has recently become an area of studies for the dance practitioner in the United States: Somatics.

The MFA in Dance: Design and Production will be the first in this country. Graduate programs in design and production for theatre can be found at many universities; in these programs a graduate student focuses specifically on an area of design or production for the theatre. The MFA in Dance: Design and Production also focuses on a specific area of design or production, but the coursework would cover all of the areas of design and production as they relate to dance specifically. As with any artistic field the techniques are specific to the discipline, a degree in lighting design for theatre prepares the artist to be a designer yes, but a designer without the proper tools to be a designer for dance (much like a student of Art History would not necessarily learn the skills to be a tremendous painter).

2) Overview of the MFA in Dance: Choreography and Performance

a) The Mission of the Graduate Program in Dance

The mission of the graduate program in dance is to provide an affordable, flexible, rigorous and unique model that capitalizes on the richness and diversity of the Bay Area dance community. Through the lens of a liberal arts curriculum the MA/MFA would educate the whole dance artist concentrating on how the different areas of focus (Theoretical, Somatics, Creative Practice and Production) develop “the art of thinking and ways of knowing” in alignment with the mission of the College. The nature of the program is student-centered hinging on peer collaboration, faculty mentoring and student driven projects.

The essence of dance is the full expression of the human body in all its dimensions (physical, intellectual, psychological, emotional and spiritual). Throughout history we have seen how dance has contributed to the questions of faith, truth, and human existence. The MA/MFA program finds its roots in the need for human understanding and expression of the spiritual self. The values of our program are shaped around the quest for truth, authenticity of living, and the building of a community where sensitivity, social justice and global awareness are at the core.

b) Strategic Plan

This program addresses the impetus of the strategic plan by offering formal education and advanced degrees in dance, enriching the graduate offerings at Saint Mary’s College. The Dance Program envisions rich collaboration with the MFA in Creative Writing program in several forms: 1) creatively, by working in tandem to make art; 2) collegially, by providing the opportunity for rich dialogue outside of the classroom; 3) quantitatively, by bringing more graduate students to the campus. A graduate program further contributes to the mentorship of undergraduate students and raises the bar for growth in research and creative endeavors.

The Strategic Plan in SOLA seeks to “build social justice learning outcomes and assessment into the curriculum.” The MFA in Dance: Choreography and Performance and the MA in Dance and Movement Studies both have a social justice focus that asks the student to understand dance education as an important tool to awaken critical consciousness and build social justice.

The three graduate programs “develop new ways of bridging disciplinary boundaries, both in and out of the classroom.” They focus on “common intellectual experiences, writing-intensive courses, learning communities, and collaborative assignments and projects.” Please see more curricular details in each program description. Finally, the graduate programs in dance will increase diversity on our campus by bringing more international students and students of color to the dance program. The Dance program at Saint Mary’s College already has a national reputation, and the dance faculty share an international reputation. A graduate program in dance will increase the visibility of Saint Mary’s College across the globe.

c) Learning Goals and Learning Outcomes

MFAin Dance: Choreography and Performance

The MFA degree in Dance is a 54-unit plan of study emphasizing performance and choreography grounded in the modern dance genre. The Masters of Fine Arts degree is considered to be the terminal degree in the studio area of the dance discipline, and is the degree required by major dance schools in the United States for university and college teaching. Applicants are expected to have a BA or BFA in Dance or the equivalent course prerequisites. Applicants should also have some professional experience. The MFA candidate must fulfill four areas of focus with emphasis on the Creative Practice. Candidates are expected to create a full evening work that embodies the choreographic voice of the individual and a written thesis/project report that documents the process and the final product. The Areas of Focus include: Theoretical Studies, Somatic Studies, Creative Practice, and Production Practicum.

Program Goals:

• To develop artists who are critically aware of the reciprocity of theory and practice, thereby promoting standards of excellence in dance practice, and preparing for employment.

• To enable artists to explore and reflect upon dance practice in its many forms, taking account of the social, cultural, aesthetic and political contexts in which performance practice is located.

• To address complex issues creatively and systematically, as well as the ability to problem-solve in a variety of artistic contexts through the engagement in practice based research, including collaborative projects.

• To develop ones potential for a range of practices in or associated with dance and research-based activity.

• To enhance ones production experience and create dancers that are capable of managing a business.

Learning Outcomesin Creative Practice

The Student will:

1. Master advanced training in modern/contemporary dance and one other style or form enabling them to pursue professional careers in teaching and/or performance.

1. Engage in creative processes, conduct choreographic inquiries, collaborate across domains, and produce dance works for performance.

1. Develop choreographic skills and a personal style that demonstrates original works, knowledge of compositional techniques, choreographic range and effective conceptualization and conveyance of intent.

1. Define individual goals and choose appropriate pathways to achieve those goals.

Learning Outcomes in Theoretical and Somatic Studies

The Student will:

1. Engagewith a variety of theories and criticalapproachesfromwhich dance can be analyzed and fromwhichwe can challenge a new definitionfor dance practice.

1. Contextualize dance practice using contemporary texts and resources and develop new areas of dance research.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the mutually influential relationship between dance practice and socio-cultural tensions that inform the practice.
3. Engage in rigorous enquiry to articulate dance practice within the larger context of the 21st century artistic ideas, aesthetics and socio-political environment.
4. Show theabilitytoformulate and undertake a research topic following a clear methodology.
5. Present and defend new ideas about dance practice today with a high level of analysis as well as written and verbal skills.
6. Understand dance education as an important tool to awaken critical consciousness and build social justice.
7. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the body following a holistic/somatic approach to then formulate new ideas about dance pedagogy today.

Learning Outcomes in the Production Practicum:

1. Analyze design approaches and practice, both traditional and emerging, evaluating the appropriateness of these to specific works.

1. Develop new methods and techniques to elicit meaningful and original design solutions.

1. Demonstrate understanding of the artistic, social, political, economic, philosophic and cultural contexts within which performance design takes place.

1. Examine choreographic context to make appropriate judgments regarding context, aesthetic, and meaning.

1. Develop a collaborative approach to the production process, fostering individual and collective innovation and creativity.

1. Develop the ability to plan and manage time and resources cost effectively and efficiently, in order produce creative, safe and professional projects.

1. Demonstrate an understanding of the art of management and production.

d) Program of Study

THEORETICAL STUDIES

This area of study focuses on different theoretical frameworks from which to explore and reflect upon what dance practice is today. Dance will be viewed using the lenses of different fields of study; the student completesthree courses including: Dance History, Dance and Performance Studies, and Critical Dance Pedagogy.

Upon completion, the student must be able to combine the three perspectives and create her/his own theory from which to investigate dance practice, therefore contributing to the development of the area of dance studies where dance can justify itself as an academic field.

The theoretical area of study looks towards awakening in the student the curiosity to dig into the core of what various branches of knowledge have to offer the field of Dance and how we can create new theories from which to critically look at the needs of dance practice today and challenge the definition of the contemporary dancing body.

The student will be challenged as a reflective practitioner who can be critically aware of the reciprocity of theory and practice. With the theoretical/critical area of studies we want to cultivate the student’s critical thinking; encourage the nature of an independent and self-critical learner who is able to develop and defend ideas with a high level of analysis, and promote rigorous enquiry to enable the articulation of dance practice within the larger context of 21st century art and society.

SOMATIC STUDIES

This area is based on the study of various applications of somatic movement principles to the pedagogy of dance following the perspective of Paulo Freire’s “critical pedagogy”. The principles that underlie the so-called somatic disciplines will be studied in relation to the sociopolitical aspect that characterizes Freire’s educational approach so that dance education can be thought as an important tool to awaken “critical consciousness” and build social justice. The student will be challenged as to how s/he can build the relationships between the two fields of study: “Somatics” and “critical pedagogy” and therefore create new ideas that will place his/her approach as a unique one in the world of dance education today.

Traditional dance pedagogy will be challenged based on Freire’s concept of the “banking model”. The relationship between teacher and student in the classroom or the dance studio will be seen as an endless process of learning where the two are the co-creators of a common yet diverse understanding of the body, based on personal life processes and the experience each person has of the whole being.

Body and movement experiences that come from different somatic modalities will be offered so that the student can work towards a socio-political construction of the self and have a clear identity as to who s/he is historically, culturally and holistically. Teaching is a community act and we will build our political voice together as dance educators based on the 21st century needs of our society.