Designed for students with minimal dance experience who are curious about contemporary dance techniques and choreography. Perfect for students who have taken other intro level dance courses and who want to broaden their dance knowledge and deepen their physical skill and experience. Working with aspects of modern, jazz, ballet and improvisation, students will develop movement articulation, coordination, strength, flexibility and increased knowledge about their own physical potential. Readings and viewings will inform the creation of choreographic studies and invite students to consider issues debated by today’s dance artists.
Sample reading list:
Mark Frank, Dancing Modernism/Performing Politics
Rebecca J. Kowal, Performing Change in Postwar America
Sally Banes, Dancing Women: Female Bodies on Stage
Roger Copeland, Merce Cunningham, The Modernizing of Modern Dance
Susan Leigh Foster, Reading Dancing
Shannon Jackson, “The Way We Perform Now” Dance Research Journal
Reading/Writing assignments:
Several reflective written assignments (approx. 2 hours outside class/week); reading, viewing live and videotaped performances (approx. 2 hours outside classes/week), several short response papers and a final project.
