Designed for people with little or no previous training in dance, the class will be a mixture of movement techniques, improvisation, choreography, observing, writing and discussing. Students will investigate their own movement patterns and delve into many facets of dance and cultural questions surrounding it. We will explore the role of dancer, choreographer, audience member, and critic in relation to such topics as aesthetic questions, politics, identity, religion, and complex views of the human body.
Sample reading list:
Roger Copeland & Marshall Cohen, What is Dance?
Ann Dils & Ann Cooper Albright, Moving History/Dancing Cultures
Yvonne Ranier, No Manifesto
John Simon, The Boo Taboo
Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation
Brenda Dixon Gottschild, The Black Dancing Body
See instructor for complete list
Reading/Writing assignments:
Ongoing creative and reflective 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.
