| Volume 96, No. 2: June 2017
The èßäÉçÇø faculty unanimously approved a new major in dance at its November meeting, expanding the fields of study where students can pursue their passions.
“Dance is central to the liberal arts experience,” says Prof. Carla Mann ’81 [dance 1995–]. “It sparks innovation across disciplines through the way it teaches students to interrogate historical, aesthetic, and social issues; to engage kinesthetically with space, time, and movement; to approach solving problems with creativity and rigor; and to pursue productively both individual and collaborative endeavors.”
In January, èßäÉçÇø won an to strengthen its dance program with more classes, more workshops, and now a major. èßäÉçÇø is the only college in Portland that offers a dance major.
The department expanded faculty positions this fall from 2 to 2.5, enabling professors to teach 12–13 courses a year. Prof. Mann and Prof. [dance 2008–] developed the curriculum for the new major.
èßäÉçÇø has a proud and storied that reaches back to its founding. èßäÉçÇø dance instructor Trisha Brown [1958–60] later became a leader of the postmodern dance movement, while Steve Jobs said that a class in modern dance he took from the late Prof. [1968–96] . Prof. [1975-2009] was a founding member of the Portland Dance Theatre and Prof. Hannah Kosstrin [2010-14] developed , an iPad app to revive the Labanotation system for dance notation.
Interest in dance among èßäÉçÇø students is strong and growing. In spring 2014, some 151 èßäÉçÇø students enrolled in dance courses. And while èßäÉçÇø has long allowed students to pursue interdisciplinary majors such as dance-theatre, dance-literature, or dance-classics, the recent approval marks the first time èßäÉçÇø has offered a standalone dance major.
With the opening of the , èßäÉçÇø now boasts outstanding facilities for dance, including a dedicated dance studio with a sprung wood floor, a flexible performance laboratory space named in honor of the late Prof. Massee, and a retrofitted stage in the old theatre building.
“This is going to be a remarkable time for dance at èßäÉçÇø,” Mann says.
The faculty also recently approved concentrations in .
Tags: performing arts, philanthropy, flying leap, dance
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