DANC 354 Dance and Cultural Histories
This course introduces major concepts, approaches, and issues in the study of dance as a cultural, historical, and artistic practice. Incorporating a critique of Western dance history, the dance canon, mastery, and the focus on aesthetic representation as benchmarks of success in dance, we will examine important developments in dance in a global context, as we critically reflect on our assumptions on what knowledge in dance is and how it is structured. As such, we will question the supremacy of Western dance forms as the standard for dance training, production, and performance, and examine who has the right to speak about dance, who decides on ways to move, and consider who is excluded from these movements. The goal of this course is two-fold: (1) to understand how dance practices are bodily enactments of specific historical, cultural, and political developments and (2) to critically investigate different approaches to dance and the writing of its history.
Offered
F, S