Course Syllabus
Course: THEA 1080
Division: Fine Arts, Comm, and New Media
Department: Theater Arts
Title: Theatre Improv Performance Team
Semester Approved: Spring 2022
Five-Year Review Semester: Fall 2026
End Semester: Fall 2027
Catalog Description: This course provides performance opportunities in Theatrical Improvisation.; All students in the course are required to be on the Snow College Improv Team. The course promotes acting and improv skills through supervised rehearsals and performances. Repeatable for credit.
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring
Credit/Time Requirement: Credit: 2; Lecture: 0; Lab: 4
Prerequisites: Instructor approval
Justification: This course is needed to promote and develop the Snow College Improv Team. Similar courses for performance teams are taught at other institutions throughout the state of Utah and in other accedemic departments at Snow College.
Student Learning Outcomes:
Students will grow and strengthen their grasp of theatre improvisation techniques. Students will demonstrate this through rehearsals and performance.
Students will be able to develop quick thinking and spontaneous reaction skills and improve their vocal delivery skills. Students will demonstrate this through through attendance and performance.
Perform before live audiences maintaining key tenets of improvisational theatre, including: 'Yes and', team support, initiation, focus, and listening. Students will demonstrate this through rehearsals and performance.
Students will learn to work effectively on a team, focusing on dependability, initiative, and support to foster a constructive team climate. Student will demonstrate this skill through attendance and contribution in rehearsals, and also through participating in performances and feedback after.
Content:
Credit will be awarded for performing on the Snow College Improv Team in scheduled semester performances. Attendance to rehearsals, participation in group improv exercises, performances of improv shows, and self/peer evaluations/feedback are fundamental aspects of this course.- Presentation skills development- Small and large group oral exercises (improv scenes/games)- Vocal delivery rehearsal and development- Mime and movement development- Short and long form improv theatre- Performance opportunitiesAs this course is offered in concert with the Snow College Theatre Season. As such, the works and content explore include the following parameters to address diversity and inclusion:Advocacy for production selections which open discourse and affect positive change, while supporting rigorous cultural specificity to remove generalizations, harmful appropriation, and divisive depictions. Fostering rehearsal and performance culture to create safe and equitable spaces where every person’s story is heard and honored; where hate, bigotry, and intolerance are not given power, only context. When possible, practicums will give voice to artists, cultures, and perspectives not traditionally dominant in the classroom and onstage through the exploration of human experiences in the theatrical artform.
Key Performance Indicators:
Students will be evaluated on:
Attendance and participation. 65 to 85%
Performances and participation in group feedback. 25 to 35%
Representative Text and/or Supplies:
No materials are required for this course.
Pedagogy Statement:
Through auditions, rehearsals, and live performances students will gain a deeper appreciation for the skill of improvisational theatre. Students meet regularly to practice the tenets of improv, honing their ability to act spontaneously, and working through short-form games and exercises developed by Keith Johnstone and Viola Spolin, among others.This class promotes open expression and welcomes all to be a part, to create a diverse coalition of comedians and audience. As part of the creation of this theatre community around the Snow College Improv Team, this course adheres to the follow ideas:- Support of all fellow ensemble members, wherever they are in the various skills of theatre and improv, is a key aspect of any successful improv troupe.- Humor regarding sensitive topics, triggering situations, and shock/off-color jokes are not only considered in bad taste, but are a crutch and often used by less apt improv actors.- Improv should be a vital and vibrant experience for all involved, any exclusionary element both for performer and/or audience should be avoided.
Instructional Mediums:
Lab
Maximum Class Size: 15
Optimum Class Size: 12
