26 courses with the subject DSDAN, each shown exactly as we captured it from the college's catalog, with every element we hold. Where the wording looks broken, that is our reading of the catalog, not the college's text.
DSDAN 100Alexander Technique1
Fall or Spring Fabio Tavares A foundational course in Alexander Technique–a method of improving the dancer’s technique from plies and extensions to jumps, leaps, and turns through concentration on movement habits. Emphasizes the efficient use of the neck, head, and torso relationship, thereby providing a stress-reducing process that can be used during class performance and rest. Required for first-year students.
Fall Ellie Kusner and Guests A weekly class that explores various topics in dance, and may include guest instructors. Topics will rotate throughout the four-year program, to meet the ever-evolving training and educational needs of the 21st-century dancer. Examples of topics include self-care, somatics, nutrition, and master classes with guest artists. Required for first-year students.
Fall or Spring Ellie Kusner A foundational course in Pilates. An exploration of core stability and core control through the Pilates repertoire and other fundamental movements and exercises.
per semester Fall and Spring Vicki Shaghoian, with Ian Miller and Guests A course designed to educate and elevate the dancer’s voice in preparation for a professional career in the performing arts. May be repeated.
Fall Francisco Martinez An introduction to techniques used to achieve a mental state of focus on one’s awareness in the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations. May incorporate elements of yoga and meditation. May be repeated.
Fall or Spring Linda Gelinas This course will include elements from Pilates, focusing on specific mat work exercises beneficial to a dancer and learning the importance of cross training. The goal is to learn how to modify exercises in training as a dancer when necessary, in order maintain a healthy body. May be repeated.
Spring Wendy Perron This course is the first part of a two-semester survey of dance history covering periods and styles of dance, choreographers, and selected dance masterworks. Comparisons are drawn between dance and other arts in the same era.
per semester Fall or Spring Ray Hesselink Intermediate tap, directed toward auditioning successfully for musical theater, films, and videos. Advanced-level classes are offered off-site at STEPS on Broadway (taught by Mr. Hesselink and open to professionals in the NYC dance community) .
Spring Faculty The second part of a two-semester survey of dance history covering periods and styles of dance, choreographers, and selected dance masterworks. Comparisons are drawn between dance and other arts in the same era.
Spring Paul Singh With archival support from the Special Collections department at the NY Public Library of the Performing Arts, this course explores the filmed performances of work by 8 to 10 contemporary choreographers, both domestic and international, with the aim of broadening student awareness of often-overlooked work and inspiring students to learn about new work by taking initiative and going straight to “the source.” Each week, students will view the complete work of a dance-maker in class, including the likes of Ultima Vez, Pina Bausch, Dimitris Papioannou, Akram Khan, Ralph Lemon, and Sankai Juku, and are then expected to lead and/or participate in a discussion about the relevance of the work, elements of attraction and/or dissatisfaction, and research about the company, among other topics. Each student will be assigned a choreographer about whom they will conduct preliminary research and will share their findings and relevant facts with the class at each session.
Fall or Spring Carla Korbes A study of repertory (solos, pas de deux, trios) from the classical ballet cannon. Offered in the third and fourth years. Limited enrollment.
per semester Fall and Spring Gregory Youdan A detailed kinesthetic exploration of skeletal joint mechanics and the muscles that produce motion of those joints. Students will examine movement strategies to enhance stability, control, and articulation while developing musculo-skeletal problem-solving skills applicable to dance.
Spring Risa Steinberg This course asks aspiring choreographers to challenge themselves to create works of greater depth and complexity than seen before. These choreographers are expected to create works for the Senior Production Performance week. Open to a limited number of students at the discretion of a faculty committee.
Spring Francisco Martinez An introduction into mindfulness stress reduction techniques, mindful yoga, and meditation as forms of self-care for the wellness of a professional performer.
per semester Fall and Spring Risa Steinberg A continuation of study and practice in elements of theater production. A full production is planned, budgeted, and presented.
Fall Jerome Begin, Daniel Ott A practicum in collaborative art that will explore techniques of working together through exercises in problem-solving and the development of a work. The course will introduce to each discipline the needs, vocabulary, and work methods of the other and search for the common ground on which each can flourish while nourishing the other. Advisement will be provided for ongoing showings of works in progress. Finished pieces will be presented in concert format. For selected choreographers in the third year and Composition majors only.
per semester Fall and Spring Faculty and Guests For students about to begin professional work. The seminar offers a survey of the field, its diversity, opportunities, and requirements; and objective self-evaluation, including planning for graduation examination and for professional auditions. Studies in criticism and aesthetics develop an informed and individual point of view. Required for all fourth-year dance students.
