Focuses on the development and consolidation of choreographic and performance skills.
Prerequisite: Any 30 points at Stage I in Dance Studies
To develop an understanding of our moving bodies through movement awareness, dance improvisation, choreography and creative and analytic writing. Students will undertake both theoretical and practical classes focusing on a range of practices that dancers and movement practitioners use to facilitate kinaesthetic awareness, experimentation, communication and choreography. Students will explore somatic theory and practice, improvisation scores, choreography and dance analysis.
Note: This course has very limited enrolment availability. It is recommended that students apply early and have a second choice course option.
A practical and theoretical overview of the fundamental written and aural skills required for music literacy. This course prepares students for MUS 104 and further university-level study and practice in music.
This course aims to provide students with foundational knowledge and skills in the areas of music theory, and practice in aural perception and active listening. This will enable the student to begin developing the musicianship and notation skills necessary for all musical disciplines. Topics include:
- melody (key signatures, scales and intervals)
- rhythm (time signature, metre and note grouping)
- harmony (triads and 7th chords, simple harmonisation)
- aural perception and musicianship
Practical and theoretical introduction to performing cultures of the Pacific with emphasis on Polynesian cultures. Basic music and dance skills are taught in practical instruction. Consideration of commonalities and differences among Pacific cultures. Academic discussion of styles, instruments, performer categories and the place of the performing arts in Pacific cultures.
This course is an introduction to embodied cultural practices in the Pacific, with a specific focus on parts of Melanesia and Polynesia. This course will explore some of the ways in which Pacific dance and music have transformed over time under the influence of colonisation, Christianity, commodification, and migration.
An introduction to New Zealand’s home-grown popular music, from the 1950s to the present day. A broad range of musical styles will be considered and situated within various social contexts. The issue of cultural identity in music – at national and local levels – will also be explored.
This course explores the social interplay between popular music and American society, emphasizing how musical trends reflect and influence broader social shifts. From the rise of jazz and rock to the cultural impact of hip-hop and electronic music, students will examine how music shapes and is shaped by issues of class, race, gender, and identity. Topics include the commodification of music, the evolution of music marketing, and the political and cultural movements intertwined with musical expression. Practically, students will study music’s production, consumption, and societal role through listening sessions, song discussions, and by completing our own mini-research project.
In satisfaction of GEOs 2 & 5, the course will also address how data has been processed, analyzed, and distributed in the past and present. We will examine contemporary transformations in music brought about by artificial intelligence and big data. Students will learn how these technologies are reshaping how music is created, distributed, and experienced, and consider their implications for the future of both music and society.
Projects in acting for television, video, and film.
Exploration of techniques, methods, and process of music production and larger issues in art of making music. Students learn how to foster and capture performance and emotion in music through variety of methods and tools, including artistic direction in studio and choices made in sound, arrangement, and application of technology.
Beginning-level study of ballet as movement practice.
Beginning-level study of variable movement practices.
Learning and employment of craft of songwriting. Examination, analysis, and implementation of song structure, lyric and melody writing, arranging, orchestrating, and recording techniques. Evolution of songwriting in modern society since advent of phonograph player/radio; how songs and society affect and reflect one another; how this has informed songs and songwriters.
Introduction to current music industry. Overview of career paths, monetization strategies, organizational behavior, and entrepreneurial thinking. Designed to serve as gateway for music industry degree programs. Students familiarize themselves with basic functions of industry that are covered in greater detail in upper-division coursework.
Songwriting workshop and guided-research practice that offers structure for collaborative development of new compositions designed to offer enhanced therapeutic benefit to listeners and participants. Study is rooted in transdisciplinary scholarship, orienting itself toward archives, research, and literature that study healing strategies drawn from diverse range of music-based creative and therapeutic practices. Open to students from all fields related to human health including dance, education, music, music therapy, neuroscience, psychology, public health, and other allied disciplines.
Voice instruction for singers at beginning to intermediate level. Exploration of fundamentals of vocal technique, including overview of basics of proper breath control, resonance, care of voice, diction, and interpretation. Beginning vocal repertoire used as vehicle for understanding these concepts.
Pre-requisite: English Composition 3 or 3H or English as a Second Language 36.
Emphasis on learning specific skills, incorporating technical description, historical contextualization, subjective reaction, and certain stylistic conventions necessary in writing about music. Satisfies Writing II requirement.
Beginning-level study of yoga.
