Spring 2026 Course Search

This class is an extension of the Black Music Division at Bennington College that brought dancers and musicians together for live performance in the composition of Improvisation. It is co-taught by Susan Sgorbati and Michael Wimberly. 

Musicians and Dancers will study and practice together a Solo Practice and an Ensemble Practice, building compositional structures for performance. 

In this course, films are used as textbooks to learn the French language and explore the French-speaking world. In order to hone their language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing), students will listen to selected film dialogues to improve their listening comprehension, read and analyze excerpts from scenarios and reviews to strengthen their understanding of syntax and widen their vocabulary, mimic the pronunciation of actors and write on film to improve their spoken and written French.

Dance, Musicals, Opera - a costume studio practice

The class will consist of three elements-

1) Designing a produced piece in drama or dance

2) A paper project designing costumes for a music based narrative piece (ie:opera, musical theatre, dance)

This advanced level intensive course is designed for students who have prior experience of making a work around a body, especially (yet not limited) in dance, theater and visual arts contexts. Inspired by butoh-based movement practice, Buddhism and French post-structuralism philosophies, students will seek a way of liberating a body from a socially pre-conditioned self.

This course requires no previous dance experience, and is open to anyone who is interested in the art of absence or art that deals with the presence of things we cannot see — the invisibles, empty space and silence – found across different art forms and practices.

This beginning-level dance course requires no previous dance training and welcomes absolute beginners who would like to start a day with physical practice and body attunement. Students are introduced to some basic principles of dancing by learning various movement patterns, choreographed sequences and by engaging in improvisational and compositional movement practice.

This Beginner level course is designed and recommended for students with prior dance experience or equivalent training in any form of physical expression.

The aim is to encounter the inner energy and passion that dance evokes from within the body, alongside the choreographic language of Trisha Brown, which is rooted in neutrality and free from unnecessary movement. While these two directions may seem opposite, early recordings of Trisha Brown suggest a fascinating fusion of both qualities.

We will study and perform from the string band traditions of rural America. Nova Scotia, Quebecois, Irish, New England, Scandinavian, African-American dance and ballad traditions. In addition, these will be experienced with listening, practice (weekly group rehearsals outside of class), and performing components. Emphasis on ensemble intuition, playing by ear, and lifetime personal music making skills (transposition, harmonizing, etc.).

That writers of color earn less than their white peers in advances and fees is anecdotally well known. But we lack exhaustive data. Gearing up for such data collection the next few years in a faculty-driven project at Bennington, this course provides an overview of the broader ethical and social landscape around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in publishing. Major inquiries will include:

This course delves into the interdisciplinary art of screendance, examining the mediatization of the moving body within cinematic and site-specific contexts. By exploring the dynamic collaboration between camera, body, and environment, students will study a range of methods used by film and video artists—both historical and contemporary—while also developing their own experimental approaches.

This is an essential course for students wishing to make new work for performance this term, whether one project or a series. It is designed specifically to support each person’s artistic voice and manner of working.

This course serves as an introduction to rhythms, songs, and musical practices from Africa and the African Diaspora, including Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Students will learn these traditional folkloric rhythms using indigenous percussion instruments from these territories and provinces. Class discussions will convey history, culture, language, and dance from these regions. Students will also have opportunities to create rhythms and arrangements in collaboration in our “break-out” segments.

This course serves as an introduction to rhythms, songs, and musical practices from Africa and the African Diaspora, including Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. Students will learn these traditional folkloric rhythms using indigenous percussion instruments from these territories and provinces. Class discussions will convey history, culture, language, and dance from these regions. Students will also have opportunities to create rhythms and arrangements in collaboration in our “break-out” segments.

To do or not to do? The decision itself is a mystery. The moment of choice is often confusing, ambiguous, even traumatic—yet it is also thrilling, brimming with possibilities.

Our actions frequently arise at the intersection of embodiment and disembodiment.

Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926 – September 28, 1991) was an American icon whose approach and innovation on the trumpet set him apart from the mainstream. Davis explored new approaches to creating and composing music. Davis was a trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. When you hear a Miles Davis recording, you know it's Miles. Davis's five-decade career kept him at the forefront of many major stylistic developments in jazz.

How do we recognize and make fluid forms in dance? How do we find the structural current?  How do we experience time? How do we compose with care and thought using something that keeps moving?  How on earth do we do this?

Resilience deals with not only the expected but also the unexpected.  During this period of time, Dana Reitz will create a new dance work with the entire group, in sections and as a whole, that will rise from the participants. During class and outside of class, everyone will be involved in creating individual movement material and delving into multiple variations – of the phrases, spatial use, and overall timing.

This course is designed to teach the student the many steps involved in creating a finished garment from a simple idea, piece of research, or sketch. Students will learn the basics of draping, flat patterning, and fitting. Construction of a final garment will allow them to explore and employ sewing skills beyond the fundamentals.

In this project-based class, students will undertake intermediate or advanced level work in lighting design, scenic design and/or stage management. The course is designed for those developing and implementing theatrical designs, as well as stage managers of faculty or student directed projects being produced on campus. In a studio atmosphere, students will share work in process each week, from inception through realization of their respective production projects. Particular attention will be placed on collaboration and communication between members of design/production teams.

In this project-based class, students will undertake intermediate or advanced level work in lighting design, scenic design and/or stage management. The course is designed for those developing and implementing theatrical designs, as well as stage managers of faculty or student directed projects being produced on campus. In a studio atmosphere, students will share work in process each week, from inception through realization of their respective production projects. Particular attention will be placed on collaboration and communication between members of design/production teams.

In this course, students will learn technically demanding movement material from contemporary dance choreographers. Specifically, we will focus on duet and partnering movement material that the instructor himself participated in creating and performing. We will stitch this movement material together to create an original dance piece that will be performed in the Works in Progress dance concert towards the end of the term.

This is a multi-modal course that examines how the body serves as a repository for knowledge. It is open to any student who wishes to explore the complex ways in which histories form around discourses of the body, culture, aesthetic philosophy, and power. Specifically, we will examine the theoretical proposals embedded in the history of modern and postmodern dance, and place this work within a larger social, cultural and political context. We will activate our understanding of these histories through embodied movement practices.

Isn’t the meaning of a work always discovered, to some extent, by its creator during the process of making it?” (Roslyn Sulcas). 

Isn’t the meaning of a work always discovered, to some extent, by its creator during the process of making it?” (Roslyn Sulcas). 

Accessibility describes the practice of freeing a space or an event so it might be visited by more people in more ways than one could ever presume at the outset. In this course, we will explore the litany of practices that allow more people (and in particular, disabled, mad, and chronically ill people) into all spheres of public life with a particular focus on performance events.

In this course, we will explore various projects that aim to connect people with their surroundings and communities.
We will also explore the strategies that various artists have implemented to increase their audiences and interest in the arts.
We will analyze and design projects that seek sustainability, diversification, and access to the experience of art and culture.

By evaluating environments we could design artistic projects that promote art, artistic education, and the promotion of cultural products as actions to build community, identity, and a creative economy.

This class will introduce students to basic concepts of improvised dancing with particular focus on effort.  Class will begin with an embodied check-in and a gentle warm-up. Weekly exercises will move students through various investigations regarding effort, from organ systems to Buddhist teachings to personal preferences to the laws of Physics. While the course's references will be wide-ranging, the objective of the class will always be to learn by doing and to physicalize knowledge. 

Studio Practice is designed to offer each student a rigorous and immersive dance study experience. A deep-dive into practices of critical physicality, students will be supported in making direct connections across an abundance of dance forms that rearrange and blur the boundaries between traditional and emerging techniques. Studio Practice courses focus on the relationships between curiosity, desire, strength, effort, force, and presence, all while moving within the lineages and histories that inform the ways in which we create and encounter our dancing futures.

Studio Practice is designed to offer each student a rigorous and immersive dance study experience. A deep-dive into practices of critical physicality, students will be supported in making direct connections across an abundance of dance forms that rearrange and blur the boundaries between traditional and emerging techniques. Studio Practice courses focus on the relationships between curiosity, desire, strength, effort, force, and presence, all while moving within the lineages and histories that inform the ways in which we create and encounter our dancing futures.

Studio Practice is designed to offer each student a rigorous and immersive dance study experience. A deep-dive into practices of critical physicality, students will be supported in making direct connections across an abundance of dance forms that rearrange and blur the boundaries between traditional and emerging techniques. Studio Practice courses focus on the relationships between curiosity, desire, strength, effort, force, and presence, all while moving within the lineages and histories that inform the ways in which we create and encounter our dancing futures.

Studio Practice is designed to offer each student a rigorous and immersive dance study experience. A deep-dive into practices of critical physicality, students will be supported in making direct connections across an abundance of dance forms that rearrange and blur the boundaries between traditional and emerging techniques. Studio Practice courses focus on the relationships between curiosity, desire, strength, effort, force, and presence, all while moving within the lineages and histories that inform the ways in which we create and encounter our dancing futures.

In 1935, at Bennington College, Martha Graham created the iconic work Panorama. This piece “was Graham’s political call to action and her attempt to awaken social consciousness and is a stunning example of 1930s modernism.” The Martha Graham Dance Company returns to Bennington to celebrate its 100th year by teaching and performing this piece.

Actions in Practice employs Sidra Bell's CONTEMPORARY SYSTEMS, an interior and material approach to movement that encourages provocative thought and an immersive approach to the subject matter of the body. The work demands a high degree of physicality and input from the dancers, encouraging them to execute movement with intention, curiosity, and empathy.

Studio Practice is designed to offer each student a rigorous and immersive dance study experience. A deep-dive into practices of critical physicality, students will be supported in making direct connections across an abundance of dance forms that rearrange and blur the boundaries between traditional and emerging techniques. Studio Practice courses focus on the relationships between curiosity, desire, strength, effort, force, and presence, all while moving within the lineages and histories that inform the ways in which we create and encounter our dancing futures.

Studio Practice is designed to offer each student a rigorous and immersive dance study experience. A deep-dive into practices of critical physicality, students will be supported in making direct connections across an abundance of dance forms that rearrange and blur the boundaries between traditional and emerging techniques. Studio Practice courses focus on the relationships between curiosity, desire, strength, effort, force, and presence, all while moving within the lineages and histories that inform the ways in which we create and encounter our dancing futures.

This course is an introductory survey course of U.S. history that pays particular attention to changing norms around gender and sexuality, and how people contested or subverted those norms. Topics include: same-sex intimacy in Early America, turn of the century panics around miscegenation and white slavery, the invention of hetero and homosexuality, cross-dressing in the American West, and the HIV/AIDS crisis.

This course enables students to undertake the research essential for composing their thesis or completing a project within their field of study or area of interest. Enrollment requires the submission of a comprehensive project proposal to Ikuko Yoshida, which must include a project title, a brief description, a list of relevant preparatory courses, and clearly articulated objectives and goals. 

This fourth-term Japanese course is purposefully designed to enable students to create digital books that promote cultural understanding among Japanese children. The curriculum begins with students engaging with short stories and Japanese animations to analyze expected behaviors and communication styles among Japanese children. Additionally, students examine social and cultural values in Japan—focusing on how these values are conveyed and how gender roles are represented in children’s literature and media.

Borrowed from the subtitle of Lois Ellfeldt & Edwin Carne's seminal 1971 Dance Production Handbook, "Later is Too Late" became a mantra for the course instructor after finding a well-worn copy of the paperback in his roadbox for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.  In this course we will examine the specific technical challenges and design opportunities presented in the production of dance performance, including the role that planning and management can play in overcoming the structural inequities and lack of resources endemic to the form.  Through readings,

Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. This course will explore social thinking, influence, and social relations that shape our lived experiences through a U.S. contextual lens. Social psychologists are increasingly concerned with the effects of the various systems of domination on outcomes such as health and wellbeing, relationships with others, personal and social identities, as well as political views and participation.

Qualitative inquiry seeks to discover and to describe in narrative reporting what particular people do in their everyday lives and what the actions mean to them. This course is intended for students who wish to learn more about the impact of theoretical frameworks on their ongoing knowledge projects at Bennington College.

This comprehensive course offers an immersive introduction to Bon Dance, a time-honored Japanese dance form traditionally performed during the Obon festival, which honors the spirits of ancestors. Designed for participants of all experience levels, the course provides a profound understanding of the dance's cultural significance while teaching basic Japanese language, essential dance techniques, and key movements.

In this second-term Japanese course, students will explore Japanese cultural values and create digital books that reflect Japanese values. Students will read Japanese children’s books and watch children’s TV shows to examine how social and cultural values are portrayed and taught. Based on their analysis and understanding of Japan's social and cultural values, students will write their own digital storybooks, which aim to teach children about embracing cultural differences as a final project.

In this sixth-term Japanese course, students will examine how Buddhism influenced Japanese thought on the afterlife and analyze how Japanese views on the relationship between life and death are depicted in Japanese films.  In the first seven weeks of the course, students will examine and discuss the history, beliefs, and deities of Buddhism, as well as their influences on society.  In the second half of the term, students will analyze how death and the common theme of reincarnation are depicted in different genres of Japanese films, such as love stories and

In this course we will explore spiraling in and out of the floor.