11 - 20 of 53 results for: TAPS

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.

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.

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.

Introduction to interdisciplinary approaches to gender, sexuality, queer, trans and feminist studies. Topics include the emergence of sexuality studies in the academy, social justice and new subjects, science and technology, art and activism, history, film and memory, the documentation and performance of difference, and relevant socio-economic and political formations such as work and the family. Students learn to think critically about race, gender, and sexuality from local and global perspectives.

The class offers an overview of the musical as an American genre, but will focus primarily on the evolution of the dramatic musical over the past 50 years, especially the work of Stephen Sondheim, Jeanine Tesori, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and similar artists. The class will culminate in participation in the creation of TheatreWorks' production of the musical Jane Austen's Emma, including discussions at rehearsals and previews with its author-composer Paul Gordon (Tony Award nominee for Jane Eyre) and its professional actors and designers. Final project rather than final exam. Some classes will be held off-campus during class hours. Taught by visiting lecturer Robert Kelley, Artistic Director, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley.

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.

Workshop. Open to graduate and undergraduate students. Prepares PhD students for the academic profession by honing skills in conference presentations, job market, and scholarly publications. Also offered to undergraduates to help prepare them for careers in theater.

A practical course in movement, acting and character development for stage or screen. This course is appropriate for all artists; no prior movement training is required. We will explore expressive possibilities in the body in order to build characters with nuanced physicality and rich emotional life. Students will learn strategies for awakening the body, find a greater range of expression, and widen the variety of characters they can inhabit. We will conduct live observations and take inspiration from photographs, memories, dramatic texts and other sources to build vivid portraits of character in performance. Actors will work independently and as an ensemble, learning techniques derived from Michael Chekhov. We will also practice physical conditioning for the actor through a daily warm-up sequence that improves strength, flexibility and alignment.

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.