THE 243 - Improvisation

Description
Students in this performance course, study concepts and participate in staged exercises and games aimed toward improvisation. Students learn to engage their own creative impulses. This is a creative high energy performance intensive course.

Credit Hours: 3
Contact Hours: 3
Prerequisites/Other Requirements: None
English Prerequisite(s): None
Math Prerequisite(s): None
Course Corequisite(s): None
Academic Program Prerequisite: None
Consent to Enroll in Course: No Department Consent Required
Dual Enrollment Allowed?: Yes
Number of Times Course can be taken for credit: 1
Programs Where This Course is a Requirement:
None

Other Courses Where This Course is a Prerequisite: None
Other Courses Where this Course is a Corequisite: None
Other Courses Where This course is included in within the Description: None

General Education Requirement:
None
General Education Learner Outcomes (GELO):
NA
Course Learning Outcomes:

Collaborate in a creative scene without the aid of scripted dialogue.
Use and lead group physical and mental warm-up exercises to prepare for improvisation.
Use the basic tenets of improvisation (focus, accepting, expanding, discovering, using the environment) to form an entertaining moment of theater.
Discern the attributes of other performers that enhance or impede one’s ability to perform in an improvisational manner.
Break down personal barriers that impede one’s creativity.

Course Outline:
I. Group Introduction

II. Warm-ups and Interactive Games: (they may include, but are certainly not limited to)Pass the Clap/Pass the Sound/and Gesture/Jeepers Creepers/Slow Motion Samurai/ What Are You Doing/Zip-Zap-Zoop/Hand Pulses/Group Count to 20/Flock Dance/Blind Offers/151/Elephant Giraffe Rabbit

III. Personal Object Focus Exercise

IV. Group Exercises(which may include but not be limited to the following):Advance and Expand/Conducted Story/CS w/ emotion/Word at a Time/Environmental Build/Freeze Tag/Help Desk/ Silent Scene/Yes, and or Yes, but/Hitch-Hiker/Question

V. Handles (which may include but not be limited to): Alphabet Scene-2nd time through for Speed/2nd person Scripted/Animal Characters/Party Quirks/Gibberish Translation/Clue/Emotional Boundaries/Stand Sit Kneel/Emotional transfer/1 Minute Fairy Tale/First Sentence Last Sentence/Open Scene with an ask-for/Emotional Option/Bucket of Water/Press Conference/Home Shopping Network/One side Scripted/Status Scenes

VI. Group Project Work

A. Class Leadership Project

B. Using Improvisation to create Theater

Approved for Online and Hybrid Delivery?:
No
Instructional Strategies:
Lecture: 10-15%

Student Presentation: 60-80%

Group Discussion: 10-30%
Mandatory Course Components:
None
Equivalent Courses:
TH 235

Name of Industry Recognize Credentials: None

Course-Specific Placement Test:
Course Aligned with ARW/IRW Pairing: ARW 100 (IRW97/IRW98), IRW 99

Mandatory Department Assessment Measures:
None

Course Type:
Elective- Offering designed to expand learning opportunities for degree seeking students. May or may not be required for students in a specific GRCC program.
Course Format:
Lecture - 1:1
Total Lecture Hours Per Week: 3
People Soft Course ID Number: 103851
Course CIP Code: 50.05
Maximum Course Enrollment: 18
General Room Request: Open space with standard acting block furniture

School: School of Liberal Arts
Department: Theater
Discipline: TH
First Term Valid: 08/01/2025
1st Catalog Year: 2025-2026
Faculty Credential Requirements:
Master’s Degree (GRCC general requirement), Other (list below)
Faculty Credential Requirement Details:
Experience with improvisation and a knowledge of its purpose is crucial.

Major Course Revisions: Prefix
Last Revision Date Effective: 20250302T15:04:55
Course Review & Revision Year: 2029-2030