Performing Arts

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Department Chair: Jacquelyn Pualani Johnson, M.A. (Drama) (jpjohnso@hawaii.edu)
Performing Arts Department Office: Performing Arts Center, Room 135, 974-7304
Web Sites: www.uhh.hawaii.edu/academics/perfarts/ AND http://artscenter.uhh.hawaii.edu/

Professor:
Jacquelyn Pualani Johnson, M.A. (Drama)

Associate Professor:
Richard A. Lee, Ph.D. (Music)

Instructors:
Patrick M. Kelly, M.F.A (Drama)
Celeste Anderson Staton (Dance)

Performing Arts Center Manager:
Lee B. Dombroski, M.F.A.

Associate Performing Arts Center Manager:
Heidi Veilleux, B.A.

Performing Arts Center Technical Director:
Robert Abe, B.A.

The Performing Arts Department offers a degree program comprised of four specialty concentrations: Dance, Drama Performance, Music, and Technical Theatre. The Dance concentration offers courses in ballet, modern and jazz dance, choreography, and dance in education. The Drama Performance and Technical Theatre concentrations offer courses in acting, directing, costuming, stage makeup, stage craft, musical theatre, and drama education. The Music concentration offers courses in the areas of musicology (history and literature), music theory and composition, applied music instruction (vocal and instrumental), and performing ensembles open to all qualified students, regardless of major. All Performing Arts majors complete a culminating senior project.

The UH Hilo Performing Arts Major has a three-fold mission:

1. To serve the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo with general education and service courses;
2. To provide an academic major in the Performing Arts, with four individual specialty concentrations in dance, drama performance, technical theatre, and music; and
3. To contribute to the cultural life of the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo and Hawai‘i Island through artistic performances and offerings in music, drama, and dance, through public lectures, and through related professional activities.

Curricula

The Performing Arts Department offers four specialty concentrations of study leading to the Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts: Dance, Drama Performance, Music, and Technical Theatre.

Dance Concentration

Dance training requires concentrated and continued effort in the acquisition, maintenance, and refinement of body flexibility and strength. The fundamental core of all dance training is provided by experiences in dance techniques classes. Additional foci include choreography, dance ensemble, dance in education, and areas of specialization.

Because this program requires that the student complete 37 semester hours in lower-division courses, Dance Concentration majors are approved for a reduction in upper-division requirements to 23 semester hours. For further information on the upper-division requirement, see Upper-Division Requirement section in the Baccalaureate Degree Requirements chapter of this Catalog.

Drama Performance Concentration

The Drama Performance Concentration focuses on actor training, style study, understanding the tools of technical theatre as they relate to performance, and final training in areas of specialization.

Because this program requires the student to complete 25 semester hours in lower-division courses, Drama Performance Concentration majors are approved for a reduction in upper-division requirements to 35 semester hours. For further information on the upper-division requirement, see Upper-Division Requirement section in the Baccalaureate Degree Requirements chapter of this Catalog.

Music Concentration

The Music curriculum offers courses which reflect traditional methodology as well as current trends in today’s musical world. Focused performance capability and strong academic achievement are significant goals for all Music concentration students. Upper-division specializations may include performance, theory, composition, or musicology.

Because this program requires the student to complete 38 semester hours in lower-division courses, Music Concentration majors are approved for a reduction in upper-division requirements to 22 semester hours. No more than 12 ensemble credits, however, may be applied toward the upper division total. For further information on the upper-division requirement, see Upper-Division Requirement section in the Baccalaureate Degree Requirements chapter of this Catalog.

Technical Theatre Concentration

The Technical Theatre emphasis focuses on basic art and design techniques, makeup, costuming, set and lighting design, and final training in areas of specialization.

Because this program requires the student to complete 25 semester hours in lower-division courses, Technical Theatre Concentration majors are approved for a reduction in upper-division requirements to 35 semester hours. For further information on the upper-division requirement, see Upper-Division Requirement section in the Baccalaureate Degree Requirements chapter of this Catalog.

The Department also offers a sequence of courses leading to a Certificate in Performing Arts.

The Performing Arts Department offers courses that fulfill current UH Hilo General Education requirements, providing students in all majors with an exposure to Western musical practices and literature, foundational studies in performance and technical theatre, and an introduction to the art of various modes of dance. Students enrich their understanding of the contributions and significance of these performing arts in their particular field of study.