Within the Theater and Performance Studies curriculum, we understand performance to be a mode of critical inquiry and research, a means of creative expression, and a vehicle for public engagement. The theater events that take place within the department are the means by which students engage with theater performance on the physical, intellectual, and aesthetic levels. It is our hope that you will not only grow as performers but also as artists, thinkers, makers, viewers, researchers, and participants in the whole of the artistic event.
The practical focus of the major is to create theater of all kinds using all its art forms. Whether new to theater or seasoned with years of training and skill, all students receive an education that engages them fully. Your focus may be on acting, dance, technical theater/design, performance studies, or some combination of these. Equally important to us is the study of theater and dance performance theory, history, culture, and literature, thereby balancing the practical with the theoretical. Students engage in other upper division electives in stage management, playwriting, directing, choreography, sound design, scenic design, costume design, or lighting design, as well as a myriad of performance opportunities.
The theater training and academic courses offered by our department are geared toward the student who is interested in learning about theater and performance from multiple perspectives. As either a major or minor in Theater and Performance Studies, you will study with nationally and internationally known faculty, respected for their scholarly research and for their creative work. Our graduates have gone on to professional careers in all theatrical fields and graduate schools all over the world. Our alumni include professional actors on stage and screen, arts journalists, stunt actors, directors, producers, playwrights, and more.
Further departmental opportunities include student-directed theater performances and projects, honors projects, internships in local Bay Area theaters, teaching courses in the department, and invitations to diverse and exciting lectures and performances. Students also have access to world-renowned visiting guest artists through our close relationship with Cal Performances and our extensive network in the field.
Declaring the Major
Most majors declare after taking 2 of their 4 lower division requirements. For more information on this, see the Major Requirements tab on this page.
Honors Program
Majors in the Department of Theater and Performance Studies with an overall GPA of 3.3 in the University may apply to complete an honors project. There are two types of honors projects:
Research & Thesis
Research & Performance
Students should consult with the Undergraduate Academic Advisor and can find more detailed information, including the application, at https://tdps.berkeley.edu/undergrad/honors-projects
Minor Program
The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies offers a minor in Theater and Performance Studies. For further information regarding the minor requirements, please see the Minor Requirements tab on this page.
Transfer students can determine coursework transfers into the minor by bringing unofficial transcripts and course descriptions to the Undergraduate Academic Advisor. A course equivalent to THEATER 10 can transfer from other institutions into the minor. It is rare that another course from a junior college will transfer into the minor because equivalent coursework is seldom found. Since the minor will be from the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies, it is likely students will do most of their minor coursework in the Department.
Declaring the Minor
Most minors declare after taking 1 course in the department. For more information on this, see the Minor Requirements tab on this page.
In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements, listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the below requirements specific to their major program.
General Guidelines
All courses taken to fulfill the major requirements below must be taken for letter-graded credit, other than courses listed which are offered on a Pass/No Pass basis only.
No more than 1 upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters & Science.
A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in both upper and lower division courses used to fulfill the major requirements.
For information regarding residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.
Declaring the Major
Students may declare the major after passing two of the four lower division required courses. Choose 1 course from the practice courses (THEATER 10 or THEATER 14 or THEATER 60) and 1 course from the performance studies courses (THEATER 25AC, THEATER 26, or THEATER 52AC) so you will have experienced both parts of your Theater and Performance Studies Major before declaring. Students will then be required to complete the 2 remaining lower division courses after declaring.
Fundamentals of Acting I (This course is required for students intending to take the acting training sequence. Students who have college credit for an equivalent acting course and who audition into a more advanced level can be considered exempt from Theater 10, with approval.)
Majors must take at least 24 upper-division units in TDPS. Usually three elective courses in addition to the required courses are enough to meet this requirement.
Majors are encouraged to pursue depth in their studies (acting, dance, performance studies, design or technical theater). Elective coursework includes Independent Studies, Honors Projects, Internships, leading a Workshop Project, teaching a DeCal course, and Education Abroad Programs. Please note that "taking" DeCal courses does not count toward your major. Usually completing three elective courses fulfills the requirement of 24 units of upper division TDPS courses.
Transferring Units
A maximum of eight units of equivalent upper division coursework transfer into the major from the Education Abroad Program (EAP), other UCB departments, or other four-year colleges as electives upon departmental approval. All L&S-approved units from other colleges transfer into the student's BA degree but rarely into the Theater and Performance Studies major. Transfer students should bring a copy of previous transcripts/course descriptions to the Undergraduate Academic Advisor for evaluation.
Minor Requirements
Students who have a strong interest in an area of study outside their major often decide to complete a minor program. These programs have set requirements.
General Guidelines
All minors must be declared before the first day of classes in your Expected Graduation Term (EGT). For summer graduates, minors must be declared prior to the first day of Summer Session A.
All upper-division courses must be taken for a letter grade.
A minimum of three of the upper-division courses taken to fulfill the minor requirements must be completed at UC Berkeley.
A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 is required in the upper-division courses to fulfill the minor requirements.
Courses used to fulfill the minor requirements may be applied toward the Seven-Course Breadth requirement, for Letters & Science students.
No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's major and minor programs.
All minor requirements must be completed prior to the last day of finals during the semester in which the student plans to graduate. If students cannot finish all courses required for the minor by that time, they should see a College of Letters & Science adviser.
All minor requirements must be completed within the unit ceiling. (For further information regarding the unit ceiling, please see the College Requirements tab.)
Fundamentals of Acting I (This course is required for students intending to take the acting training sequence. Students who have college credit for an equivalent acting course and who audition into a more advanced level can be considered exempt from Theater 10, with approval.)
Choose a minimum of 4 electives to build a focus in your studies.
Notes
1. A course with the identical course number may only be counted twice in the minor.
2. Transfer Units: It is rare that Community College coursework will transfer into the Theater and Performance Studies Minor because they are lower division. If you have had college-level acting training, generally a Fundamentals of Act I (Theater 10) will transfer in from your Community College. Since your minor will be from this Department, it is likely that you will do most of your minor coursework here. If you have a question about coursework transferring into the minor, bring unofficial transcripts and course descriptions to the Undergraduate Academic Advisor.
College Requirements
Undergraduate students must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.
For a detailed lists of L&S requirements, please see Overview tab to the right in this guide or visit the L&S Degree Requirements webpage. For College advising appointments, please visit the L&S Advising Pages.
All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley and must be taken for a letter grade.
The American History and American Institutions requirements are based on the principle that all U.S. residents who have graduated from an American university should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.
All undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass this campus requirement course in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses are plentiful and offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.
College of Letters & Science Essential Skills Requirements
The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer/data science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course taken for a letter grade.
The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work taken for a letter grade.
In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College of Letters and Science requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete parts A & B reading and composition courses in sequential order by the end of their fourth semester for a letter grade.
College of Letters & Science 7 Course Breadth Requirements
The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.
Unit Requirements
120 total units
Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units
Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department
Residence Requirements
For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes at Cal for four years, or two years for transfer students. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you graduate early, go abroad for a semester or year, or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an L&S College adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.
Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.
Senior Residence Requirement
After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your B.A. degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.
You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.
Modified Senior Residence Requirement
Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP), Berkeley Summer Abroad, or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.
Upper Division Residence Requirement
You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding UCEAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.
Student Learning Goals
Mission
The Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies (TDPS) teaches performance as a mode of critical inquiry, innovation, creativity, knowledge production, and public engagement.
Undergraduate majors and minors are well prepared for the future, both as artists and engaged citizens of the world. At a time when scholars and practitioners across a variety of fields call for more cross-disciplinary intellectual collaboration and project-based learning in higher education, the department takes pride in its daily commitment to collaboration and to the kind of rigorously critical, team-based projects the department develops with its students, staff, and faculty both in the classroom and in its production season.
Vision
Within our active experiential learning spaces, our students develop strong analytical and technical capacities. Our graduates are uniquely equipped to bring a just, creative, interconnected and relational approach to the pressing challenges of our time.
Learning Goals for the Major
Ability to synthesize a well-organized argument from textual or other evidence and to express it in formal written form
Proficiency in research methods (i.e., utilization of public and private archives, libraries, electronic databases, oral histories or textual and performance analysis)
Collaborative skills
Foundational stagecraft and production skills and knowledge (design, craft and technology, stage management, new media)
Literacy in foundational dramatic texts and fundamental concepts of performance theory
Basic history of Euro-American theater practice including issues of race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism in the performing arts
Basic acting technique
Skills
Through upper-division coursework, electives, and capstone experiences students should also possess advanced training in at least one of the following:
Directing
Playwriting
Acting
Design
History/Theory/Literature
Stage Management
New Media
Major Map
Major maps are experience maps that help undergraduates plan their Berkeley journey based on intended major or field of interest. Featuring student opportunities and resources from your college and department as well as across campus, each map includes curated suggestions for planning your studies, engaging outside the classroom, and pursuing your career goals in a timeline format.
Use the major map below to explore potential paths and design your own unique undergraduate experience:
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Reading and composition in connection with the study of dramatic literature. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half. Performance: Writing and Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Satisfaction of the Entry Level Language Requirement
Requirements this course satisfies: Satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 8-10 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Reading and composition in connection with the study of dramatic literature. R1A satisfies the first half of the Reading and Composition requirement, and R1B satisfies the second half. Performance: Writing and Research: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Previously passed an R_A course with a letter grade of C-or better. Previously passed an articulated R_A course with a letter grade of C-or better. Score a 4 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Literature and Composition. Score a 4 or 5 on the Advanced Placement Exam in English Language and Composition. Score of 5, 6, or 7 on the International Baccalaureate Higher Level Examination
Requirements this course satisfies: Satisfies the second half of the Reading and Composition requirement
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2023 Second 6 Week Session, Summer 2022 Second 6 Week Session
Students will learn to present themselves and material clearly, confidently, and persuasively, using age-old arts of oral communication. They will learn techniques for overcoming stage fright, developing clear enunciation, finding and using their natural, unaffected vocal register, varying tone and intonation to hold audience interest, controlling pacing, moving with assurance and purpose, using appropriate gestures, and eye contact as well as exploring methods to change behaviors that bar effective communication and structure speeches to maximize persuasiveness.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session
Fundamentals of Acting I (Theater 10) is the entry level course for the acting sequence and focuses on releasing and cultivating the actor’s inherent creativity. Through exercises, improvisation, scenes, and monologues, the actor begins to develop basic techniques designed to stimulate the imagination, develop vocal and physical ability, increase awareness of self and others, introduce effective ways to analyze texts, think critically about the craft of acting, and enhance self-confidence and communication skills. This class is the essential beginning of the actor’s studies, which will ultimately allow her or him to effectively engage and explore work from a rich diversity of genres, styles, and backgrounds. Fundamentals of Acting I: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Audition required, sign up before start of the semester
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 15 hours of studio per week 8 weeks - 12 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Spring 2024
Workshop involving performers in collaborative development of new performance; topics include cross-disciplinary arts, solo performance, language, and movement. Performance Workshop: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of session per week
Summer: 3 weeks - 30 hours of session per week 6 weeks - 15 hours of session per week 8 weeks - 12 hours of session per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).
Terms offered: Fall 2018, Fall 2015
Course provides a critical introduction to both London and its theatre for first year undergraduate students. The course, which is part of a university study abroad program, examines the production of current theatre and performance in the city with an emphasis on staged performance backed up by selected critical and creative texts. Alongside these artistic acts students will be introduced to ways in which the city of London itself is a landscape of continuous performances, ceremonies and events with institutions such as the Royal Courts of Justice, the Lord Mayor’s Show, and the Houses of Parliament, all worthy of close attention for the way they operate through means of performance. London: Theater Capital: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: Advance writing skills bridging school to college expectations
Develop skills in critical thinking with regard to cultural practices and producers
Learn to collaborate on shared academic work for formal presentation
Orientate themselves in a world capital while understanding its performance history
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2017, Fall 2016, Fall 2015
The Berkeley Seminar Program has been designed to provide new students with the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member in a small-seminar setting. Berkeley Seminars are offered in all campus departments, and topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Freshman Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1 hour of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final Exam To be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
This course provides an introduction to theater through the study of values and issues fundamental to cultural identity, the comparison of selected cultural groups and their relationship to American society as a whole, and the study of drama as an instrument for understanding and expressing cultural identity. Theater of specific cultural groups to be included will be determined by the availability of live theater productions offered on campus and in the Bay Area. The Drama of American Cultures: An Introduction to Our Theater: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture and 2.5 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 5.5 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
This course introduces the critical terms and practices of the contemporary study of performance. Several key terms and important genres of artistic and social performance will be engaged; the course will draw critical and disciplinary methods from anthropology and ethnography, from the theory of dance and theater, from literary and cultural theory. Critical and theoretical concepts will be used to analyze a wide range of live and recorded performances, as well as performance texts. Introduction to Performance Studies: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2019, Fall 2017, Spring 2017
Freshman and sophomore seminars offer lower division students the opportunity to explore an intellectual topic with a faculty member and a group of peers in a small-seminar setting. These seminars are offered in all campus departments; topics vary from department to department and from semester to semester. Freshman/Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Priority given to freshmen and sophomores
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1.5-3 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final Exam To be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Introduction to dance techniques. Study of foundational concepts of movement such as: principles of alignment, locomotion, dance terminology, and musicality.
Prerequisites: Interested students must attend a placement class on the first day of class
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: May be repeated if topic changes. And may not be taken more than 2 times with the same instructor.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Introduction to African dance techniques found within Hip Hop and African American dance genres. Focus on footwork/patterns, articulation of spine/isolations, rhythmic structures, dynamic movement qualities, and the study of the historical, political, spiritual, and social aspects of these forms.
Prerequisites: Interested students must attend a placement class on the first day of class
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: May be repeated if topic changes. And may not be taken more than 2 times with the same instructor.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Dance as a meaning-making expressive form. Develop the tools necessary for looking at dance, analyzing it, writing about it, and understanding its place in larger social, cultural, political structures. We will look at a variety of U.S. American dance genres, understanding them through their historical and cultural contexts, to explore how issues of race, gender, sexuality and class affect the practice and the reception of different dance forms, and how dance might help shape representations of these identities. Ethnic groups that the course studies include African, Asian, and European Americans, indigenous peoples of the U.S., and Chicanos/Latinos. Accessible to students with no dance experience. Not a studio-based class. Dance in American Cultures: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5 hours of lecture and 2.5 hours of discussion per week 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
A practical introduction to the terminology, theories, approaches, and techniques of technical theater and production. The course will cover theatrical terminology, stage equipment and architecture, production personnel and processes, and design departments, including scenery, properties, costumes, lighting, sound, and video.
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Spring 2020, Fall 2019
Topics vary from semester to semester and have included The Power of Music and Poetry in the Theater; Modern Drama and Theater, 1940 to the Present; Theaters, Tricksters, and Cultural Exchange; Art as Social Action; and The Invisible World (Process Seminar). Special Topics: Theater Arts: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 3-10 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 2-6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Fall 2016, Fall 2013, Fall 2012
Sophomore seminars are small interactive courses offered by faculty members in departments all across the campus. Sophomore seminars offer opportunity for close, regular intellectual contact between faculty members and students in the crucial second year. The topics vary from department to department and semester to semester. Enrollment limited to 15 sophomores. Sophomore Seminar: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: At discretion of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 5 weeks - 3-6 hours of seminar per week 10 weeks - 1.5-3 hours of seminar per week 15 weeks - 1-2 hours of seminar per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 2.5-5 hours of seminar per week 8 weeks - 2-4 hours of seminar per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: The grading option will be decided by the instructor when the class is offered. Final Exam To be decided by the instructor when the class is offered.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Group study of a topic not included in the regular department curriculum. Topics may be initiated by students. Directed Group Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Credit Restrictions: Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 0.5-5 hours of directed group study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2023, Spring 2023
Study of a topic not included in the regular department curriculum. Independent Study: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Open to sophomore students with an overall grade point average of 3.3
Credit Restrictions: Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-15 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2022
This is a project-based class in collaborative innovation where students experience group creativity and team-based design by using techniques from across the disciplines of business, theatre, design, and art practice. They will leverage problem framing and solving techniques derived from critical thinking, systems thinking, and creative problem solving (popularly known today as design thinking). The course is grounded in a brief weekly lecture that sets out the theoretical, historical, and cultural contexts for particular innovation practices, but the majority of the class involves hands-on studio-based learning guided by an interdisciplinary team of teachers leading small group collaborative projects.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Students will learn to present themselves and material clearly, confidently, and persuasively, using age old arts of oral communication. They will learn techniques for overcoming stage fright, developing clear enunciation, finding and using their natural, unaffected vocal register, varying tone and intonation to hold audience interest, controlling pacing, moving with assurance and purpose, using appropriate gestures, and eye contact as well as exploring methods to change behaviors that bar effective communication and structure speeches to maximize persuasiveness. Public Speaking and Communication: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Students will authentically and creatively express their personal identities through different methods of oral communication. Students will explore different genres of oral expression in order to strengthen their ability to use their voices to advocate, lead, and engage with the public. Students will improve their self-confidence, comfort with vulnerability, and sense of connection to others through public speaking. This course is designed to help students analyze and reflect on how they express themselves, connect with others, and use their voices in service of improving the world around them. By exploring public speaking techniques in the context of a range of persuasive and creative styles, students will find an entry point to effectively communicate what they care about. Throughout the course, students will have multiple opportunities to learn different techniques, apply them in practice sessions, receive quality coaching, and perform in a safe, supportive environment. Work is largely designed to be completed during class time, with multiple practice opportunities to increase confidence and comfort before class performances.
Student Learning Outcomes: Clearly and effectively structure and present content in a clear and compelling way
• Utilize voice, stress coping strategies, and movement to effectively engage an audience
• Practice strategies for listening and connecting to the presentations and performances of others
• Use rhetoric to persuade and advocate for a position
Explore how public speaking can be used to express identities through performances
• Craft engaging stories that communicate values, interests, vulnerabilities, and personal growth
• Communicate their best selves and connect with others in high-stress situations, everyday conversations, and podcasts
Practice giving quality feedback and enacting feedback from others to improve oral expression.
Reflect on personal growth and overcome fears and anxieties around public speaking.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: - 1 Undergraduate Course in your Major - Or, instructor approval
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 15 hours of studio per week 8 weeks - 12 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
Movement for Actors explores the kinesthetic relationship of the actor to the physical reality of the stage; focus is given to increasing the individual performer’s awareness, range, physical freedom, and artistic expressiveness. The individual actor will work toward developing a grounded relationship to the surrounding environment while having an ability to work from an active center. Throughout the semester, students will explore the principles of ensemble building and rigorous actor training through the study of significant movement-theater artists.
Prerequisite: Theater 10 or 14.
Interviews will be conducted on the first day of class for admittance; there will be a movement component to this interview process. Movement for Actors: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Develop body awareness and efficient movement practices. Study significant movement-based theater artists whose research is grounded in physical theater. Train each student in a set of tools they can apply to all of their performance-based work. Work on ensemble movement studies.
Student Learning Outcomes: Students learn how to use their bodies as generative sites for creativity and imagination.
Students learn how to physicalize the characters they play on the stage.
Students will become more confident in their posture and physical presentation.
Students will learn to work in solo, duet and ensemble movement compositions.
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Theater 10 or 14 is a prerequisite
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 15 hours of studio per week 8 weeks - 12 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2013, Fall 2012, Spring 2011
Reading and discussion of Ibsen's major plays. Readings and discussion in English. Plays of Ibsen: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 8 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2014, Spring 2012, Spring 2009
Reading and discussion of Strindberg's major works; emphasis on his dramas and their significance. Readings and discussion in English. Strindberg: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Fundamentals of Acting II (Theater 109) continues working with and expands upon basic concepts introduced in Fundamentals of Acting I (Theater 10). Through exercises, improvisation, scenes, and monologues, the actor works toward the goal of increasing range, depth, and flexibility; students work on more complex texts which require in-depth research and stronger imagination to inhabit. Fundamentals of Acting II: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Theater 10 or equivalent. Audition required, sign up before start of the semester
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
While continuing the work begun in Fundamentals of Acting I and II (Theater 10 and 109), Scene Study and Style focuses on the actor’s relationship with multiple genres and forms of drama; increased focus is given to the specific demands and responsibilities of performing with heightened language and the complexities of characterization and style; emphasis is also given to achieving an understanding of dramatic action, developing technical proficiency and clarity, attaining emotional availability, and cultivating an enriched relationship with text. Through exercises, improvisation, scenes, and monologues, the actor learns how to transform intuitive creativity into performative excellence. Intermediate Acting: Scene Study and Style: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Theater 10 and 109 or equivalent of each. Audition also required, sign up before start of the semester
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for THEATER 110A after completing DRM ART 110A.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
While continuing work begun in Theater 10 & 109, 110B focuses on the actor’s relationship with complex language. The course draws upon the world canon, from ancient to contemporary work and including both dramatic and narrative traditions, to consider the unique challenges and rewards of performing elevated text. Characterization, dramatic action, technical proficiency and clarity, attaining emotional availability, & cultivating an enriched relationship with text are also explored. Through exercises, improvisation, scenes, & monologues, the actor learns how to transform intuitive creativity & complex language into performative excellence. Intermediate Acting: The Power of Language: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Theater 10 and 109 or equivalent of each. Audition also required, sign up before start of the semester
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for THEATER 110B after completing DRM ART 110B.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Advanced Acting Studio (Theater 111) finishes the acting technique progression that begins with Fundamentals of Acting I (Theater 10). Through scene-work, monologues, and exercises, the actor stretches and strengthens acting techniques, voice, movement, and speech; particular attention is given to character development and style; students also develop classical and contemporary audition material. Advanced Acting Studio: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Theater 10, 109, 110A & 110B or equivalent of each. Audition also required, sign up before start of the semester
Credit Restrictions: Students will receive no credit for THEATER 111 after completing DRM ART 111.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: Course may be repeated once with instructor's consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
Voice and Speech works to strengthen, support, and develop the natural voice through practice on basic relaxation techniques, breath, resonance, articulation, and presence. The course explores the voice through a variety of texts and uses the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA-narrow transcription) to enhance range, clarity of speech, and to prepare students for beginning work in dialect. Voice and Speech: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor. Students must attend the first class for interview and admission into the course
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 15 hours of studio per week 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week 10 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Summer 2005 10 Week Session, Summer 2004 10 Week Session, Summer 2003 10 Week Session
This course will explore what is involved in the performer's art through class participation, writing, discussion, and final exam. It includes lectures on classical and contemporary theater, acting training, literature study, and attendance at many professional theater performances. Enrollment is open to all applicants without audition, and the performance aspects of the class will be responsive to the skill level of the students who enroll. International Performance and Literature: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Summer: 6 weeks - 20 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course will explore what is involved in the performer's art through class participation, writing, discussion, and final exam. It includes lectures on classical and contemporary theater, acting training, literature study, and attendance at many professional theater performances. Enrollment is open to all applicants without audition, and the performance aspects of the class will be responsive to the skill level of the students who enroll. International Performance and Literature: Irish Theater: Origins and the Contemporary Scene: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with instructor consent.
Hours & Format
Summer: 6 weeks - 20 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Summer 2019 Second 6 Week Session
The course is an immersive 6-week performance cultural experience in Brazil rooted in social justice and black feminist pedagogy. Students will become familiar with histories and contemporary debates of performance of the African diaspora. No previous performance or language experience is required. The focus will be on the movement and vocabularies of the Candomblé tradition with some exposure to music, film, and literature.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2022, Spring 2022
Advanced performance workshop with research including performance-based methodology, theory, and analytical research skills in developing written and performance works. Topics include cross-disciplinary arts, dramaturgy, and collaborative practice. Performance Research Workshop: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of session per week
Summer: 3 weeks - 30 hours of session per week 6 weeks - 15 hours of session per week 8 weeks - 12 hours of session per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2011, Spring 2009
Intensive group study, rehearsal, and performance of a play or selected dramatic pieces. Advanced Acting: Company Class: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 110A-110B or 111 or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Summer 2022 8 Week Session, Summer 2019 8 Week Session, Summer 2018 8 Week Session
How might we characterize California? Who lives here & what are the stories we tell about them? This course takes California as the site through which to explore how cultural systems of performance help shape social systems of race, considering the role performance forms–theater, film, tourism, pageants, political protests–have played in shaping California’s unique cultural and racial topography. From the theatricalization of Chinatown in Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song to that of urban riots in Twilight, from the staging of Latinx farmworker’s rights to those of post-war African American workers of the Great Migration, performance strategies have been used by a variety of agents towards a range of social & political goals. California Stories: Theatrical Representations of Race, Labor, and Tourism: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Identify key themes of those performances Observe and analyze contemporary racial dynamics in California Analyze plays, films, and para-theatrical performances for how they contribute to those racial structures Articulate California’s historical and contemporary racial dynamics Understand the interplay between different forms of performance – theater, tourism, political protest – in the process of racial formation
Hours & Format
Summer: 8 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Summer 2024 8 Week Session, Summer 2023 8 Week Session, Summer 2022 8 Week Session
This course examines the intersections of performance and media--specifically the media forms of television and social media in the U.S.--with a focus on how various types of difference (race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic class) are enacted, articulated, represented, and played on TV and social media platforms. Performance, Television, and Social Media: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Student Learning Outcomes: ●
Be able to articulate thoughtful, informed insights and opinions about historical and contemporary television and social media both verbally and in writing
●
Be able to use course readings to critically think about media and new media
●
Become a well-educated observer and analyst of current trends and shifts in media and new media
●
Become knowledgeable about the core scholarly literature and key concepts and theories of performance studies, media studies, new media studies, critical race studies, and gender studies, particularly theories pertinent to the cultural forms of television and social media
●
Build the necessary foundational skills for careers in media research, scholarship, and teaching, and/or professions in the media and new media industries.
●
Develop critical media literacies, i.e., the analytical tools and vocabularies for identifying and articulating how difference and diversity (especially race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, and socioeconomic class) are depicted and enacted in television and social media
●
Gain a deep understanding of how mass media and social media have influenced widespread perceptions, stereotypes, and definitions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic class, and how minority groups have historically protested or otherwise sought to alter media (mis-)representations of them
●
Learn to apply core concepts of Marxist cultural studies to analyze media phenomena
Hours & Format
Summer: 8 weeks - 4 hours of lecture and 2 hours of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2023
An examination of a theoretical topic or perspective on performance, with specific attention to the interface between theoretical endeavor and dramatic, nondramatic, and nontheatrical modes of performance; may involve visiting artists. Topics vary from semester to semester. Performance Theory: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2023
An examination of performance as an aspect of cultural production, ranging from everyday-life enactment to more formal or aesthetic activities associated with "artistic" production; may involve visiting artists. Specific attention to the methods of ethnography, cultural studies, and intercultural performance analysis. Topics vary from semester to semester. Performance and Culture: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Fall 2023
An examination of the historical conditions of performance, either given in a historical period or comparatively, with specific attention to the relationship between methods of historical studies and performance; may involve visiting artists. Topics vary from semester to semester. Performance and History: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2016
An examination of the historical conditions of performance, either given in a historical period or comparatively, with specific attention to the relationship between methods of historical studies and performance; may involve visiting artists. Topics vary from semester to semester. Performance and History: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture and 1 hour of discussion per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Fall 2021, Spring 2021
An examination of the formal, ideological, and cultural dynamics of drama, with specific attention to the relationship between methods of literary studies and performance; may involve visiting artists. Topics vary from semester to semester. Performance Literatures: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
A practical course for beginning playwrights. Through lecture, exercises, in class readings and group discussion, the class will explore the practical craft elements of playwriting along with the function of personal voice in one’s work. Students will write one short and one longer form play during the semester. Fundamentals of Playwriting: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: To be considered for the course, submit a sample of creative writing (up to five pages) to the instructor by August 15 for Fall or Dec 15 for Spring (mailbox located in 101 Dwinelle Annex). Include your name, year, major, phone number, and email address
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2024, Spring 2023, Spring 2022
This course will focus on the writing of a full-length theatrical work. A more critical analysis of the playwriting process with particular emphasis on how a playwright’s aesthetic and intellectual point of view inform the work. Instructor approval is a requirement for the course. Playwriting: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: To be considered for the course, submit a sample of creative writing (up to five pages) to the instructor by August 15 for Fall or Dec 15 for Spring (mailbox located in 101 Dwinelle Annex). Include your name, year, major, phone number, and email address
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 6 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2015
Introduces students to foundational principles necessary to teach practice-based courses that involve movement, dance, and/or physical activity and expression. Designed for undergraduate students interested in pursuing teaching. Students should be prepared to engage in practical exercises as well as the study pedagogical theories and methods. Pedagogy for Movement Based Classes - Undergraduate Level: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit with advisor consent.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 15 hours of studio per week 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Continued development of dance techniques. Study of body articulation and control utilizing concepts of time, space, and dynamics. Intermediate Modern Dance Technique: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Interested students must attend audition on first day of class
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: May be repeated if topic changes. And may not be taken more than 2 times with the same instructor.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Refinement of dance techniques as well as qualitative analysis and demonstration of movement with an emphasis on rhythm, dynamics, and style.
Prerequisites: Interested students must attend audition on the first day of class
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: May be repeated if topic changes. And may not be taken more than 2 times with the same instructor.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Spring 2015, Spring 2014
Practical application of previously studied theory and techniques of dance with an emphasis on development of individual movement style. Practicum for Advanced Modern Dancers: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Interested students must attend audition on the first day of class
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: May be repeated if topic changes. And may not be taken more than 2 times with the same instructor.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 7.5 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Beginning application of dance technique as a means of communication in the theatre. Use of basic technical fundamentals as a means of extending natural movement in rhythm, energy, and space with emphasis on style and qualitative analysis. Sources of Movement: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 40A-40B, or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2020
Continued study of African dance found within Hip Hop and African American dance genres. Continued, and deepening, focus on footwork/patterns, articulation of spine/isolations, rhythmic structures, dynamic movement qualities, and the historical, political, spiritual, and social aspects of these forms.
Prerequisites: Interested students must attend audition on first day of class
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit under special circumstances: May be repeated if topic changes. And may not be taken more than 2 times with the same instructor.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Analysis of choreographic theories of form and structure and their practical application within solo and duet compositions Choreography: Solo/Duet Showcase: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2023, Spring 2021
Analysis of choreographic theories of form and structure and their practical application within group compositions. Choreography: Compositional Study: Read More [+]
Terms offered: Fall 2015, Fall 2014
This course is designed for contemporary/modern dancers interested in learning ballet vocabulary, technique, and alignment principles in order to support their contemporary/modern training. The course is intended to be taken in conjunction with one of the modern/contemporary dance technique courses offered by TDPS (40, 141, or 142). Beginning level. Audition first day of class. Beginning Ballet Technique: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Interested students must attend audition on first day of class
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4-4 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Prior to 2007
This course is designed for contemporary/modern dancers interested in expanding their ballet vocabulary, improving ballet technique, and learning new approaches to taking ballet class. The course is intended to be taken in conjunction with one of the modern/contemporary dance technique courses offered by TDPS (40, 141, or 142) and requires that students have intermediate (or above) proficiency with ballet technique. Audition first day of class. Intermediate Ballet Technique: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Interested students must attend audition on first day of class
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4-4 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 10 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
This course is an introduction to the foundational principles of movement improvisation. Through guided movement exercises and experiences, readings, discussions, observations, and journaling students will broaden their ability to move expressively and in the moment. They will learn skills that explore concepts of time, space, energy, shape and dynamics. The course will develop students’ choreographic tools and performance abilities, and it will challenge students to take creative risks. The readings will allow for critical and historical understandings of dance improvisation and how improvisation has impacted choreographic trends.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024
This course examines a breadth of performance traditions from across the globe and from across the ages as they depart from, challenge, and influence each other as well as helping to shape the performances of today. How did religious beliefs, economic structures, social and kinship relations, or political histories produce the different shapes that performances have taken over the years and around the world? How did different communities and individuals understand performance as a way to remember, reflect, or change their societies? Students will learn how various performance forms responded to and were in dialogue with particular historical events. They will also develop historical and critical approaches to performance traditions. Foundations in Performance History: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit when topic changes.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Fall 2021, Fall 2020, Fall 2019
This history survey course examines performance’s role in mass movements: of politics, of religion, of revolution, and of the creation of communities around nations, traditions, or cultures.The course will explore a cluster of different theater/performance traditions, both Western and non-Western. Using a comparative methodology rather than cumulative one, students learn to appreciate the diversity of theater and performance strategies and traditions while at the same time understanding how similar questions and explorations have haunted performers across continents and across centuries.
Terms offered: Spring 2023, Spring 2022, Spring 2019
This history survey course examines different performance traditions from across the globe as they depart from, challenge, and influence each other. How did peoples on each continent theorize the role of performance in their society, and what did these theories look like when they were put into practice on the stage, in the temple, or in the town square? How did the forces of trade, migration, settler-colonialism, and tourism influence the sharing (and stealing) of these traditions across cultures and continents? And how do these different views of performance challenge our understandings of what truth is and how the theater can or should represent it? (Students do not need to have taken TDPS 151a to enroll in this class.) Histories of Performance: Performance and Globalization: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2022, Spring 2021
The course introduces students to the creative/collaborative process of design for theater, dance, & performance production, and is an overview of both the history of design for the stage and basic design theory. Specific theater design fields, including scenic, costume, & lighting design are explored to create a vocabulary for the discussion, appreciation, participation & evaluation of theatrical design. The course also covers the collaborative processes involved in designing for performance. It is a project-based class, and course work consists of engaging with readings, lecture material, research, critical analysis, and rendering with basic digital tools and physical prototyping. Design for Performance: Read More [+]
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022
Beginning study of principles of stage composition, blocking, and analysis of dramatic texts for the director. Fundamentals of Stage Directing: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 10 or 120; Junior standing and consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 4 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Topics vary from semester to semester and have included The Power of Music and Poetry in the Theater; Modern Drama and Theater, 1940 to the Present; Theaters, Tricksters, and Cultural Exchange; Art as Social Action; and The Invisible World (Process Seminar). Special Topics: Theater Arts: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-6 hours of lecture per week
Summer: 3 weeks - 5-15 hours of lecture per week 6 weeks - 2.5-7.5 hours of lecture per week 8 weeks - 3-10 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Participation in technical theater practice associated with department theater and dance productions to include technical run crew for live performance in one of: lighting, sound, video, properties, costumes, make-up, scenery, deck, and rail. Technical Theater: Performance Practice: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 60 or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Participation in technical theater practice associated with department theater and dance productions to include workshop activities (fabrication, treatment, and installation) in one or more of: costumes, hair, make-up, scenery, properties, lighting, video, and sound for live performance. Technical Theater: Shop Practice: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Theater 60 must be completed or in progress at time of enrollment, or taken concurrently with Theater 168; or Consent of Instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Participation in advanced technical theater practice associated with department theater and dance productions to include lead, head, or coordinator position with technical run crew for live performance in one of: lighting, sound, video, properties, costumes, make-up, scenery, deck, rail, or advanced application of workshop activities (fabrication, treatment, and installation) in one or more of: costumes, hair, make-up, scenery, properties, lighting, video, and sound for live performance. Intended for a student who has completed introductory level application of theater practice and is training in advanced techniques and applications and/or assuming additional responsibilities in relation to production. Advanced Technical Theater Practice: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 60, 167, 168, 176, and 179 or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of laboratory per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
Study of production techniques and procedures related to production management, stage management, and theater administration. Stage Management: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites:THEATER 60 or equivalent training or experience for transfer and exchange students
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-4.5 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
This introductory course teaches some fundamentals of scenic design. Design for live performance will be approached as an integration of all the performative tools – text, visuals, sound, space, kinetics, etc – with particular focus in this class on the overall scenographic environment. Through personal development and group explorations students will be given basic conceptual and art-making tools allowing them to evolve, communicate and realize scenic and environmental solutions. Previous art training is helpful but not essential. The student must provide most art supplies. The final evaluation will include a presentation in lieu of an exam.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 3 times.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Fall 2024, Spring 2024
This studio class explores some fundamental approaches and techniques for designing costume. Performance design will be approached as a product of all the performative tools and contexts – text, visuals, sound, space, kinetics, etc – with particular focus for this class on the scenographic role of the performer. Through personal expression and collaborative investigation students will be given some basic tools allowing them to conceptualize, communicate and realize costumes. Previous art training is helpful but not essential. The student must provide most art supplies. The final evaluation will include a presentation in lieu of an exam. Scenography: Costume Design for Performance: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit up to a total of 3 times.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Fall 2023, Fall 2022 THEATER 175A will introduce you to the tools, terms, and techniques of stage lighting through lectures and practical application. Working as part of a production crew (an additional 45 hours outside of class) will demonstrate the practice of stage lighting. Class lectures and workshops augment the production experience. They will cover descriptions, explanations, and demonstrations of lighting concepts and equipment, and the initial elements of design.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2024, Spring 2023
This is the second of two classes in stage lighting design and execution. In THEATER 175B you will study the design and execution of stage lighting from the visualization of the initial concept through the realization of that concept on stage. The course is divided into four segments. Review the foundational information about stage lighting. Develop a Production Proposal, for ROMEO & JULIET, analyze the material and present a proposal for a production of R&J. Design a repertory light plot by drafting the plot with VectorWorks Spotlight, a CAD program for stage lighting.
Finally, in the Lighting Project, you will work with the BDP light plot in the Playhouse, creating light cues for music of your choice.
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021
Students of technical theater design (possible specializations: lighting, set, costume, sound, video) are provided experience, structure, and support in the practical application of design to the stage in departmental productions. Interaction and team approach of the designers will be promoted from the earliest stages of conceptualization through the opening night and the run of the production(s).
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session, Fall 2023
In this course, undergraduate students will learn to construct sound cues and soundtracks for theater performances and videos using industry standard software, and will learn fundamental principles of incorporating video and sound into stage productions. Students will be exposed to the writings and works of prominent sound theorists, designers, and engineers and multimedia performance artists. The most successful students may be invited to participate in UC Berkeley theater productions as sound designers. Sound Design for Performance: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternate method of final assessment during regularly scheduled final exam group (e.g., presentation, final project, etc.).
Terms offered: Spring 2018, Spring 2016, Spring 2015
Video Production for Performance is a workshop class in which students will explore a broad range of video applications to performance. Through a series of exercise video shoots students learn the fundamentals of video production, including basic optics, camera angles and movement, sound recording, and editing. With an additional emphasis on concept and planning, students prepare for and execute a sustained video project—a detailed documentation of a staged performance, the development of a video component for a production, a documentary study of aspects of performance, or the generation of a freestanding video program. There is a lab fee of $60 for use of equipment and editing lab. Video Production for Performance: Read More [+]
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 6 hours of studio per week
Summer: 8 weeks - 12 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021
Students are trained in the working methods of set or costume design; supervised preparation and implementation of designs in the department's production season, from initial discussions through opening night. Supervised Theatrical Design: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 173 or 174 or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-12 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2022, Fall 2021, Spring 2021
This course relates choreography to theatrical presentation. Laboratory hours are spent in attendance at rehearsal, coaching sessions, and the performance of the dance concert. The course is taught by faculty choreographing the major dance production in the departmental season. Theatrical Realization of Dance: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Audition or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2022, Fall 2021
This course relates dramatic texts or choreography to theatrical presentation. The lectures are based on the analysis of the work being presented. Laboratory hours are spent in attendance at rehearsal, coaching sessions, and the performance of the play or concert. The course will be taught by faculty involved in the major productions. Theatrical Realization of Dramatic Texts: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Audition or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction. Students may enroll in multiple sections of this course within the same semester.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-3 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Spring 2016, Fall 2003
Introduction to the Research-to Performance Method, African American aesthetics and dramatic performance techniques. Course will survey wide range of writings on performance and investigate applications through exercises and improvisations. Students will also assist in information gathering for works in progress. Performance: An African American Perspective: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 1A or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2007
Development of scholarly material for theatrical presentation and enhancement of dramatic performance techniques through discussions, improvisations and readings of work conceived by the class and/or writers in other African American Studies courses. All source material will be based on the research of scholars in the field of African American Studies. Research-to-Performance Laboratory: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 143A or consent of instructor
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Spring 2025, Spring 2011, Spring 2004
Study and production of a play by an African American writer. The play will be studied within its social and historical context. Students will be introduced to the various aspects of theatre production. Black Theatre Workshop: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: 143A or equivalent or consent of instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam required.
Terms offered: Summer 2024 Second 6 Week Session
The course examines performance as a primary mode of human expression, communication, & cultural production. Through viewing live & recorded performances, readings, movement/theater exercises, discussions, & written responses to performances, students will learn to place performance in a variety of cultural, artistic & historical contexts. Live performances viewed by the class will vary each term, dependent upon the offerings of prominent Bay Area Theater/Dance companies. Theater directors, choreographers, performers, & curators will give presentations & share their perspectives on related course material. No prior experience with performance required. Performance Appreciation: Read More [+]
Objectives & Outcomes
Course Objectives: Appreciate the cultural importance of theatrical performance. Explore how influences such as ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and economic class shape the experience of theatrical performance in the United States.
Explore the collaborative processes that are utilized to make performance.
Gain an overview of the theory/history that informs theatrical performance.
Learn to write and speak critically about live performance.
Student Learning Outcomes: Students analyze performance from multiple perspectives.
Students communicate clearly and effectively in written and oral forms.
Students demonstrate competence in the terminology, concepts, theories and methodologies covered in class.
Hours & Format
Summer: 6 weeks - 10 hours of lecture per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Independent study and conferences with faculty sponsor leading to preparation of a major research paper on a single aspect of theater, dance, or performance studies. May include a performance component. Honors Course: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Honors status in the Department of Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies. Theater production projects also require 60 and 162; dance production projects also require 60 and 146B
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-12 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Development of subject studied in H195A, either as a bachelor's thesis or a laboratory project in acting, directing, playwriting, design, or dance. Honors Course: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Honors status in the Department of Dramatic Art; successful completion of H195A and consent of production chair if performance is involved
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-12 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Final exam not required.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Individual directorial projects for advanced undergraduates. Research, tryout, callbacks, and rehearsals which result in performing for the public will average 20 hours per week. University Theater Workshop: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Department approval; theater projects also require 60 and 162; dance projects also require 60 and 146B
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 1-4 hours of studio per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Letter grade. Alternative to final exam.
Terms offered: Fall 2024, Spring 2024, Fall 2023
Supervised experience, in connection with theatrical production in field of: scenic construction; costume construction and conservation; theatrical lighting; stage management; publicity; theatre management; production management. Field Studies in Theater: Read More [+]
Rules & Requirements
Prerequisites: Consent of Instructor
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-12 hours of fieldwork per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5-30 hours of fieldwork per week 8 weeks - 5.5-22.5 hours of fieldwork per week 10 weeks - 4.5-18 hours of fieldwork per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
Prerequisites: Eight or more units in the Department of Dramatic Art, with an average grade of B. Restricted to honor students
Credit Restrictions: Enrollment is restricted; see the Introduction to Courses and Curricula section of this catalog.
Repeat rules: Course may be repeated for credit without restriction.
Hours & Format
Fall and/or spring: 15 weeks - 3-9 hours of independent study per week
Summer: 6 weeks - 7.5-22.5 hours of independent study per week 8 weeks - 5.5-16.5 hours of independent study per week 10 weeks - 4.5-13.5 hours of independent study per week
Additional Details
Subject/Course Level: Theater, Dance, and Performance St/Undergraduate
Grading/Final exam status: Offered for pass/not pass grade only. Final exam not required.
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