Course Syllabus

Course: DANC 1500

Division: Fine Arts, Comm, and New Media
Department: Dance
Title: Jazz Dance I

Semester Approved: Fall 2022
Five-Year Review Semester: Spring 2028
End Semester: Summer 2028

Catalog Description: This course introduces students to the theory and practice of a beginning jazz dance technique. It emphasizes discipline, posture, alignment, balance, and muscular control necessary to execute basic jazz steps. Movement is presented utilizing demonstration, description, and exploration. This course is repeatable for credit.

Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 2; Lecture: 2; Lab: 1
Repeatable: Yes.


Justification: Jazz is the form of dance that stays current with the popular trends of the day while preserving the classical movement trends of the past. It often represents the pop culture of its time period in dress, attitude, music, and movement. Jazz dance includes various styles, from the slower lyrical to the faster classical and contemporary movement, and is a required course for all dance majors. This course fulfills a credit requirement at four-year institutions.


Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will acquire beginning-level jazz technique skills.  Students will be evaluated on their beginning-level knowledge of jazz barre and center exercises through regular in-class instructor feedback and classroom discussion.

Students will develop critical thinking skills through observation and analysis of personal movement habits while displaying increased ability in areas of flexibility, strength, musicality, coordination, proprioception and endurance. During their Midterm Exam, students will self-evaluate (via written critiques) their jazz technique through observation of their classroom movement habits (as recorded on a mobile device).

Students will become familiar with the basic history of jazz and its contribution to the Western European dance forms. For their Final Exam, students will create a short jazz-based dance work. In preparation for their final, students will be shown examples of diverse jazz works, followed by a discussion of their contribution to dance history.

Students will analyze the relevance/application of jazz technique to a dance concert performance. Students will submit a written critique of the Snow College Dance Concert and choreograph their basic jazz dance for the end of the semester in class performance.


Content:
Each class will consist of three essential components: warm-up, Jazz exercises at the barre/center, and cool-down. Jazz exercises emphasize proper alignment, flexibility, core work, syncopated rhythms, balance, and musicality. In addition to the above, basic anatomy and physiology will be discussed as part of movement analysis and developing solutions for proper balance and other technique-related issues. Finally, through observation and written critiques, students will further refine their critical thinking skills and further appreciate the art of dance.

This class welcomes movers of all abilities, backgrounds, and body types. While jazz is a traditional Western dance, it influences many other styles, including folk, social, tap, African, and other dances. As a group, we will strive to build a safe and caring community. In this class, we will examine the issues of inclusivity and colonialism as they apply to jazz history through classroom discussion and observation of diverse jazz dancers and choreographers.

Key Performance Indicators:
Attendance and class conduct 30 to 60%

Technical progress 30 to 60%

Midterm practical (self-evaluation) 10 to 20%

Final project (creating and performing a short jazz dance work) 10 to 20%

Snow College Dance Concert critique 10 to 20%


Representative Text and/or Supplies:
Video materials as found on YouTube


Pedagogy Statement:
Each class consists of a warm-up followed by jazz barre/center/across-the-floor exercises and a cool-down.

This class welcomes movers of all abilities, backgrounds, and body types. While jazz is a traditional Western European dance form, we will be examining the issues of inclusion as they apply to the history of jazz through classroom discussion and observation of diverse jazz dancers and choreographers in preparation for our final project. We will also be examining the influence of traditionally underrepresented styles such as folk, social, tap, and African on the development of jazz technique. The respect for individual way of movement will promote and sustain a sense of belonging in this class.

Instructional Mediums:
Lecture/Lab

Maximum Class Size: 25
Optimum Class Size: 15