Arts Unless otherwise noted, the Arts courses listed are UC-designated (“f”) Visual & Performing Arts courses and may be used to satisfy the Visual and Performing Arts requirements.
Dance Courses The San Domenico Upper School Dance Program offers a comprehensive training program in modern dance, ballet, hip hop, and choreography, taught by professional teachers and choreographers. The four-year program provides opportunities to explore dance from first steps through the college level, with classes offered five days a week for the serious dance student. The primary focuses of the Dance Program are technical training, performance, and choreography; students are provided with a foundation in technique through which they learn to express their own ideas and stories through choreography and performance.
Dance 1 This course is an introduction to dance technique, choreography, and performance. Students learn the fundamentals of modern dance, ballet, jazz, and hip hop dance, while rehearsing for a final performance at the end of the semester. Students also develop and teach basic dance lessons to students from the Lower School.
Dance 2 Students expand upon their knowledge of dance technique, while exploring the elements of dance composition. Students engage in creative exercises investigating basic components of choreography, and developing the student’s unique voice in dance-making. Students work in pairs or small groups to choreograph dances to be performed at the end of the school year. Students are also given assignments including journal entries, reflections, choreography projects, video viewing, sketching, and observations.
Dance 3 Students continue to develop their technical and expressive skills and are expected to be proficient in terminology and execution of ballet, modern dance, and jazz technique. Students also continue to develop their own pieces of choreography to be performed at the end of the school year. In addition, students study the history and theory of western and non-western dance forms through reading and written assignments, video viewing, and performance critique.
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