Graduate Faculty: Clouser, Combest, Cox, Culp, Cushman, Frohling, Garcia, Grose, Hayes.
The Department of Dance and Theatre Arts is dedicated to the profession of theatre arts and dance as central concerns of a civilized society and as primary methodologies in the education of its citizenry. Small groups of teachers and students using as a foundation the artists and the artworks from both past and present and from all cultures and civilizations collaborate in rehearsals and public performances derived from the finest possible classroom experiences. Scholarly and empirical research is combined with a high level of spontaneous creativity to develop the entire spectrum of theatre arts. Emphasis is placed on the impact between performing artists and appreciative spectators. Playwrights, actors, dancers, choreographers, directors, designers and technicians are taught to discover and to enhance their own creativity, to bear witness through their artistry to the richness of human life and to make artistic performance the means of educating the people who are present when the performance occurs.
These student artists also must learn to design and manage each of the technical and administrative crafts that constitute the business of theatre arts and dance in the 20th Century. Hence a student who completes the Master of Arts or the Master of Science degree in the Department of Dance and Theatre Arts will be able to employ a large body of knowledge and a wide range of skills pertinent to creative executive management in a number of businesses, in industry, in government or in one of the fields that traditionally have been associated with the fine arts: theatre, dance, education, radio, television, film, public relations, advertising and journalism. A person who can create and manage a successful theatre or dance organization can do the same in any field for which a few of the basic skills have been acquired. There is no technology - that of computers, for example, lasers or the film and video industries - that does not manifest itself in the craft of theatre and dance.
The Department of Dance and Theatre Arts operates several facilities designed and equipped to generate, organize and conduct research in dramatic performance. The university and studio theatres, five dance studios, rehearsal rooms, a scene shop and costume shop, scenery and costume collections, and a department library - each facility recently renovated and equipped - indicate a commitment to providing the finest possible theatre and dance education.
Assistantships, scholarships and program support are available from traditional sources as well. Application to the department for financial aid can be initiated at any time, but auditions and interviews ordinarily occur during the late fall or early spring immediately prior to a September commitment.
Topics on which research has been conducted in the department encompass actor/audience perceptions of a play in performance, actor/character relationships, directorial roles, British drama education, the theatre of Margo Jones, the educational theories of Bertolt Brecht, body-space and time-movement relationships, body language, and the social order and pragmatics of performer/audience communication.
This commitment to research and creativity in theatre arts and dance has generated continuing financial support from the Martha Gaylord-Tom Hughes Scholarship Program; the Ann Bradshaw Stokes Foundation; the Lucille Murchison Scholarships in Dance, Costuming and Technical Theatre; the Globe of the Southwest; and the Texas Commission on the Arts. Special funding has provided the opportunity for the participation of the department in the 1986 Governor's Sesquicentennial Conference on the Literary Arts in Texas, the 1987 Conference of the South Central Society for 18th-Century Studies, and the 1990 Centennial production of King Lear and national American College Dance Festival.
The Master of Arts degree requires a reading knowledge of at least one language other than English. Students whose native language is not English must demonstrate both a written and a spoken command of English that is acceptable to the dance and theatre arts faculty.
Prospective students who do not meet the admission requirements of the department may be considered for provisional admission provided they submit evidence of probable ability to do graduate work successfully. Provisional admission can be granted only upon the recommendations of the director of the department's graduate program, the department chair and the graduate dean.
Within the first 12 hours of graduate study, the student should select a major professor and prepare a degree plan. The degree plan must be approved by the major professor, the department chair and the graduate dean. Until the degree plan has been approved, the student will not be permitted to enroll for additional graduate work for credit applicable to a degree.
Assistantships and scholarships are available for both the academic year and summer sessions. Prospective students should consult the department chair for information about scholarships and assistantships.
· Master of Arts, and
The department produces an extensive array of opportunities in creative endeavors that include every aspect of theatre. Graduate students have an opportunity to focus upon such areas as acting, directing, production, technical theatre, dancing, choreography, and arts or theatre management. Individual programs are determined by the student and the major professor.
Students who seek the Master of Arts or the Master of Science degree in theatre arts must complete THEA 5000, Research Methods in Dance and Theatre Arts, before enrolling in more than 12 credit hours in theatre arts.
Students entering graduate study in theatre arts must present a minimum of 24 advanced undergraduate hours in theatre arts that have been approved by the theatre arts graduate faculty and the department chair.
The comprehensive examination must be completed with a grade of B or higher before the student registers for THEA 5920-5930. The problem in lieu of a thesis ordinarily will be one of the following: (1) direction and public performance of a play, film or radio play, or the choreography for an original, full-length public performance in dance; (2) the scenery design, lighting, sound, costumes or makeup for the public production of a play, film or dance piece of prescribed length; (3) the preparation and public performance of a role or roles in a play, film or radio play; (4) a problem in theatre management; (5) a two-semester project for the use of theatre arts in radio production; or (6) completion and report of a two-semester internship in a professional or an academic theatre approved by the Cooperative Education Office of the University of North Texas.