Three Policies Department of Drama and Dance
Purposes and Educational Goals (Diploma Policy)
The Department of Scenography Design, Drama, and Dance (Drama and Dance Course) aims to foster physically expressive performers full of originality who will uphold the future of performing arts.
Specifically, we envision future actors, dancers, directors, choreographers, dramatists and so forth, and those who eventually enter any of these fields will practice or consider the physical expression they learn when enrolled in this course, which lays foundations not only for the stage, but also for the human beings involved in creating performing arts.
If this foundation can be called the urge to express something, it is an important duty of this department to collectively examine individual methodologies, nurture them carefully, and create an environment for the effective communication of their fruits to others.
This is because the performing arts are truly an interactive and collective endeavor.
To develop artists who can achieve the educational and research goals of the Faculty of Art and Design, the Drama and Dance Course aims to foster insight into the performing arts, the physical abilities necessary to execute ideas, and the ability to collaborate with others. Students who have achieved this goal receive bachelor’s (BFA) degrees.
Curriculum Policy
The Drama and Dance Course systematically organizes and implements a curriculum based on the following policies so that students can achieve the goals indicated in the Diploma Policy.
In introductory classes, for both drama and dance, problems are posed with regard to reasons for choosing bodily expression, and through this work students learn to perceive individual body characteristics.
In the introductory first- and second-year courses, students learn basic expressive skills related to the body through interdisciplinary studies of various methodologies of drama and dance.
Of the specialized courses in the third and fourth years, in the third year, drama and dance seminars are differentiated in line with students’ aspirations, and they select classes so as pursue their respective areas of specialization. They also carry out "practical training" in collaboration with the Scenography Design Course, and enter the phase of realizing on-stage expression. In the fourth year, the graduation performance is incorporated as an extension of this phase, and on-stage productions involving students from both the courses are performed, showing the results of their four years of study.
Based on the premise that the achievement of physical expression is difficult to quantify, course subjects are systematically arranged so that students' evaluations can be performed objectively.
To evaluate the results of study, rigorous grading is carried out based on criteria specified in advance. These results are then utilized for further improvement of educational methods.
Admissions Policy
Based on the academic contents of the Diploma Policy and Curriculum Policy, the Drama and Dance Course is focused on expression using the body and seeks students with the qualities to engage with the task of expanding the possibilities of the body on a sustained basis.
Specialized examinations for theatrical dance courses do not involve problems that require prior technical training in dance or theatre. In other words, examinees do not necessarily need experience. Pass/fail is determined by assessing each person’s primal, internal potential as a physical performer.
For this reason, various assignments are given to judge whether students have the sensibilities for physical expression and the physical ability to realize it, in relation to both dance and drama, and instinctive ability to respond is gauged.
Performing arts are direct and one-time-only modes of expression and stand in opposition to the paradigm of duplicative media, with the work remaining only in the memories of the performers and audience who encounter directly in the theater.
After enrolling, students pursue physical expression geared toward work that disappears instantaneously, and we have high expectations for students who are not overly oriented towards efficiency and are willing to put forth any amount of effort in the organic, analog world.