Studies in Drama (312-0-20)

Topic

Dancing the Postwar Avant-Garde

Instructors

Susan A Manning

Meeting Info

Wirtz 235 Seminar Room 1: Fri 9:30AM - 11:50AM

Overview of class

This course surveys experimental movement-based performance from the 1950s to the present in the U.S., Europe, Japan, India, and West Africa. Starting with the Happenings at Black Mountain College, the course looks at Butoh, Tanztheater, Judson Dance Theatre, conceptual dance, black postmodernism, and contemporary dance in Asia and Africa. After situating each movement within the time and place of its initial formation, we'll follow its ideas and practices across national borders. Along the way, we'll discover surprising alliances—Katherine Dunham's impact on Tatsumi Hijikata, the interrelations between Judson and conceptual dance, and the mutual influences of Pina Bausch and Chandralekha. At issue is how to account for the power differentials between the Global North and Global South while also acknowledging the multidimensionality of global circulation. Intended for advanced undergraduates and graduate students.

Class Attributes

Advanced Expression
Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area