Print Settings
 

TAPS 11N: Dramatic Tensions: Theater and the Marketplace

Preference to freshmen. The current state of the American theater and its artists. Conventional wisdom says that theater is a dying art, and a lost cause, especially in an age of multi-media entertainment. But there are more young playwrights, actors, and directors entering the field today than at any other time in American history. Focus is on the work of today's theater artists, with an emphasis on an emerging generation of playwrights. Students read a cross-section of plays from writers currently working in the US and UK, covering a spectrum of subjects and styles from serious to comic, from the musical to the straight play. Hits and misses from recent seasons of the New York and London stages and some of the differences of artistic taste across the Atlantic. Hands-on exploration of the arts and skills necessary to make a play succeed. Students develop their own areas of interest, in guided projects in design, direction or performance. Conversations with playwrights, designers ,and directors. Labs and master classes to solve problems posed in areas of creative production. Class meets literary managers and producers who are on the frontlines of underwriting new talent. Class trips include two plays at major Bay Area Stages.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: GER:DB-Hum, WAY-A-II
Instructors: ; Freed, A. (PI)

TAPS 17N: Acting for Activists

Acting for Activists is designed for students who are interested in combining acting with activism, performance with politics. We will work with theatre that responds to specific political events and crisis such as hate crimes or war through the performance of activist texts. We will also explore works that challenge inequalities of income, race, gender and sexual orientation. By the end of the course students will cultivate a critical vocabulary for discussing and critiquing work within acting/activist contexts and develop new strategies for creating theatre in relation to issues they are passionate about. Acting for Activists encourages students to think about what they want to say and helps them craft how they want to say it.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Hill, L. (PI)

TAPS 20N: Prisons and Performance

Preference to Freshmen. This seminar starts with the unlikely question of what can the performing arts ¿ particularly dance and theater ¿ illuminate about the situation of mass incarceration in America. Part seminar, part immersive context building, students will read and view a cross-section of dance and theater works where the subject, performers, choreographers or authors, belong to part of the 2.4 million people currently behind bars in US prisons. Class includes conversations with formerly incarcerated youth, prison staff, juvenile justice lawyers and artists working in juvenile and adult prisons as well as those who are part of the 7.3 million people currently on parole or probation. Using performance as our lens we will investigate the unique kinds of understanding the arts make possible as well as the growing use of theater and dance to affect social change and personal transformation among prison inmates. Class trips will include visits to locked facilities and meetings with artists and inmates working behind bars.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Ross, J. (PI); Nguyen, T. (TA)

TAPS 21: StoryCraft

StoryCraft is a hands-on, experiential workshop offering participants the opportunity, structure and guidance to craft compelling personal stories to be shared in front of a live audience. The class will focus on several areas of storytelling: Mining (how do you find your stories and extract the richest details?); Crafting (how do you structure the content and shape the language?); and Performing (how do you share your stories with presence, authenticity and connection?)
Terms: Aut, Spr | Units: 2 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Darby, M. (PI); Klein, D. (PI)

TAPS 22: Scene Work

For actors who complete substantial scene work with graduate directors in the graduate workshop.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-2 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 29: Theater Performance: Acting

Students cast in department productions receive credit for their participation as actors; 1-2 units for graduate directing workshop projects and 1-3 units for major productions (units determined by instructor). May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-3 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 30: Introduction to Theatrical Design

Introduction to Theatrical Design is aimed at students interested in exploring the fundamentals of design for the stage. Students are introduced to the practical and theoretical basics of design and are challenged to answer the question: What makes good design? Students should expect to try their hand at communicating their ideas visually through research, drawing, sketching and model making. Readings, field trips, guest lecturers and class discussion will complement these projects. This course is intended as a gateway to more specialized courses in set, costume and lighting design and is also an excellent primer for actors, directors and scholars who wish to know more about design. Collaboration will be emphasized. No prior experience in these areas is necessary.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE

TAPS 31: Introduction to Lighting and Production

Good visual storytelling begins and ends with good lighting. All visual storytelling forms--from photos to films to stage productions--provide a canvas in which lighting paints the scene. Lighting sets a mood, a tone, and can shape character and stories. This course teaches critical thinking, how to conduct thorough research, practical skills, and a mindfulness for live artforms.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Shayne, T. (PI)

TAPS 33: Introduction to Technical Theater and Production

A fun, collaborative, hands-on course subjecting students to the basics of scenery, props, painting, rigging, sound, lighting, costumes, and other production elements used in theater. This class is good for all types of theater students interested in producing theater at Stanford and beyond.
Terms: Aut | Units: 2-3
Instructors: ; Sunderman, E. (PI)

TAPS 39: Theater Crew

For students working backstage, on run crew, or in the theater shops on TAPS department productions. Night and weekend time required. Pre-approval from Jane Casamajor (janecasa@stanford.edu) is required for enrollment.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-3 | Repeatable 4 times (up to 15 units total)

TAPS 39D: Small Project Stage Management

For students Stage Mananging a TAPS Senior Project or Assistant Stage Managing a TAPS department production. Pre-approval by Laxmi Kumaran (laxmik@stanford.edu) required for enrollment.
Terms: Aut | Units: 2-4 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 50: Arts in Context: The Process of Cultural Production (ARTSINST 50, MUSIC 50)

A combination of practical skill-building and discussions with practicing arts professionals, this course will provide students with the foundational skills necessary to produce programs on campus and/or work in the arts. The talks and workshops will cover topics including curatorial practice and programming (for both visual and performing arts); grant writing and other fundraising methodology; budgeting and financial management; contracts and other legal considerations; and public relations and marketing. Every session is open for drop-in attendance, or students may take the entire series for credit. May be repeat for credit.
Terms: Aut | Units: 1-2 | Repeatable 2 times (up to 4 units total)
Instructors: ; Oh, E. (PI)

TAPS 103: Beginning Improvising

The improvisational theater techniques that teach spontaneity, cooperation, team building, and rapid problem solving, emphasizing common sense, attention to reality, and helping your partner. Based on TheatreSports by Keith Johnstone. Readings, papers, and attendance at performances of improvisational theater. Limited enrollment. Improv, Improvisation, creativity and creative expression. All who sign up are placed on a waitlist. Official enrollment will be determined after the first day of class. Attendance at the first class session is mandatory to be considered for enrollment in the course.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 3 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE

TAPS 120A: Acting I: Fundamentals of Acting

A substantive introduction to the basics of the craft of acting, this course gives all incoming students the foundation of a common vocabulary. Students will learn fundamental elements of dramatic analysis, and how to apply it in action. Topics include scene analysis, environment work, psychological and physical scoring, and development of a sound and serviceable rehearsal technique. Scene work will be chosen from accessible, contemporary, and realistic plays. Outside rehearsal time required.
Terms: Aut, Win | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE

TAPS 122A: Expressive Techniques in Multimedia Installation And Live Art (ARTSTUDI 122A)

The course focus on multimedia installation and live performances. The theme of the course will be an offshoot of the campus wide celebration of the 200th year anniversary of the ¿Frankenstein¿ novel written by Mary Shelly. For the course the issues of advance medical science in the areas of artificial life forms, stem cell research, biological ethical questions, fictional and non fictional approaches and mythical creation stories will be included. Students will obtain an understanding of alternative ways to speak to issues using various art forms.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Luna, J. (PI)

TAPS 124D: Acting for Non-Majors

Formerly TAPS 20. Creative play, ensemble work in a supportive environment. Designed for the student to experience a range of new creative skills, from group improvisation to partner work. Introductory work on freeing the natural voice and physical relaxation. Emphasis on rediscovering imaginative and creative impulses. Movement improvisation, listening exercises, and theater games release the energy, playfulness and willingness to take risks that is the essence of free and powerful performance. Course culminates with work on dramatic text.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-3 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE, way_ce
Instructors: ; Amarotico, K. (PI)

TAPS 125S: Shakespeare Now: An Actor's Lab

This active workshop will provide the actor with skills for performing Shakespeare with clarity, joy and power. Actors work with scenes and monologues to develop ease with scansion, freedom of voice, and to expand their physical and imaginative range. nnWe will also become acquainted with some of the ways that Shakespeare and other classic texts are being re-invigorated at the hands of modern writers and adapters. We will investigate the world of styles and approaches an actor may encounter in new takes on classic plays in our own time.nn(Priority to TAPS majors-minors. Previous acting class required, or instructor permission.)
Terms: Aut | Units: 3
Instructors: ; Freed, A. (PI)

TAPS 134: Stage Management Project

For students stage managing a production in the Department of Theater and Performance Studies.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 3-5 | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Kumaran, L. (PI)

TAPS 140: Introduction to Projects in Theatrical Production

A seminar course for students performing significant production work on Theater and Performance Studies Department or other Stanford University student theater projects. Students serving as producers, directors, designers or stage managers, who wish mentorship and credit for their production work sign up for this course and contact the instructor, Laxmi Kumaran. nPrerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-4 | Repeatable for credit
Instructors: ; Kumaran, L. (PI)

TAPS 153M: Mechanics of the Theater: The Technologies of Stagecraft

This course explores the history of technologies vital to the theatre: traps, lifts, lights, and sounds have been crucial for creating stage illusion. Divided into three main sections, Mechanics and Machines, Lighting and Projections, and Acoustics and Sound, we will examine the history of technological innovation and theatrical experimentation from the Enlightenment to the present. We will also be conducting case studies for each section with a core text or texts. We will cover Shakespeare's Hamlet, Ibsen's Ghosts, Chekhov's The Seagull, and Dreamgirls, The Musical. n nTechnologies such as mechanical traps, electrical lights, and sound machines have been used to create stunning illusions and spectacular theater. Many of these technologies were also significant for the histories of industrialization and modernization. We will ask: How did theater makers develop and innovate using technological innovations? What role does technological aesthetics play in understanding human culture? What are the relationships between theater, technology, and society? In class, we will be reading, experimenting, and performing with various technological artifacts. We will be conducting experiments alongside our reading practice to better understand our historical subjects.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-SI

TAPS 156V: Vital Signs: Performance in the 21st Century (ARTSTUDI 256V, TAPS 256V)

The first decade and a half of the 21st century have been transformative for performance art. On the one hand, it brought an unprecedented cultural acceptance of this art form, which is now featured in most prestigious museums and art festivals; on the other, the most recent generation of performance artists is showing a great awareness of the historicity and complexity of this form. In this class, we will try to recognize and investigate these and other prominent features of performance art produced since the turn of the millennium. We will use as our primary case studies performances that will be featured in the series Vital Signs: Contemporary Performance Art Series, hosted by TAPS in 2017-2018. The primary objective of the series is to highlight and showcase underrepresented performance forms such as experimental performance art, durational art, and body art, among others, by artists from communities that remain invisible or underrepresented in mainstream performing arts. The series is curated by the Los Angeles-based artist Cassils, who has been listed by the Huffington Post as 'one of ten transgender artists who are changing the landscape of contemporary art' and has achieved international recognition for a rigorous engagement with the body as a form of social sculpture. Cassils's curatorial vision is to present established performance artists alongside emerging artists. Each quarter, a pair of artists will visit Stanford for two days (Thursday-Friday). On day one of their visit they will offer a workshop or a public performance, and on the second day they will engage in a public dialogue. The class will meet each quarter for three weeks: before, during, and after the artists' visit. This way, the students will have an opportunity to prepare for the visit, engage with the visiting artists, and reflect on their work. They will receive their grades upon completion of the class, in the spring of 2018.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1

TAPS 161D: Introduction to Dance Studies: Dancing Across Stages, Clubs, Screens, and Borders (CSRE 61, DANCE 161D, FEMGEN 161D)

This introduction to dance studies course explores dance practice and performance as means for producing cultural meaning. Through theoretical and historical texts and viewing live and recorded dance, we will develop tools for analyzing dance and understanding its place in social, cultural, and political structures. This uses dance and choreography as a lens to more deeply understand a wide range of identity and cultural formations, such as gender, race, sexuality, (dis)ability, (trans)nationality, and empire. We will analyze dancing bodies that move across stages, dance clubs, film screens, and border zones. We will examine dance from diverse locales and time periods including ballet, modern and contemporary dance, contact improvisation, folkloric dance, burlesque, street dance, queer club dance, drag performance, music videos, TV dance competitions, and intermedia/new media performance. In addition to providing theoretical and methodological grounding in dance studies, this course develops performance analysis skills and hones the ability to write critically and skillfully about dance. No previous experience in dance is necessary to successfully complete the course.
Terms: Aut | Units: 3-4 | UG Reqs: WAY-A-II, WAY-EDP
Instructors: ; Akbarzadeh, H. (PI)

TAPS 167H: Revolutions in Theater (TAPS 267)

This course surveys the period from the turn of the 20th century until WII, during which the European avant-garde movements transformed modern art. This period in history is marked by dynamic political events that had a deep impact on experimental art and on culture in general. This interaction between poetics and politics makes the first decades of the 20th century the formative period of western and global theater.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Jakovljevic, B. (PI)

TAPS 170A: The Director's Craft (TAPS 370A)

This workshop class guides students through the directing process from investigating the big ideas of a play and analysing the action to organizing and running rehearsals to building up the world of the play through character work and visual composition. Over the quarter we will look at the use of creative visualization and improvisation alongside working with actors on ideas, emotions, relationships, textual analysis and blocking. This course also attends to the process of communicating with designers and production teams as well as structuring rehearsals, run-throughs and technical and dress rehearsals. Each student will select a theatrical text to work from across the quarter. In many cases the student¿s text will be a play that they are planning to direct in future, such as productions for student groups like Ram¿s Head or Stanford Shakespeare Company, TAPS capstone projects, TAPS 2nd year grad shows and/or TAPS Second Stage productions. No previous directing experience in necessary.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4 | UG Reqs: WAY-CE
Instructors: ; Hill, L. (PI)

TAPS 183C: Interpretation of Musical Theater Repertoire (MUSIC 183C)

By audition only: Contact instructor prior to enrolling (bnies1@gmail.com). Ability to read music expected, but students with experience singing in musical theater can be accepted. For singers and pianists as partners. Performance class in a workshop setting along with lecture/discussion of important eras of musical theater history. Composers include Kern, Porter, Gershwin, Rodgers, Sondheim, Lloyd Weber, Jason Robert Brown and others. May be repeated for credit a total of 2 times. Enrollment limit: 20 (ten singers maximum). Prerequisite: consent of instructor. Recommended prerequisite: 170 (pianists).
Terms: Aut | Units: 1-2 | Repeatable 2 times (up to 4 units total)
Instructors: ; Nies, B. (PI)

TAPS 190: Special Research

Individual project on the work of a playwright, period, or genre. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-5 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 191: Independent Study

Individual research with a faculty member. Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-18 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 192: Nitery Board Practicum (TAPS 292)

Credit given for student board members of the Experimental Nitery Studio. Undergraduate students should enroll in TAPS 192. Ph.D. students should enroll in TAPS 292.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable 6 times (up to 6 units total)
Instructors: ; Hill, L. (PI); Looser, D. (PI)

TAPS 200: Senior Project

All TAPS Majors must complete a Senior Project that represents significant work in any area of theater and/or performance. The project must be an original contribution and can consist of any of the following: devising a performance, choreographing a dance, stage managing a production, designing a large theater work, performing a major role, writing a play, directing a show, or researching and writing a senior essay. Work for this project normally begins in Spring Quarter of the junior year and must be completed by the end of the senior year. Students receive credit for senior projects through TAPS 200. A minimum of 4 units is required, but additional units are available for larger projects. Students pursuing senior projects must submit a two-page proposal to a faculty advisor of their choice, which must be approved by the Undergraduate Advisor and the department faculty no later than the end of Spring Quarter of the junior year.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 2-9 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 201: Theater History

A survey of the history of theatre and dance from the ancient Greeks to the modern world. While primarily intended to help TAPS graduate students prepare for their Comprehensive Exam, this course may also be taken by undergraduates or non-TAPS graduate students in order to gain a broad understanding of some of the seminal plays, dances, theories, and performance practices of the past 2500 years.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Looser, D. (PI)

TAPS 202: Honors Thesis

An advanced written project to fulfill the requirements for the Honors degree in TAPS. There are two ways to undertake an honors thesis. The first is to write a 40-50 page essay, which presents research on an important issue or subject of the student's choice. The second option is a 30-page essay that takes the student's capstone project as a case study and critically analyzes the creative work. Students are expected to work consistently throughout the year with their advisor, whom they identify at the time of application. Advisors can be selected from Academic Council faculty or artists-in-residence. Students should enroll in TAPS 202 each quarter during the senior year (1 unit in Autumn; 1 unit in Winter; 2 units in Spring).
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-2 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 231: Advanced Stage Lighting Design

Individually structured class in lighting mechanics and design through experimentation, discussions, and written reports. Prerequisite: 131 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-5 | Repeatable 55 times
Instructors: ; Shayne, T. (PI)

TAPS 232: Advanced Costume Design

Individually structured tutorial for costume designers. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 132 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-5 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 233: Advanced Scene Design

Individually structured workshop. May be repeated for credit. Prerequisite: 133 or consent of instructor.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-5 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 234: Advanced Stage Management Project

For students stage managing a Department of Drama production. Prerequisite: 134.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 2-9
Instructors: ; Kumaran, L. (PI)

TAPS 256V: Vital Signs: Performance in the 21st Century (ARTSTUDI 256V, TAPS 156V)

The first decade and a half of the 21st century have been transformative for performance art. On the one hand, it brought an unprecedented cultural acceptance of this art form, which is now featured in most prestigious museums and art festivals; on the other, the most recent generation of performance artists is showing a great awareness of the historicity and complexity of this form. In this class, we will try to recognize and investigate these and other prominent features of performance art produced since the turn of the millennium. We will use as our primary case studies performances that will be featured in the series Vital Signs: Contemporary Performance Art Series, hosted by TAPS in 2017-2018. The primary objective of the series is to highlight and showcase underrepresented performance forms such as experimental performance art, durational art, and body art, among others, by artists from communities that remain invisible or underrepresented in mainstream performing arts. The series is curated by the Los Angeles-based artist Cassils, who has been listed by the Huffington Post as 'one of ten transgender artists who are changing the landscape of contemporary art' and has achieved international recognition for a rigorous engagement with the body as a form of social sculpture. Cassils's curatorial vision is to present established performance artists alongside emerging artists. Each quarter, a pair of artists will visit Stanford for two days (Thursday-Friday). On day one of their visit they will offer a workshop or a public performance, and on the second day they will engage in a public dialogue. The class will meet each quarter for three weeks: before, during, and after the artists' visit. This way, the students will have an opportunity to prepare for the visit, engage with the visiting artists, and reflect on their work. They will receive their grades upon completion of the class, in the spring of 2018.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1

TAPS 267: Revolutions in Theater (TAPS 167H)

This course surveys the period from the turn of the 20th century until WII, during which the European avant-garde movements transformed modern art. This period in history is marked by dynamic political events that had a deep impact on experimental art and on culture in general. This interaction between poetics and politics makes the first decades of the 20th century the formative period of western and global theater.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Jakovljevic, B. (PI)

TAPS 290: Special Research

Individual project on the work of a playwright, period, or genre.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1-5 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 292: Nitery Board Practicum (TAPS 192)

Credit given for student board members of the Experimental Nitery Studio. Undergraduate students should enroll in TAPS 192. Ph.D. students should enroll in TAPS 292.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr | Units: 1 | Repeatable 6 times (up to 6 units total)
Instructors: ; Hill, L. (PI); Smith, M. (PI)

TAPS 311: Performance and Historiography

This graduate seminar introduces you to advanced methodologies in two key areas of theatre and performance studies research: historiography and ethnography. The course is divided into two sections. The first concentrates on questions of historiography and the archive as they relate to studies of theater, dance, and performance. We will think about how events have been historicized, how absence has been represented, and how bodies are re-figured and remembered, and we will investigate important principles and best practices of performance documentation and historiography. The second part of the course explores the relationship between performance and ethnography. We will discuss different critical perspectives on ethnographic methods and data gathering, including participant-observation fieldwork and interview techniques. This course purposefully blends theory and practice, connecting philosophical discussions to concrete case studies, field trips, and your own research practices. In this spirit, you will also be encouraged to conduct research and present findings in different modes and media.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Looser, D. (PI)

TAPS 370A: The Director's Craft (TAPS 170A)

This workshop class guides students through the directing process from investigating the big ideas of a play and analysing the action to organizing and running rehearsals to building up the world of the play through character work and visual composition. Over the quarter we will look at the use of creative visualization and improvisation alongside working with actors on ideas, emotions, relationships, textual analysis and blocking. This course also attends to the process of communicating with designers and production teams as well as structuring rehearsals, run-throughs and technical and dress rehearsals. Each student will select a theatrical text to work from across the quarter. In many cases the student¿s text will be a play that they are planning to direct in future, such as productions for student groups like Ram¿s Head or Stanford Shakespeare Company, TAPS capstone projects, TAPS 2nd year grad shows and/or TAPS Second Stage productions. No previous directing experience in necessary.
Terms: Aut | Units: 4
Instructors: ; Hill, L. (PI)

TAPS 377: Graduate Directors' Staged Reading Project

Presentation of a new or newly adapted work for the stage, in a mode employed in professional theater for the development of new plays. Two to four rehearsals. Public performance.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 2 | Repeatable for credit

TAPS 390: Directed Reading

Students may take directing reading only with the permission of their dissertation advisor. Might be repeatable for credit twice for 6 units total.
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 1-6 | Repeatable 4 times (up to 12 units total)

TAPS 802: TGR Dissertation

(Staff)
Terms: Aut, Win, Spr, Sum | Units: 0 | Repeatable for credit
© Stanford University | Terms of Use | Copyright Complaints