4th year - The final paper is an examination paper, up to 7000 words that concludes the 4 years BA- course at the SNDO. The paper is part of the graduation plan. Together with the internship, the report on the internship, and the two public performance presentations the final paper forms the graduation exam.

The final paper is a piece of writing on a subject related to dance and performance. In the paper the student formulates and reflects upon leading research questions in the work that has been made during the studies at SNDO. The paper is related to student’s ongoing artistic practice and is seen as an extension of it, whereby that practice (or an element of it) is articulated through writing. Time wise the paper is either preceding or accompanying the creation processes in the 4th year and can be seen both as feeding into the process and reflecting alongside. 

The paper should show that a student is capable of processing a problem from the field of dance and performance autonomously and presenting it comprehensibly, within an agreed period of time. The final version must be approved and assessed by the tutor after which it enters student dossier and is considered an accomplished element of the graduation trajectory.

3rd year Philosophy essay - While certain parts of the history of philosophy have been greatly concerned with ‘reality’, ‘truth’ and ‘essence’ this course focuses on ethics: how do we do and how do we relate? This leads to questions concerning stability and instability of relations, changing of forms of life and questions of understanding our place in the world from the perspective of action. The course culminates in a paper on a philosopher discussed in the course.

1st year Dance History paper – This course looks at important developments in dance after World War II exploring how various choreographers have contributed to developments in constructing and perceiving dance. The course is concluded with a paper, written by the student, on a choreographer’s work of their choice where students develop dance-specific theoretical concepts in relation to a particular choreographic practice.

Besides these three papers, throughout the study, students are engaging in different modes of writing and translating from their physical practice to a page and back. Some take place during the workshops (e.g. Writing Workshop) or in the form of project proposals prior to- and reflections after- the performance periods. Writing for performance booklets is practiced throughout and goes from poetic miniatures in the first year to articulating and sharing own poetics in the graduation programmes.

During the four years, student develops a significant body of own writing. It’s a resource to be revisited regularly during- but also after the study as it provides insights into not only how thinking and writing develops but also into own ideas and notions that emerge during the study which can be taken up later during one’s artistic life.

 

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