Using an interdisciplinary visual and performance studies approach to explore various sites of contemporary art practices, this course will provide an introduction to radical performance practices through which artists consider the gendered and racialized body that circulates in the public domain, both onstage and off. We will query the kinds of political questions that performers raise with their work. Our texts will include live and recorded performances, as well as historical and theoretical secondary sources. Every other week the class hosts a public performance/speaking series featuring radical artists and curators.
Sample reading list:
Danielle Goldman, I Want To Be Ready:Improvised Dance as a Practice of Freedom
Brenda Dixon Gottschild, Black Dancing Body: A Geography from Coon to Cool
Claudia Rankine, Citizen: An American Lyric
Michel Foucault, The Ethics of the Concern of The Self as a Practice of…
Jose Esteban Munoz, Disidentifications
bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as a Practice of Freedom
See instructor for complete list
Reading/Writing assignments:
Weekly responses (1-2 thoughtful paragraphs) due at 6pm on the Sunday before Monday class; 6-8 page midterm essay; creative final project (performance/presentation, group work).
Other Requirements:
Not Open to Freshmen.
Prerequisites and Restrictions:
Previous dance experience is not required.
Other information:
Enthusiastic participation is required for the course to be productive for all members. Participation means coming to class prepared to discuss the week’s readings and engaging with other members of the seminar. Because we only meet once per week, you are allowed only one unexcused absence, except in cases of emergency. This course includes a public lecture series scheduled during regular class meeting times; this is an integral part of the class, and attendance is mandatory.
