This freshman seminar explores the intricate history of Western fascination with non-white bodies in motion, from representations recorded in early ethnographic films to contemporary portrayals of the moving body in Hollywood films, videos, documentaries, and concerts.
From grand plié to grand jeté, Introduction to Ballet is for students with a curiosity for the study of classical ballet.
In this studio course open to anyone with a body, we will explore power, structure, and human bodies through personal, political, anatomical, kinesthetic, and aesthetic lenses. We will delve into these issues as artists do: by reading, thinking, talking, moving, and making performances, actions, sense, and change.
A studio course introducing students to American dance aesthetics and practices, with a focus on how its evolution has been influenced by African American choreographers and dancers.
Designed for students with minimal dance experience who are curious about contemporary dance techniques and choreography.
Open to beginning and advanced dancers, this course explores dance as a way to deepen both our self-knowledge and engagement with others.
Join choreographer Susan Marshall and composer/percussionist Jason Treuting in creating and performing music and dance works with your classmates.
This course uses texts and methods from history, theatre, performance studies, and dance to examine artists and works of art as agents of change in New York (1960-present) and contemporary Detroit.
This seminar investigates discourses and politics around the fat body from a performance studies perspective. How does this “f-word” discipline and regulate bodies in /as public?
Choreography Workshop I exposes students to diverse methods of dance-making by tracing the evolution of choreographic thought.
Technique and repertory course that focuses on developing technical expertise, expressive range, and stylistic clarity. In technique, students will examine concepts such as skeletal support, sequential movement, rhythm, and momentum to emphasize efficiency in motion.
Dance choreography, with a focus on contemporary practices and performance. Classes will workshop compositional tasks that set limitations to spark creativity.
Technique and repertory course that focuses on developing technical expertise, expressive range, and stylistic clarity. In technique, students will examine concepts such as skeletal support, sequential movement, rhythm, and momentum to emphasize efficiency in motion.
Choreography Workshop III extends students’ approaches to choreographic research by asking them to create complete works on dancers other than themselves.
Technique and repertory course that focuses on developing technical expertise, expressive range, and stylistic clarity. In technique, students will examine concepts such as skeletal support, sequential movement, rhythm, and momentum to emphasize efficiency in motion.
Students workshop their senior thesis projects either creating a choreographic production or enhancing their artistry as a performer. Classes workshop varying approaches to dance making, including examining practices from modern and post-modern dance, as well as diverse genres and cultural forms.
Technique and repertory course that focuses on developing technical expertise, expressive range, and stylistic clarity. In technique, students will examine concepts such as skeletal support, sequential movement, rhythm, and momentum to emphasize efficiency in motion.
Explore the possibilities of capturing dance on film with award-winning film director Josephine Decker '03 and critically-acclaimed Vangeline, a dancer/choreographer who specializes in bringing the Japanese postwar avant-garde movement form Butoh into the 21st century.