THEATRE PERFORMANCE POE

A great misunderstanding exists in theatre nowadays – this is the tendency to think that the theatrical process falls into two stages, as in other fields. First stage: making. Second stage: selling. . . To my mind, it is just the opposite. I would say that the process consists not of two stages but of two phases. First: preparation. Second: birth. This is very different. -Peter Brook, The Shifting Point

· We intend to train students to be creators of theatre. This includes training in movement, voice, speech, theatre history, theatre literature, directing, and more. We are interested in giving students more possibilities for creating theatre work as a chosen life – and the ability to fashion a life as an artist with some measure of self-direction in that life.

· A liberal arts setting offers the ideal training ground for young artists. The great theatre-makers throughout history composed lives as artists from expansive learning across today’s borderlines between fields.

· This Theatre Performance POE reflects a contemporary trend toward coupling professional preparation with liberal arts study in undergraduate colleges.

· Company members of The Gravity Project, a professional theatre ensemble in residence at Juniata, along with Professor Belser, are the core faculty of the Performance POE. These working theatre professionals teach intensive courses throughout the year as well as coming to work with students on productions. Professional mentoring offers these students some irreplaceable advantages:

i. ongoing training at the highest level possible from experienced professionals

ii. a ready-made network of professionals who can position students in the performance world

iii. training in specialized areas – Fitzmaurice Voicework, Skinner Releasing, dialect and speech work, contact improvisation, Ashtanga Yoga, to name a few. A diversity of training approaches offers the performance student a large toolbox of skills to take into the professional world.

THEATRE PERFORMANCE POE

A Designated Interdisciplinary Course of Study

Core Courses in Theatre (59 hours)

Courses in Other Depts. (12 hours)

Performance POE Total credits (71 hours)

CORE COURSES

Course Number	Title	Credits	Prerequisites	Dist.	Skills
TH 210	Living Theatre History	3		H	CW
TH 310	20^th Century Innovations	3	TH 210	H	CW
TH 221	Acting	3		FH	CS
TH 360	Movement and Improvisation	3		FH
TH 361	Modern Drama	3		FH	CW

Choose one of either:

TH 365	Modern American Drama	3		H	CW
TH 366	Women Playwrights	3		H	CW
TH 205	Stagecraft	4		F
*TH 270, 370, 470	Performance Lab – minimum 5 semesters 10 credits required	2 each	Instructors consent	F
*This will be scheduled three days/week for 2 hours/day – either M, W, TH or T, W, TH. All Performance POE students will be advised to enroll in this LAB every semester that they are enrolled in the POE. When The Gravity Project professional artists are on campus, which will be roughly 2/3 of the academic year, they will teach with me in this Performance LAB. This is where all students will see training applied to making theatre. Each year will be slightly different, depending on the artists that are visiting, and each year the professional artist residencies are carefully scheduled and designed to offer a rounded approach to professional performance. Among the topics covered in Performance LAB: voice, speech, and dialect work; scene study; styles of acting; auditioning/finding work; preparing the body for performance; creating one’s own work; application of various movement trainings to creation of a performance.

**TH 398	Professional Training Intensives – 16 credits required (minimum of 8 intensives)	1-3	Permission	F
**The schedule for the coursework is intentionally brief – typically two weeks – but very intense (4 hours/day minimum). Some of these intensives may also be taught with more than one artist from The Gravity Project, combining skill sets. These courses are a central feature of the Performance POE and it has proved extremely attractive to current and prospective students. Areas of study include: Skinner Releasing; Fitzmaurice Voicework; Ashtanga Yoga for performers; speech and dialect work; auditioning/career preparation; various dance trainings; clowning; scene study.

TH 180, 181-480, 481

Theatre Arts Practicum – this is credit for work done on productions or on performance projects.

1-3

permission

FH

Optional:

TH 405	Directing	3	permission	F	CS
TH 399	ST: Playwriting	3	permission	F	CW
TH 490,495	Internship	variable	permission	F	CS

Courses from other Departments

note: all courses listed below are 3 credit courses

REQUIRED:

Fine Arts (3 credits)

AR 110, Survey of Western Art

Communication (3 credits)

CM 132, Message Analysis

History (choose 6 credits)

HS 102, Ancient Judeo-Christian Heritage

HS 151, World Civilizations to 1500

HS 152, World Civilizations from 1500

HS 330, The Mystical Experience: East and West

Strongly Recommended:

World Languages and Cultures (3-9)

We strongly recommend a 210 course level equivalency is required in any of the world languages we offer at Juniata.

Biology (3 credits)

BI 142, Sensory Biology

English

EN 341, Shakespearean Drama

EN 242, Major American Writers I

EN 243, Major American Writers II

EN 360, Myth and Literature

Fine Arts

AR 317, 20^th Century Art (AR 110 prereq)

AR 318, American Art (AR 110 prereq)

Philosophy

PL 115, Human Nature

PL 301, Modern Philosophy

Psychology (3 credits)

PY 101, Introduction to Psychology

Updated 9/07

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