DANC 311 Black Dance in America
Examining the body as a potential site of both empowerment and oppression, this course will explore the roles of both racism and the celebration of the Africanist Aesthetic, in a variety of vernacular, concert, and commercial American dance forms. We will combine readings and written assignments with movement classes ranging from Sabar to Hip-Hop, from Dancing with the Orishas to House Dancing, and from Capoeira to Chicago Footwork. We will use New York City as a classroom to study these forms of dance from a variety of instructors. The final term paper will be ethnographic, combining historic study with our contemporary observations and embodied experiences.