Special Topics in the Humanities (370-6-52)

Topic

Dance in/as Culture

Instructors

Melissa Blanco

Meeting Info

University Hall 118: Wed 2:00PM - 4:50PM

Overview of class

Dance in/as Culture

Cultural Approaches to Popular Dance on Stage and Screen

This course raises questions regarding different contexts for dance production and ways of discussing this practice within dance scholarship. As a means to explore the cultural production and consumption of dance, we will examine a variety of case studies ranging from popular dances in 20th and 21st century, their circulation on stage and screen in order to investigate popular dance's relationship to the historical, social, political and economic context in which it arose. We will engage in discussions about appropriation, semiotics, taste and cultural value, embodiment, postmodernism, feminisms, racialization, global capitalism and how dance makes these concepts visible and corporeal.

Teaching Method

Lecture and screenings

Evaluation Method

Written, oral and digital projects

Class Materials (Required)

The Oxford Handbook of Dance on the Popular Screen, edited by Melissa Blanco Borelli, 978-0190661540; Other readings and materials will include articles, essays, music videos, films, screendances

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
Literature & Fine Arts Distro Area