Arts Workshops

Character Acting
K40.1020 4 CR M 6:20-9:00 Judith Sloan
Course meets at La Mama etc., 47 Great Jones street.

This arts workshop will focus on specific theatre and movement techniques that help ground and center the body so actors can find the physical gestures needed to transform themselves to perform characters as well as to find the ways to develop their own character voices. Vocal techniques in breathing, manipulation of the voice for age range, accents and emotional range will be part of the weekly training. The connection between body and voice is explored in the experiential practice in this workshop as well as specific training in comedic timing. Readings include plays and monologues with a focus on characters. Readings also include a range of monologues and writing by documentary theatre artists and contemporary playwrights and solo performers including Ping Chong, Anna Deveare Smith, Sarah Jones, Moises Kaufman, Tony Kushner, Deb Margolin, and Rhodessa Jones. Students will have an opportunity to use the physical and vocal techniques to go through the process of developing original in interpreting scripted work or developing original characters for performance. Students must wear lose comfortable clothing to each class. [$35 fee]

Asian Theatre: Tradition and Performance
K40.1060 4 CR R 2:00-4:45 Christopher Cartmill
Course meets at La Mama etc., 47 Great Jones street.

Dramas and public performances are the reflection of important cultural values, worldviews and ethical concerns in a given society, told and enacted in particular physical forms and styles that mirror the emotive lives of the people. Rich traditions of theater practice thrive throughout Asia and there exist deep cultural and historical roots for this remarkable range and synthesis of ritual and performance. Through both a textual and practical study of techniques, aesthetics and literature students will explore the theater of Bali, India, China and Japan including: readings, lectures, mask work, puppetry, make-up and movement. Students will have workshops with guest performers from each tradition. Course readings may include: Theater East and West by Leonard Pronko, Between Theater and Anthropology by Richard Schechner, the plays of Monzaemon Chikamatsu, Eight Chinese Plays translated by William Dolby, the plays of Kalidasa, Bali: Behind the Mask by Ana Daniel. [$35 fee]

Equal Exchange: Arts-Based Collaborations with Immigrant Youth
K40.1070 4 CR M 3:30-6:10, W 3:30-4:45 Bowers
Wednesday classes and the first 3 monday classes will be held at NYU. Remaining Monday classes meet on-site at Brooklyn international high school, and students who register for this course should not schedule anything after 2:30 on Mondays.

This course looks at the intersection of art, culture and identity by bringing together NYU students and immigrant high school students to collaborate on the creation of original, inter-disciplinary performance work. Students will work on-site at the Brooklyn International High School (BIHS) which has a student body from 43 different countries. The course will focus on the development of arts based techniques using movement, creative writing, oral history, music, video, and theatre to create an open dialogue in a multi-cultural setting. NYU students will learn how to transmute this dialogue into theatrical forms as we work toward a final performance. Thursday class will be spent discussing readings and planning our work with students at BIHS. We will think and talk about how culture and identity are both influencing and influenced by the matrix of social forces operating in society. Final independent projects may take the form of chap books, videos, musical compositions and/or specific collaborative projects with BIHS students. Readings will focus on the role of artists in mediating community interactions, community arts practices and the use of the arts for social change. Readings may include Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed, Adams and Goldbard's Community, Culture and Globalization, and Kaufman's The Laramie Project.

Body Wisdom:Experiential Anatomy for Performers
K40.1107 SCI, 4 CR T 6:20-9:00 Robin Powell
Course meets at La Mama etc., 47 Great Jones street.

Performing artists have a special need to understand the body’s full capacity. Kinesthesic awareness of our muscles and joints allows us to move with more control, confidence, and safety. This course will integrate factual, visual information with kinesthetic experience of the body to gain understanding of form and function both internally and externally. Anatomy and physiology will be studied using text, touch, movement, and focused attention, as well as drawing and writing. The role of the mind and emotions in the stress response, nutritional support, and the function of breathing will be included. Kapit and Elson’s The Anatomy Coloring Book and Olsen’s Body Stories are required reading with selections from Kendall and Kendall’s Muscles: Testing and Function and Todd’s The Thinking Body. [$35 fee]

The Art of Play
K40.1110 4 CR R 9:30-12:15 Maria Hodermarska
Course meets at La Mama etc., 47 Great Jones street.

We know that for children play is more than just fun; it is the work through which they develop. But what about when adults play? Plato wrote, “Life must be lived as play.” Through play we find our freedom, spontaneity, and our aesthetic. What is there in human beings which enables us to play? Why is play considered an innate capacity of people from the beginning of recorded history? What qualifies as play? When does play become art? In this course, everyone plays and in doing so examines the historic and contemporary uses of play as a universal impulse of humans, across generations and time. Play’s capacity to mitigate the grosser aspects of life will be considered. We will examine play as it is reflected through theories of child development, dramatic improvisation, fine art, politics, technology, the symbolism of fairy tales, the historic and contemporary, uses of puppets, masks, performance, and ritual across all cultures. Students will examine the necessity of play in their own child and adult lives—the creative spirit, the adventurer, and empathic connection with humanity, and laughter, too. Books may include: Nachmanovitch’s Free Play, Bettelheim’s The Uses of Enchantment, Huizinga’s Homo Ludens, Jung’s Man and His Symbols, Nietzche’s Thus Spoke Zarathustra. [$35 fee]

World Dance
K40.1212 4 CR W 3:30-6:10 Kathryn Posin
Course meets at La Mama etc., 47 Great Jones street.

Dance reflects cultural heritage and is a key to understanding diverse societies. Dance is both of a tradition and living, and its functions are continually evolving. In this arts workshop, students will explore dance as it appears on six continents. Dance can be seen seen as encoded forms of a society’s religious, artistic, political, economic, and familial values. Readings cover issues of globalization, fusion and authenticity. Migration, missionaries, trade routes and the diaspora have led to the creation of new dance forms like “Bollywood” and “Tribal” that are a synthesis of earlier forms. Each week students will be introduced to a different dance form through selected readings and a rich collection of video footage. After a brief warm-up, the class will learn simple steps, floor plans and rhythms from the music and dance of the culture being studied. The students chose a dance form as their project and themselves become researchers, performers and creators of new forms. [$35 fee]

Interarts Collaboration: Creating Across Boundaries
K40.1250 4 CR T 3:30-6:10 Leslie Satin
Course meets at La Mama etc., 47 Great Jones street.

Contemporary practitioners of art and performance move beyond conventional boundaries—sculptors make dances, composers make installations, painters make films. Similarly, artists who work in different forms collaborate to make pieces whose resonance extends beyond their individual components. Two examples of recent interarts collaboration stand out. In 1960s NYC, Fluxus and the Judson Dance Theater were revolutionary forces in visual arts and dance, gathering in writers and musicians as well. The focus of this workshop is the creation of interarts projects, individually and in groups, guided by readings about these pioneers in cultural history. We will make pieces using chance operations, indeterminacy, and open scores; we will create multimedia spectacles. We will draw from the backgrounds and inspirations of students, encouraging participants to deepen their connections to familiar territory and try new forms. Readings may include pieces by Banes, Cage, Johnston, Jowitt, Kaprow, Rainer, Schneemann, and Stiles. [$35 fee]

Rudiments of Contemporary Musicianship
K40.1305 4 CR W 6:20-9:00 John Castellano
Course meets at Drummer’s Collective, 541 Sixth Ave.

This course is designed to help the student develop a better understanding of music by presenting the opportunity to experience music “as a musician.” Students learn basic music theory, develop rudimentary musicianship skills, and compose and rehearse student compositions. The goal is for each student to be able to compose and perform original music. The workshop meets in a professional music rehearsal studio where students have access to a wide variety of musical instruments. [$35 fee]

Understanding Jazz
K40.1315 4 CR T 3:30-6:10 Vince Prudente
Course meets at Drummer’s Collective, 541 Sixth Ave.

This workshop is designed to inform and enhance the student listener’s and the student musician’s understanding and enjoyment of this original American art form. Students will explore the basic ingredients of jazz—sound, pulse, expression, and facility; the creative method; improvisation; and the many different sounds, rhythms, and styles of jazz. The course will explore the contribution of the great artists of jazz, past and present, and jazz’s influence on classical and popular music. [$35 fee]

Songwriting
K40.1325 4 CR M 3:30-6:10 Bill Rayner
Course meets at Drummer’s Collective, 541 Sixth Ave.

Song is the oldest musical form established in all eras and cultures. Ancient Greek and African musicians used song for recreation, to preserve communal memory and to link the visible world with the invisible. Music making was rooted in mythology, legends and folklore and was associated with gods, ancestors and heroes. The musician, through his/her technique, had to be able to combine sounds and images through the use of voice, gesture, dance, and instruments to form a musical reminiscence. In this workshop, songwriting will be explored as both a musical and cultural practice. Each student will develop songwriting techniques through the study of historical, cultural and musical aspects of songwriting. [$35 fee]

Drawing and Painting
K40.1405 4 CR F 9:30-12:15 Bert Katz
Course meets at Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand Street (between Pitt and Willett Streets).

This workshop is designed to provide both beginning and advance students with studio experience in drawing and paining. A variety of media will be used, including acrylic paint. The problem of visual conversion will be addressed as will the distinction between “what is seen and what is known” (Picasso). In addition, by way of critiques, discussions and gallery visits, the student will explore the problem of visual “form” and aesthetic judgment. Selected works produced during the semester will be shown in the Gallatin exhibition space on the 8th floor of 715 Broadway. [$35 fee]

Rites of Passage into Contemporary Art Practice
K40.1420 4 CR R 3:30-6:10 Barnaby Ruhe

Modern art has been a balancing act between control and letting go. This course focuses on the psychological interface between the two, the “liminal” zone. We will survey modern artists’ techniques for tapping the sources of creativity, including Dada collagists’ free-associations; Surrealists’ automatic writing, doodles, and “cadavres exquises”; and Abstract Expressionists’ embrace of chaos as a resource. We will engage in very simple exercises: doodling, speed drawing, painting an abstract mural as a group, keeping a liminal journal, collaging, and exploring ritualistic techniques. We will follow up each exercise with discussions, take a trip to MoMA, and conclude the course with an essay, reexamining modern art in light of the inner journey each of us has taken during the course. Readings include writings by Arnold van Gennep, R.D. Laing, Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Victor Turner, Mircea Eliade, James Elkins, and Frida Kohlo.

The Monument: From Concept to Creation
K40.1470 4 CR W 3:30-6:10 Greg Wyatt

Part of this workshop will be conducted through site visits to a foundry, artists’ studios, and public monuments. Most visits will be scheduled on Fridays and weekends, and students should make sure their schedules are flexible enough to accommodate these outings. In addition, students are expected to pay for their own travel costs and some admission fees.

This workshop focuses on the nature of creativity for public space. We will explore the process by which a concept becomes a three dimensional model and consequently a public monument. We will also investigate how ideas or concepts in history have influenced individual artists in making public monuments. Some examples of this type of didactic art we will explore are: Perikles’ Athenian building program after the Persian wars, Michelangelo’s David, the Columbia University “Alma Mater, ” the Chrysler building, the Peace Fountain next to St. John the Divine, the Woolworth building, Ghandi’s bronze on Union Square, and other sculptures and architectural sights in New York City. Students will be required to develop their own original concepts into a two or three dimensional project, focusing on visual arts such as painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and mural making. Readings may include: Plato’s Timaeus and The Protagoras, Panofsky’s Renaissance and Renaissances, Cassirer’s The Individual and the Cosmos in Renaissance Italy, Benvenuto Cellini’s Autobiography, Vasari’s Life of Famous Painters, Cezanne’s Letters, Interview with Rodin with French Journalist, Delacroix’s Journal, as well as Goethe and Leonardo on painting.

Writing for the Ear: Broadcast News as Storytelling
K40.1525 4 CR MW 6:20-7:35 Emily Hoffman

Listen to the news on the radio or watch it on TV and it will become apparent that the most engaging reports—like the best told stories—are those that insist you use your imagination. In this course, we will study the difference between writing for the ear and writing for the eye by comparing broadcast and print reports of the same news events in a variety of media. We’ll also consider how news, in spite of the ideal of objectivity, is inevitably a product of a “Rashomon” effect: where the same story is told differently, depending upon the relationship of the storyteller to the event. We will explore the nexus of truth and news by studying the evolution of a news story—from event to source to air. Students will research, write and record their own radio news reports and the class will discuss the effectiveness of the storytelling and compare the relative objectivity of the reports. Possible texts include: Rashomon by Ryunosuke Akutagawa; How to Watch TV News by Neil Postman and Steve Powers; Naked in Baghdad by NPR reporter Ann Garrels.

Playwriting
K40.1565 4 CR R 6:20-9:00 Myla Churchill

This writer’s workshop explores the symbiotic nature of playwriting. Through a series of exercises, we will discover how environment and experience influence identity; how plot is built on desire and need; and why perception and cultural context dictate the form or structure of a play. By examining classical paradigms and their influence on modern theatre, we can determine how to use or break these rules to find our own voices. And as we mine our souls and surroundings for the seeds of creation, we will write a one-act play. Some readings include Fornes, Parks, Fugard, Bogosian and Chekov.

Writing for Television I
K40.1571 4 CR M 3:30-6:10 Imani Douglas

This workshop will explore the process of turning an idea into a teleplay. Prior to delving into the world of television, we will also take a peek into writing for stage and film. The differences and similarities of these mediums will be investigated, via such works as Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, successful in all forms—stage, film, and TV sit-com. Structure, function and form will be examined via the reading of scripts and viewing of films and classic TV. Students will spend ten weeks of the semester creating, developing, and writing a sit-com episode of a popular television series. Students will learn first-hand what it takes to complete a writing assignment from pitch, to beat sheet, outline, first draft, rewrite, to table draft, under the direct supervision and guidance of an executive producer. In this way, students will learn the business of the TV writer and what it takes to be successful in “the room” of a Hollywood TV show. Readings may include How to Write a Movie in 21 Days by Viki King and Laughs, Luck and Lucy! by Jess Oppenheimer and Gregg Oppenheimer.

Architectural Design and Drawing
K40.1621 4 CR W 6:20-9:00 Donna Goodman

Gropius once described architecture as a combination of “form, function, and delight.” In this workshop, students are introduced to the experience of designing buildings. The first project is an exploration of the design process. Students create sketchbooks of diagrams and drawings, analyzing issues of form, function, technology, site, and environment. Drafting techniques are also presented through preparation of plans, sections, elevations, and renderings. In the second project, students design a residential loft. They begin with a program and a basic design concept. Planning theories, such as function, circulation, massing, and spatial organization are discussed. Visual concepts, such as symmetry, axis, and proportion are also introduced. Methods for developing designs through models, perspectives, and isometric drawings are also presented. Prior drafting experience is helpful, but not required.

Digital New Media
K40.1635 4 CR T 3:30-6:10 Cynthia Allen

This workshop seeks to bring students from varying backgrounds together to engage in evaluating and developing digital new media for the Internet. The web makes possible a powerful new kind of student-centered, constructivist learning by collecting at a single site a phenomenal array of learning and creative resources which can be explored with simple point-and-click skills: photos, text, animation, audio and video materials. Because most web sites are highly visual in character many are referred to as Virtual Museums. Each student brings to the class a set of experiences and skills, such as research, writing, design, video, audio, photography, film, performance, illustration, computer literacy, software knowledge or Internet experience. Through lectures, including a survey of digital new media currently on the Internet, group discussions and orkshops focusing on their personal skills, students will develop individual projects. The workshop will deconstruct Virtual Museums, digital collections on the web and innovative sites using digital new media, as well as discuss concepts, content strategies, and frameworks that bridge theory and practice. Class projects, readings, writings, and journal keeping are essential components of this course. Students are encouraged to supply their own media.

Creating a Magazine: From Inspiration to Prototype
K40.1652 4 CR TR 3:30-4:45 Lise Friedman

A crazy-quilt of high and low culture, magazines are one of our most potent forms of cultural commerce—a striking mix of content and form, covering everything from politics, fashion, and celebrity to performing and visual arts, technology, crafts, and the environment. No matter what the topic, design has become an increasingly crucial editorial element. It sets one apart from the next, and at its best unifies the content and instantly telegraphs to the reader where it figures in media landscape. In this workshop we will explore this ever-changing world. Throughout the semester we will examine and analyze a wide range of publications as well as explore a magazine’s many components. We will discuss notions of good vs. bad design, engaging vs. dull content. And, through the development of an in-class publication, will put into practice the many aspects that contribute to a magazine’s creation, from initial concept to the realization of a prototype. Readings such as Magazine Design and Magazines Inside and Out and visits from magazine professionals will contribute to our discussion.