Dance Histories (215-0-20)

Topic

African American Dance History

Instructors

Nadine George

Meeting Info

AM Swift Krause Studio 103: Fri 11:00AM - 1:50PM

Overview of class

This class is a seminar in the histories, literatures and theories of Black dance focuses on the history of African American artists on the concert dance stage. Students will examine the major works, aesthetics, and creative journeys of some of the most important African American dance makers throughout history, with an emphasis on the 20th and 21st centuries. Discussions will consider the ways in which identity (race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, ability, religion, etc.), socio-political situations and individual missions have impacted Black concert dance in the United States. The ethics, politics, and stakes of representation in dance will be interrogated alongside the potentials and limits of agency, empowerment, and social justice through embodied practices. Students will also locate African American concert dance vis-à-vis African American culture writ large (social dance forms, music, literature, visual arts, national artistic movements, etc.), African Diasporic conversations, and patterns of global cultural traffic.

Registration Requirements

Pre-reg: Dance maj/min + MT Cert | Open to all undergraduates during regular registration

Enrollment Requirements

Enrollment Requirements: This class is restricted to Dance majors/minors & Music Theatre Certificate students during pre-registration, after which time enrollment will be open to everyone who has taken the prerequisites (when pre-reqs are applicable) or have placed in the level