Chair, Professor of Dance and Movement Studies
Elaine Heekin
Elaine Heekin has performed, choreographed, and taught contemporary dance throughout the United States.
Dance and Movement Studies
The creative process will be at the core of your studies, which will focus equally on performance and scholarship. Formal and informal opportunities for performance abound. Each year students direct, choreograph, design, perform and produce as many as 10 productions. Students and faculty members produce two dance concerts choreographed by faculty and two or three plays directed by faculty.
About the Major
The curriculum considers the creative, technical, historical and scientific elements of dance. Theory-based courses explore the human body from an anthropological, physiological, psychological and even philosophical point of view. Coursework covers a spectrum of disciplines and styles. The program has an educational and an artistic mission, exploring the power of movement to express and communicate and the cultural context of dance.
My dance studies helped me to become more well-rounded. It opened my mind to a whole new aspect of dance. I really took a deeper look at all the people behind the scenes from the lighting designer to the artistic director. It helped me to think outside the box and explore my opportunities in this industry.
Erin Brown — Dance and movement studies major
Dance studies emphasizes ideas, imagination, problem solving, spontaneity, discipline, cooperation and commitment. The program aims to awaken and cultivate every student’s creative potential and presence, and Hamilton’s dance community is dynamic and challenging.
Careers After Hamilton
- Policy Advisor, U.S. Treasury Department
- World Dance/Martial Arts Teacher, San Lorenzo Unified Schools
- Pediatric Resident, Emory University Hospital
- Director of Development, Jose Mateo Ballet Theatre
- Marketing Assistant, Random House
- Public Relations Manager, New York City Ballet
Meet Our Faculty
Professor of Dance and Movement Studies
Bruce Walczyk
Bruce Walczyk has developed a unique approach that combines traditional martial art and performance forms and brings them into a contemporary context.
Visiting Instructor of Dance and Movement Studies
Paris Wilcox '95
Paris appears as a guest artist and teaches classes throughout the country.
A Sampling of Courses
Elementary Jazz Dance 113S
This course focuses on the basic movement principles found in contemporary jazz technique. The class will also focus on proper alignment and basic anatomical terminology. There will be several quizzes addressing the history of jazz dance as well as movement vocabulary. An introduction to critiquing dance works and several reviews of dance performances will be part of the grading criteria. Required Text: Jazz Dance, Giordano, Gus
View All CoursesSound, Performance and Creativity 180S
An introduction to the development and use of sound in its relationship to performance. Topics include creation of original sound/movement structures, using vocal/body sounds as well as found objects; introduction to sound recording and the digital-audio workstation; aural analyses of music from a variety of genres to understand certain structures and aesthetics; analyses of group pieces developed in class workshops; creation of different types of non-traditional sound/movement scores;creation of audio recordings to be used in conjuncti0n with performances. Individual and group projects.
View All CoursesPilates For Dance 204S
A focus on the basic exercises found in the Pilates method of body conditioning including various apparatus (mat, magic circle, reformer, barrel and cadillac). An overview of anatomy as it applies to the Pilates system will be addressed. The history and philosophical approach to the Pilates system will be included. The discipline focuses on the muscles that are the linchpin of good posture and a stable, strong core.
View All CoursesBallet in the Twentieth Century. 250
Study of the history of ballet from the Imperial Ballet of the Tsars to the present. Study of Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, the Royal Ballet of England and the Kirov and Bolshoi of Russia. Examination of aesthetic principles and their influence on the development of modern ballet. Study of dancers, choreographers, composers and visual artists associated with the ballet world. Writing-intensive.
View All CoursesChoreography 307F
The application of fundamentals from 305 to more complex choreographic work, incorporating set, props, costume and text. Exploration and analysis of other art forms as related to dance composition.
View All CoursesToday and Tomorrow
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