Comprehensive Questions
Education
1. How would you structure a BFA Musical Theatre program at a university such as UH Manoa, an institution "improving lives through education and research"? In a BFA program requiring 62 credits for completion, including 18 credits that apply to General Education, what courses would you include and why? Please include a 4-year plan with a description of the capstone project. What would be the underlying themes, values, and objectives of this pathway? Answer 1
2. How has exposure to dance genres other than ballet, modern, Jazz, and tap, changed your perception of what 'dance' is? How can exposure to non-Western dance genres challenge and redefine the concept of dance in U.S. higher education? Reference Yutian Wong's 2010 work, Choreographing Asian America. Do dance educators direct the art form? If so, how? Explain and extrapolate on McCarthy-Brown's theory in her article Decolonizing Dance Curriculum in Higher Education: One Credit at a Time. Answer 2
Performance, Choreography, and History
3. What are the approaches and methodologies for bringing back to life historical/political dance choreography? What are some examples of how performance works have been restaged or reimagined respectfully? What research and steps are involved to procure rights, licensing, and royalties? What are the benefits, if any, to recreating previous works? Answer 3
4. What do you think makes a good performance/choreographic piece? Site Amy Cook and Royd Climenhaga, theorists who have speculated on perfor- mance aesthetics. Describe your personal aesthetic theory. How does your theory explain why you like or dislike particular aspects of pieces such as Paul Taylor's Esplanade, Gene Kelly's Slaughter on 10th Avenue, Alvin Ailey's Revelations, and Jiri Kylian's Petite Mort. Answer 4
Health and Anatomy
5. What are the long-term health benefits for individuals engaged in dance practice? How can dance act as a physical therapy agent for body alignment and range of motion? Can dance practice provide long term anatomical benefits to body structure? In what ways? How does dance aid in cognition and help slow the aging processes of the brain? Using Faber and Minton's research in Thinking with the Dancing Brain: Embodying Neuroscience, describe, in simple terms, the neurological processes of dance. Answer 5
6. Provide an overview of healthy habits and helpful knowledge for dancers in their practice. What type of foods, practices, and warm-ups aid in peak performance and injury prevention? What are the basics in body care every dancer should know to promote longevity in their moving body and optimal flow in their everyday lives? Answer 6