Dance and Movement Studies
The goal of the Dance and Movement Studies Department is to help students find and develop their own voices and identities through classes, workshops, projects, and productions that consider dance from creative, technical, historical, and scientific contexts.
About the Major
The creative process is at the core of Hamilton’s dance and movement studies program, which focuses equally on performance and scholarship. Theory-based courses, which cover a spectrum of disciplines and styles, explore the human body from an anthropological, physiological, psychological, and even philosophical point of view. Faculty emphasize ideas, imagination, problem-solving, spontaneity, discipline, cooperation, and commitment. Students enjoy ample opportunities to work alongside their instructors and independently on directing, choreographing, performing, and producing.
Students Will Learn To:
- Learn the fundamentals of movement through coursework in technique
- Develop a vocabulary enabling them to analyze, discuss, and write about a wide range of dance and movement practices
- Apply these concepts and principles in performance and the creation of original work including in solo and group performance, choreography, and improvisation
- Develop an understanding of dance and movement in a broader cultural context
A Sampling of Courses
Kinesiology
An investigation of the musculoskeletal system and use of biomechanical principles to improve efficiency of motor behavior. Emphasis on joint, muscular and alignment analysis. Lectures, discussions and practical application of movement concepts.
Explore these select courses:
Meet Our Faculty
Craig Latrell
Upson Chair for Public Discourse and Professor of Theatre, Chair of Dance and Movement Studies
Asian and intercultural performance, performance studies, and directing
Heather Buchman
Chair and Professor of Music, Associate Chair of Dance and Movement Studies
orchestral repertoire and conducting; ballet and opera conducting; trombone and low brass; solo performance; 20th- and 21st-century music
contemporary dance, improvisation, somatics, early childhood and K-12 pedagogy
martial arts and dance, kinesiology, and choreography
Laura Ann Samuelson
Visiting Assistant Professor in Dance and Movement Studies
ballet
Explore Hamilton Stories
One Thesis. Two Students. Four Majors.
Neuroscience, Dance, Mathematics, Music. Recent graduates Toscana Ogihara ’22 and Anthony Christiana ’22 took this unlikely combination of majors and collaborated on creating an original score for Ogihara’s dance thesis.
Building Connections Across Cultures
An interest in Japanese language and culture led Faby Alvarez ’22 to participate in the 72nd Japan-America Student Conference (JASC), a program that brings students from the two countries together to research, study, and discuss Japan-U.S. relations across a breadth of topics. The highly competitive program emphasizes building connections across cultures through reflective, educational conversations.
A Custom Equation: Knot Theory, Dance, and a Summer Job
A couple of delayed flights gave Jackson Bedward ’21 plenty of airport time to kill as he made his way from Fort Worth, Texas, back to Hamilton College after a break. Waiting for a connection in Philadelphia, another student in transit gave him a line on just the summer job he'd been hoping for.
Careers After Hamilton
Hamilton graduates who concentrated in dance and movement studies are pursuing careers in a variety of fields, including:
- Professional Dancer, Antaeus Dance Company
- Policy Advisor, U.S. Treasury Department
- Dance Professor, Ohio University
- Latin Dance Instructor, LatinEmotion, Cypress
- 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
- Adjunct Dance Professor, Lake Erie College
- Owner, Kimmotion Pilates
Contact
Department Name
Dance and Movement Studies Department
Contact Name
Craig Latrell, Chair
Clinton, NY 13323
