This advanced studio course compares approaches to contemporary dance and movement techniques to explore how training fuels choreographic process and aesthetic research. Students will train intensively in Contact Improvisation, Gaga, Forsythe Technologies, and contemporary African dance, learning each form’s origin and theory to facilitate physical transformation. Workshops in modern and non-western forms will widen historic and global perspectives. Knowledge gained through a comparative embodied practice allows students to form research built on a synthesis of the influences that have shaped current movement research and choreography.
Sample reading list:
Melanie Bales, The Body Eclectic: Evolving Practices in Dance Training
Ben Spatz, What a Body Can Do: Technique as Knowledge
Kariamu Asante, Unfundalai: An African Dance Technique
Stephen Spier, William Forsythe
Joyce Morgenroth, Speaking of Dance: 12 Contemporary Choreographers on Their Craft
Reading/Writing assignments:
Students will be required to read approximately 10-30 pages/week. Students will write six two-page bi-weekly response papers.
Prerequisites and Restrictions:
Students must email Prof. Rebecca Lazier (rlazier@princeton.edu) to request permission to enroll.
