Designed for people with little or no previous training in dance, this class is a mixture of movement techniques, improvisation, choreography, observing, writing and discussing. Using tools from Laban Movement Analysis, students investigate their own movement patterns and delve into many facets of dance and the cultural questions surrounding it. We 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. We also look at movement and embodiment in our daily lives.
Sample reading list:
Roger Copeland & Marshall Cohen, What is Dance?
Ann Dils & Ann Coooper Albright, Moving History/Dancing Cultures
Yvonne Rainer, No Manifesto
John Simon, The Boo Taboo
Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation
Brenda Dixon Gottschild, The Black Dancing Body
Reading/Writing assignments:
Reading and viewing live and videotaped performances (approx. 2 hours outside classes/week); ongoing creative assignments (approx. 2 hours outside classes/week); several short papers and a final paper (4-6 pages); and participation in an end of semester showing.
