This course surveys historical flashpoints in the evolution of American contemporary dance. It provides a critical framework for interrogating cultural and sociopolitical influences on concert dance practice and performance. Students will analyze intersecting aesthetics originating from the French courts of Catherine de Medici and Louis XIV, the Atlantic slave trade and Asian theatrical dance forms such as kabuki and bharatanatyam in the development of ballet, modern, tap, jazz and musical theater dance.
Outcomes: Students will be able to identify historical figures and events that have significantly influenced American theatrical dance; This course gives students the ability describe and interpret dance history by contextualizing sociopolitical and cultural influences on the evolution of dance aesthetics while applying critical race, queer and feminist theoretical frameworks to their understanding of contemporary dance in America.
Prerequisite: Must be a Dance major or Dance minor.
Outcomes: Students will be able to identify historical figures and events that have significantly influenced American theatrical dance; This course gives students the ability describe and interpret dance history by contextualizing sociopolitical and cultural influences on the evolution of dance aesthetics while applying critical race, queer and feminist theoretical frameworks to their understanding of contemporary dance in America.
Prerequisite: Must be a Dance major or Dance minor.