Special Study

This subject has the following teaching availabilities in 2016:

140 hours

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For the purposes of considering requests for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirments for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.
The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

Students will select an appropriate previously produced dance work from the repertory of a nationally or internationally recognised choreographer as the basis for research. Permission to perform a short excerpt, typically a solo or duet, from the dance work is to be sought from the choreographer or relevant body. This process will require the realisation of any relevant production elements including sound/music, lighting, costume and design properties. The performance will be in an in house, non-advertised educative context. The selected choreographer and dance work must not be, or have been, the focus of any part of the course of study during the period of the student’s enrolment. The investigation of a thesis which encompasses and stems from research into influences in the choreographer’s background, the development and chronology of the choreographer’s body of artistic work, analysis of the choreographic material within the chosen dance work and the evaluation of the work’s aesthetic and artistic significance will be the basis for a research paper. A viva voce will require student to analyse and draw together research findings and the personal learning outcomes of embodying and re-mounting the choreographic excerpt.

The physical development of technical and performance skills, the investigation of the choreographic craft plus the analysis of movement vocabularies and contextual information that underpin the first two years of the course are drawn together and further extended in this subject. Students are required to work independently with the aid of a supervisor rather than in the teacher or choreographer driven manner of many other dance subjects. Any required production elements resulting from a student’s choice of a particular dance work will be self-funded by the student.

This subject will enable student to:

• Undertake study based on personal choices relating to current choreographic preferences and artistic interests.
• Focus on studying areas of the art form of dance which align with and will strategically assist their own career aspirations and objectives
• Network and develop connections with practising dance artists or dance artists of historical significance
• Research a choreographer and his or her body of choreographic work with the aim of furthering understanding of the art form of dance and how it works in cultural contexts
• Individually select repertory which demands the practice and rigour of effective rehearsal skills and extends the specific physical, technical, expressive and embodied performance skills the student wishes to improve
• Further develop research and academic writing skills
• Further develop the capacity for conceptual thinking and the comparative analysis and synthesising of data from a wide range of sources
• Enhance their ability to verbally present information and debate and justify opinions from an informed position

Hurdle - Class presentation on research progress, week 7

Research Paper – 3500 words, week 12 (40%)

Performance of an excerpt from chosen Repertory, between 3 – 5 minutes, during assessment period (40%)

Viva Voce – 20 minutes, during assessement period (20%)

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This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

On completion of this subject students should be able to:-

• Complete in depth analysis of the choreographic and thematic content of a dance work
• Conduct thorough research into a choreographer’s background and chronology of work, the cultural context of the chosen dance work and the artistic and aesthetic significance of the dance work
• Present a written research paper which interrogates a central thesis and substantiates opinions by the use of research findings and adheres to academic guidelines
• Accurately learn and rehearse an excerpt from a previously produced dance work culminating in an authentic and embodied performance
• Demonstrate the capacity to organise and coordinate the production elements required for the performance of the excerpt from the chosen dance work
• Discuss and further elaborate on ideas, concepts and research findings presented in their research paper in a viva voce before a panel of assessors.
• Verbally articulate and consider personal outcomes and discoveries resulting from the research underpinning the paper and the processes of remounting and performing the excerpt from the chosen dance work